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StumbleUponSupport Grows for Dissenting Pacifica Board Members
2/6/01
Amid a crisis that threatens the future of the Pacifica Radio Network, more than 80 prominent progressives have rallied in support of the six dissidents on the Pacifica Foundation's board. These board members want Pacifica's national leadership to reverse course on its takeover of WBAI, and to "build democratic decision-making structures throughout Pacifica."
A statement supporting the dissenting board members (below) was signed by the Local Advisory Board chairs of four of Pacifica's five stations and by former Pacifica staffers and board members, as well as by political figures, community leaders, journalists, artists and academics. These include Dennis Brutus, Noam Chomsky, Martín Espada, Frances Farenthold, June Jordan, Tom Morello, Tim Robbins, Edward Said, Studs Terkel, Urvashi Vaid and many more.
WE PROTEST PACIFICA'S NATIONAL LEADERSHIP ACTIONSAND SUPPORT THE DISSENTING BOARD MEMBERS
In an action reminiscent of its closing of Berkeley's KPFA in 1999, the Pacifica Foundation's national leadership is now moving against New York's WBAI. The station's managers have been fired, door locks changed in the middle of the night, staffers banned from the station and protesters arrested. Security guards have been brought in to enforce the changes imposed without warning or explanation by Pacifica's Washington, D.C.-based executive director, backed by its board leadership.
Another target of the action, Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman, hangs on to her job amid harassment on air and off by Pacifica's national leaders and recently installed station management in New York. Meanwhile, WBAI's newly appointed morning show host has spoken on-air in support of the Pacifica board selling off WBAI.
For most of its 50-year history, Pacifica has been a public resource for the progressive community. Recently, a self-selected, unaccountable and secretive board majority has acted as if it owns Pacifica and has ruled by fiat. In the wake of this latest crisis, six courageous members of Pacifica's national board issued the following public dissent on January 18 in hopes of getting the Pacifica network back on path.
"We are deeply troubled by the recent developments at WBAI radio in New York City, one of the five stations of the Pacifica Foundation. It is not too late to remedy the situation, and we are working toward that end….
"—The National Board must take steps to ensure the immediate reinstatement of the three people fired at WBAI: Station Manager Valerie Van Isler, Program Director Bernard White, and Producer Sharan Louise Harper. According to the information we have, the Pacifica Foundation's internal procedures were not followed, there was not compliance with union contracts, and none were informed of the cause of their firings. All three of these people should be reinstated as full time employees without further delay. Existing internal processes which address job performance, or any other concerns, must be followed.
" —The continuing 'banning' of long time volunteers and freelance reporters, the decision to not allow the Local Advisory Board to meet at the station, and the use of security personnel are all having a chilling effect at the station. Action must be taken now to lift the bans, to ensure that the LAB can meet at the station and to remove security people from the station….
" —As members of the National Board, we believe it is critically important to review the internal processes within the Pacifica Foundation. We must build democratic decision making structures throughout Pacifica and re-commit ourselves to work for the principles of free-speech, community-based, corporate-free radio, as first articulated by Pacifica Foundation's founder, Lewis Hill.
Pete Bramson [S.F. Bay area]Leslie Cagan [New York]Rabbi Aaron Kriegel [Los Angeles]Beth Lyons [New York]Tomas Moran [S.F. Bay area]Rob Robinson [Washington D.C]"
We support the efforts of the dissenting Pacifica board members, especially their call to "build democratic decision making structures throughout Pacifica and re-commit ourselves to work for the principles of free-speech, community-based, corporate-free radio, as first articulated by Pacifica Foundation's founder, Lewis Hill."
(Affiliations for ID only)Joanne Bobb, WBAI Local Advisory Board chairSherry Gendelman, KPFA LAB chairDavid Adelson, KPFK LAB chairSam Husseini, WPFW LAB chairMichael Albert, Z MagazineSalaam Al-Marayati, Muslim Public Affairs CouncilAris Anagnos, human rights activistGlenn Austin, Americans for Radio DiversityDean Baker, Center for Economic and Policy ResearchBen H. Bagdikian, "Media Monopoly"David Barsamian, Alternative RadioFrances M. Beal, Black Radical CongressJoel Beinin, Middle East history, StanfordPhyllis Bennis, Institute for Policy StudiesLarry Bensky, former Pacifica national correspondentElaine Bernard, Harvard Trade Union ProgramPatrick Bond, former Pacifica reporterLydia Brazon, Humanitarian Law ProjectGray Brechin, authorMichael Bronski, gay activist/scholarDennis Brutus, Africana Studies professorAndrea Buffa, Media AllianceLinda Burnham, Women of Color Resource CenterJeff Cohen, FAIRNoam Chomsky, MITJose B. Cuellar, La Raza Studies professorMike Davis, authorHari Dillon, Vanguard FoundationBrian Dominick, community organizerDoug Dowd, economistMartin Espada, poetFrances "Sissy" Farenthold, attorney/professorLawrence Ferlinghetti, City Lights BooksLaura Flanders, radioforchange.comSheryl Flowers, former KPFA hostTed Glick, Independent Progressive Politics NetworkTami Gold, filmmakerDorothy Guellec, health commentatorRobin Hahnel, economics professorBetsy Hartmann, population and development professorDon Hazen, AlterNet.orgEdward S. Herman, authorJim Hightower, commentatorJanine Jackson, FAIRDiana Johnstone, journalistVan Jones, Ella Baker Center for Human RightsJune Jordan, poetRobin D.G. Kelley, history/Africana studies professorMargaret Ratner Kunstler, William Kunstler Fund for Racial JusticeMatthew Lasar, "Pacifica: The Rise of an Alternative Network"Aurora Levins Morales, historian, Oakland MuseumDavid T. Lopez, civil rights attorneyBarbara Lubin, Middle East Children's AllianceRobert McChesney, communications professorEric Mann, Labor/Communisty Strategy CenterElizabeth Martinez, Institute for Multiracial JusticeMark Crispin Miller, Project On Media OwnershipGwendolyn Mink, politics professorRussell Mokhiber, Corporate Crime ReporterTom Morello, Rage Against the MachineCarlos Munoz, Jr., Ethnic Studies, UC BerkeleyRobert Naiman, Center for Economic and Policy ResearchGus Newport, former Berkeley mayorKwazi Nkrumah, National Green Justice CouncilMichael Parenti, authorCynthia Peters, East Timor Action NetworkPeter Phillips, Project CensoredKatha Pollitt, columnist, The NationMargaret Randall, author/poetTim Robbins, actor/directorMarta Russell, authorEdward Said, Columbia UniversityAngela Sanbrano, CARECENLuis Sanchez, Innercity StruggleLydia Sargent, Z MagazineCarol Sobel, civil liberties attorneyStephen R. Shalom, professorNorman Solomon, columnist/media criticSouthern California Americans for Democratic ActionMakani Themba-Nixon, community organizerStuds Terkel, journalistDeborah Toler, Africa trade specialistUrvashi Vaid, National Gay and Lesbian Task ForceAlice Walker, AuthorMark Weisbrot, Center for Economic and Policy ResearchRobert Weissman, Essential ActionTim Wise, AWAREHoward Zinn, historian
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