Pacifica Affiliates Debate Proposed Contract
by Kéllia Ramares
(1092 words)
Attendees at the 5th Annual Grassroots Radio Conference, held in Madison, WI, July 20-23, were honored by the presence of Joy Hill, widow of Pacifica founder Lew Hill. She attended a screening of the video "KPFA on the Air." In a letter to conference organizer Norm Stockwell, which was later circulated to conferees and "Save Pacifica" activists, Ms. Hill said:
"...there are a lot of KPFAs around the country now. I never knew. How wonderful! I am simply awestruck.
"And I am intensely conscious of the level of problems you face. For us, it was trying to invent a new kind of group communication, new forms, new shapes, new people. We did, to some extent, enough to keep the station alive and growing and never mind that it was by fits and starts.
"But you, today ... you face problems far more taxing. THEY - those faceless authorities who become authoritarian at the first twist of fear - they know how dangerous you can be. You feel their boots sooner than we did."
But celebration of Pacifica's past took a backseat to concern about Pacifica's present and future. Dissatisfaction with the quality of the Pacifica Network News was a common theme among the conferees. It was no surprise, then, that one of the most interesting and well-attended workshops was called "Alternative National News." The conference program billed the workshop as "Looking at alternatives to Pacifica Network News." Laura Livotti of the National Radio Project presented the results of an affiliate survey she had conducted.
It indicated that a majority of the stations polled are interested in a new 29-minute national news program. (One possibility is the expansion of Free Speech Radio News to 5 days a week). There is also support for a system of story exchange via the Internet that would enable news departments to enhance their local news programming with news from other regions or use such stories as building blocks to begin producing newscasts locally.
An unsigned "Proposal to the Community Radio Community" stated: "The advantages of a dual track service are that the immediate needs of community radio stations for a newscast are fully met, while building capacity for independent, alternative news production all over the country."
Members representing some 20 Pacifica affiliates caucused to discuss their relationship with Pacifica and the proposed new affiliate contract, scheduled to take effect on Oct. 1st. The affiliates agreed to try to reach a consensus approach to dealing with Pacifica.
Pacifica was very late in sending its proposed contract to the affiliates. Some people saw the document for the first time at the caucus. Many of the contracts arrived well after the deadline for exercising the option not to renew affiliation. A few stations did not get the document until August.
Caucus members agreed that the contract has to be negotiated, rather than imposed on them. Pacifica's proposal calls for a 10% annual increase in fees, an amount not justified either by inflation or by the cost of KU satellite equipment, which the stations now own.
The proposed contract for at least some stations includes an exponential 10% increase per year. This means that by the fifth year of contract renewal, the cost for Pacifica programs would increase by 46%. In ten years, it would increase 114%. A standard 3% increase tied to the Consumer Price Index would allow for a five year increase of only 13%.
In post conference discussions, one member of a small station noted that the fee increases were so large as to quickly make Pacifica programming too expensive for low budget stations.
Affiliates are also dissatisfied with Pacifica's apparent disinterest in them. Phone calls are not returned, email is unanswered. Mick Woolf of WEFT described a recent attempt to set up a phone appointment with Pacifica's Acting Executive Director, Bessie Wash:
"After being put on hold for up to five minutes at a time four different times, and calling back a total of four times, I asked to set up a phone appointment for a future date. After going round and round, I was finally told, very pleasantly by Bessie's Administrative Assistant, that 'if Bessie took the time to talk with every affiliate she would never get any of her work done.' A single line speaks volumes at times."
Another contentious issue is the freedom to buy select programming. While the proposed contract states an "a la carte" price for nonaffiliates wanting to buy PNN, there is no "a la carte" provision for Democracy Now! Affiliates buy the whole package of PNN, Democracy Now! and KU satellite programming and then air the programs they want. Affiliates want the option to buy only Democracy Now! They are clearly happy with this program and want to keep airing it, but, under Pacifica's current proposal, it is available only to affiliates; some participants questioned the continued value of the label "Pacifica Affiliate" in light of Pacifica's conduct in the last year and a half. Making Democracy Now available to non-affiliates would allow dissatisfied stations to drop the "Pacifica Affiliate" label while still airing the program. It was also allow stations to stop paying for PNN if they do not intend to air it.
Caucus participants were split on the issue of whether Pacifica can or should be saved." My call to focus on building a new form of network linked through technology rather than corporate structure was enthusiastically applauded by about half the people in the room. When the time allotted for use of the room expired, Elizabeth Di Novella, News Director of conference host WORT, invited people to continue the discussion over dinner at a local restaurant, but she limited her invitation to those who wanted to save Pacifica.
Marty Durlin, KGNU's manager and co-founder of the Grassroots Radio Coalition and Conference, later summed up the effect of the Pacifica crisis on community radio. "For our stations," she said, "the issue of Pacifica is a very big one because, for fifty years, we've all been inspired by what Pacifica has done. And, of course, in the last year or so, we've all been horrified by what the management of Pacifica has done... because for a long time Pacifica was our leader and, now, either we have to lead it out of the muck, or maybe there's a whole new world out there, and a phoenix will rise from the ashes."
Discussions among the affiliates continue via the Internet. Preliminary planning is underway for the 6th Annual Grassroots Radio Conference.
(Information for this article also provided by Kathy Reuve)