• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

LA Times: Op-Ed KPFK's death by democracy

R

radiocph

On Aug. 17, KPFK Pacifica Radio's newly appointed general manager, Leslie Radford, called a staff meeting at the 56-year-old leftist public radio station. She promptly informed us that in two weeks' time, all workers would have their salary cut in half for a period of four months. Although the decision was made in violation of our employee union contract, Radford — citing hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt — said her hands were tied.

Those of us on the inside are now wondering whether this already fragile institution can survive yet another austerity measure in a long line of layoffs and reductions. Continuous turnover of upper management over the last decade, coupled with nonexistent long-term financial planning, has turned Southern California's oldest public radio station into a micro-version of Greece.

[...]

http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-0924-kolhatkar-pacifica-kpfk-20150924-story.html
 
Yes I had read an article on that the other day and read they are doing up to 95% fundraising these days. Quite sad for what was or possibly still is the most powerful FM Station in the city or at least North Hollywood, which I found strange as North Hollywood doesn't run on Ventura Blvd or Cahuenga? I also thought it was now almost 100% volunteers these days. I was there the night the SLA delivered the Patty Hurst tape. Personally I think Patty was in on the whole thing, and as we know excelled in robbing Banks!

Why doesn't Pacifica just sell all their properties? Remember Captain Midnight?
 
Having a "hunger for programming" doesn't translate into operating funds. That's the problem facing non-commercial media today.

The over-abundance of available content has made it next to impossible for the stations to raise any money. The harder they try, the less comes in.
 
Those of us in Houston have been keeping an eye on KPFT, which would probably be the odd man out should Pacifica decide to sell off one of its stations to raise money.
 
From all I have read about the woes of Pacifica, it is an organization that has made many major mistakes and an organization that is losing devoted fans. I hate to stereotype, but I have seen many such groups suffer from infighting. It is the same thing you see in religious denominations that were once one and splinter in to 7 or 8 different groups becoming weaker in numbers and effectiveness with every split.

Anytime there is a sinking ship where you are part of the crew, it is very difficult to think beyond the ship for a plug to stop the sinking. It seems Pacifica is suffering from in the box thinking and continues to grasp at straws as they bail water. It could be the board, the staff or any combination of that. It seems they continue to get further from the shore by self-imposed barriers.

If major changes and lines of thinking are not forthcoming, I suspect their days are numbered. Maybe syndicating makes more sense. I understand some LPFMs carry quite a few Pacifica programs. If they can't own the frequencies in the future, at least their voices can be heard sometimes on stations here or there. The core listener base seems to have diminished greatly over the years, possibly over disagreements or personal obligations. If I have learned anything in radio, it is that nothing remains the same. Certainly radio today operates very differently than it did 10, 20, 30 years ago or more. You either evolve or fade away.
 
b-turner said:
You either evolve or fade away.
Click to expand...

They make the comparison to Greece, but that's overly optimistic, because the world community actually cares about Greece. No one cares if Pacifica goes away except the people who work there. That's not good. A non-profit exists on relationships, and there don't seem to be any here. They resent NPR or other public broadcasting operations. They aren't doing what they should be doing to build relationships with the artistic or political communities in LA. Every step they take is met with opposition from within, ignoring that that opposition merely accelerates the demise. Arguing over who's job it is to bale out the boat does nothing to save the ship from sinking. Even in a democracy, there needs to be a leader, and there doesn't seem to be one here.
 
Hot Hits said:
Quite sad for what was or possibly still is the most powerful FM Station in the city or at least North Hollywood, which I found strange as North Hollywood doesn't run on Ventura Blvd or Cahuenga?
Click to expand...

Actually, Ventura Blvd. turns into Cahuenga Blvd. just past Lankershim Blvd., at which point, according to the city's neighborhood council territory map, you are in "Hollywood Hills West". (It's Studio City on the other side of Lankershim.)

http://empowerla.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Hollywood-Hills-West-Neighborhood-Council-Map.pdf
 
Mediafrog+ said:
Those of us in Houston have been keeping an eye on KPFT, which would probably be the odd man out should Pacifica decide to sell off one of its stations to raise money.
Click to expand...

Actually, if things ever get to the point where they need to sell stations, their deficit will be so large that they will need to sell one of the stations on a commercial frequency. KPFT, being on 90.1, would not be an early candidate.

However, either WBAI in New York (99.5) or KPFA in Berkeley (94.1) would set off a bidding war if placed on the market. Both are full-power, full-market signals on commercial channels and would attract the interest of practically every major radio ownership group in the country.
 
My sense is that the only way they sell is if they're forced to by the courts. And even then, it'll be a bitter custody battle that'll drag on for years, with the union demanding part of the proceeds to make up for lost wages from employees, and all kinds of scavengers fighting over the bones.
 
K.M. Richards said:
Actually, Ventura Blvd. turns into Cahuenga Blvd. just past Lankershim Blvd., at which point, according to the city's neighborhood council territory map, you are in "Hollywood Hills West". (It's Studio City on the other side of Lankershim.)

http://empowerla.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Hollywood-Hills-West-Neighborhood-Council-Map.pdf
Click to expand...
Yes they list both Studio City and North Hollywood as their address on the KPFK site. As you know I've been gone from that part of Southern CA (still in it) since 1998 and so many new Towns have popped up. I had never heard of Hollywood Hills West and KPFK doesn't seem to use that locale either. As a former DA Operator covering all of L.A. County with one area code I got to know every town there ever was, sometimes the hard way by getting tagged with a mistake. That was a harsh job, I liked mailing Dimes to people better and HOBIS (Hotel Billing). Thanks KM!
 
Hot Hits said:
Yes they list both Studio City and North Hollywood as their address on the KPFK site. As you know I've been gone from that part of Southern CA (still in it) since 1998 and so many new Towns have popped up. I had never heard of Hollywood Hills West and KPFK doesn't seem to use that locale either. As a former DA Operator covering all of L.A. County with one area code I got to know every town there ever was, sometimes the hard way by getting tagged with a mistake. That was a harsh job, I liked mailing Dimes to people better and HOBIS (Hotel Billing). Thanks KM!
Click to expand...

Some areas of what is really just the City of Los Angeles have been given neighborhood names.

Hollywood is a good example. There is no city of Hollywood.

North Hollywood has been chopped into West Toluca Lake, too.

I never knew exactly where Studio City and North Hollywood started and ended, nor where on The Boulevard it became Cahuenga. I guess that the people at KPFK don't know for sure either. In that case, I'd expect them to use Studio City as on a map, it is to the left of North Hollywood.
 
DavidEduardo said:
I never knew exactly where Studio City and North Hollywood started and ended, nor where on The Boulevard it became Cahuenga. I guess that the people at KPFK don't know for sure either. In that case, I'd expect them to use Studio City as on a map, it is to the left of North Hollywood.
Click to expand...

Actually, North Hollywood is to the north and slightly west of where KPFK is. The boundary between Studio City and North Hollywood doesn't technically exist as a small piece of Toluca Lake is in between them (along Lankershim between Moorpark and Camarillo Sts.) North Hollywood is east of the 170 freeway and west of the Burbank city limits, north of the 134 freeway.
 
K.M. Richards said:
Air America was a stroll in the park compared to this minefield, Patrick.
Click to expand...

I never realized how fare into the minefield KPFK was until, some years ago, I heard one of the weekend Spanish programs purporting to be Central American news reviews. In one, the hosts advocated murdering and killing the "oligarchs" and their "puppet government" in Honduras. They went into detail on how the dirty money grubbing capitalists should surrender not their money but their lives. I told my news director at KTNQ, himself a Honduran, and he listened.

With the appropriate "you are being recorded" and such he called one of the hosts and asked why he advocated the murder of business, civic and government leaders." The guy denied it. SFX: roll the tape. "You did say it there". Answer "you are misinterpreting me"- And so on....

The next day, the news guy called someone in KPFK. He asked, in English, about the show. He was told he probably did not understand Spanish well, and that the show did not advocate violence. The KTNQ newsperson mentioned where he was from and was told that he probably had forgotten his Spanish since he was here now.

This denial went through several more cycles, including a call where my news director was addressed as "comrade" and lectured about falling victim to the industrial military complex. After a few days, it got tiring since nobody would admit what they were broadcasting or try to justify the content. It was just all about that river in Egypt.
 
DavidEduardo said:


I never realized how fare into the minefield KPFK was until, some years ago, I heard one of the weekend Spanish programs purporting to be Central American news reviews. In one, the hosts advocated murdering and killing the "oligarchs" and their "puppet government" in Honduras. They went into detail on how the dirty money grubbing capitalists should surrender not their money but their lives. I told my news director at KTNQ, himself a Honduran, and he listened.

With the appropriate "you are being recorded" and such he called one of the hosts and asked why he advocated the murder of business, civic and government leaders." The guy denied it. SFX: roll the tape. "You did say it there". Answer "you are misinterpreting me"- And so on....

The next day, the news guy called someone in KPFK. He asked, in English, about the show. He was told he probably did not understand Spanish well, and that the show did not advocate violence. The KTNQ newsperson mentioned where he was from and was told that he probably had forgotten his Spanish since he was here now.

This denial went through several more cycles, including a call where my news director was addressed as "comrade" and lectured about falling victim to the industrial military complex. After a few days, it got tiring since nobody would admit what they were broadcasting or try to justify the content. It was just all about that river in Egypt.
Click to expand...

The whole station is a case study in what would happen if, God forbid these guys ever did get some semblance of power. They have one of the most powerful FM sticks in a liberal city and state, and yet their hate-filled communistic tripe can't even draw meager tenths of a share of listening audience. From LA Weekly (http://www.laweekly.com/news/left-wing-darling-pacifica-radio-is-sliding-into-the-abyss-4521218)

During an average 15-minute period, just 700 people listen to its Los Angeles station, 90.7 FM KPFK, for at least five minutes, according to Nielsen Audio, which monitors radio ratings. For L.A.'s other public radio stations, KCRW and KPCC, that number is 8,000 and 20,000, respectively. KPFK draws roughly one one-thousandth of all radio listeners in the Metro Los Angeles area.


Their lack of any moral leadership and constant infighting has decayed the organization into a hate-filled pile of rot (from whatever noble intentions it may have had decades ago when it was founded). And David, I have heard similar things to what you have discussed said in English. I think since they know no one is listening, they can get away with it. They are right.
 
ChannelFlipper said:
The whole station is a case study in what would happen if, God forbid these guys ever did get some semblance of power.
Click to expand...

How right you are. It would probably be the shortest reign in modern history, as the revolt by the masses would begin five minutes in.

BTW, to amplify on what the Weekly reported, in the last book they were tied for last place in all three key demos -- 18-34, 18-49 and 25-54 (excluding out-of-market signals) -- at that magic ratings share number which is fractionally just higher than a 0 share.
 
ChannelFlipper said:
The whole station is a case study in what would happen if, God forbid these guys ever did get some semblance of power.
Click to expand...

Most of the folks at Pacifica are against centralized government or power, so it's no surprise that they run their stations this way. They use the word "democracy" a lot, but they really prefer anarchy.
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.
Back
Top Bottom