Tag Archives: radio

Rogue Radio

July 26, 2015 Pacifica In Exile Leave a comment

Berkeley – Despite receiving over $9.3 million dollars in charitable contributions between October 1, 2014 and May 31, 2015, Pacifica Radio has indicated that it is unable to pay a $55,000 outstanding bill to auditor Armanino LLC in order to meet legal requirements to continue operating as a licensed not for profit organization in the State of California. California’s Nonprofit Integrity Act requires all California charitable corporations with gross revenues of $2 million or more to prepare annual ﬁnancial statements audited by an independent certiﬁed public accountant (CPA). The audited ﬁnancial statements must be made available for inspection by the Attorney General and the public no later than nine months after the close of the ﬁscal year covered by the ﬁnancial statement. Pacifica’s deadline was June 30, 2015. The radio network is in the middle of an investigation launched in December of 2014 by the Registry of Charitable Trusts at the California Attorney General’s office.

Continue reading Rogue Radio →

Audio

Edwards-Tiekert: If Management Doesn’t Grab Money

July 13, 2015 Pacifica In Exile Leave a comment

A snip from the Pacifica National Board meeting of July 9th. A fascinating exchange where the board votes to tap KPFA’s bequest money to pay off the remaining $65,000 on the bill for the last audit, as the auditor will not start the already overdue FY 2014 audit without full payment. PNB treasurer Brian Edwards-Tiekert of the Save KPFA faction was very quick in previous years to accuse Pacifica of “raiding KPFA’s bank accounts”, often falsely. Now that the Siegel/Brazon faction controls Pacifica, he changes his tune and announces at the end of this snippet that “If management doesn’t grab money from anywhere in the network it can to meet the foundation’s obligations, it is failing in its duty of care” Edwards-Tiekert’s public accusations and petition in 2009 are documented in this Berkeley Daily Planet article www.berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue/2009-…llen-Taylor and the retraction issued the following week by the reporter: www.berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue/2009-…llen-Taylor. Akio Tanaka’s editorial followed: www.berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue/2009-…Akio-Tanaka

Articles

Lords, Ladies and Peasants at KPFA: An Allegory of the Struggle at KPFA

July 11, 2015 Pacifica In Exile Leave a comment

by Daniel Borgstrom

Longtime KPFA listeners remember 1999 as the year of the Hijacking, the Lockout, and the massive response. Ten thousand people marched through the streets of Berkeley chanting “Take back KPFA!” and “Save Pacifica!” And, as a matter of fact, KPFA and Pacifica Radio were rescued. The good guys really had won, or so it seemed at the time. But the struggle has continued. Today, in 2015, the future of KPFA/Pacifica is more precarious than ever.

Sadly, this KPFA scenario is a common one in the affairs of humankind. I missed the French Revolution, but I imagine it went much like the one at KPFA. The Bastille was stormed in a day, but what followed were meetings, meetings, and more meetings. That’s probably true of all revolutions: there’s a dramatic moment, then months, years, even decades of intense, parliamentary struggle. Issues get complicated, seemingly arcane, and the struggle is vicious; people are sent to the guillotine. Why the conflict? people ask, wondering why the former comrades can’t just be nice to each other and get along. Continue reading Lords, Ladies and Peasants at KPFA: An Allegory of the Struggle at KPFA →

Audio

It’s Almost Like A Poll Tax

Audio July 9, 2015 Pacifica In Exile Leave a comment

Selected snippets of discussion from Pacifica National Board governance committee meeting on July 7th, 2015. Subject is the proposal of Save KPFA’s Mal Burnstein to raise the Pacifica voting member fee to $40. Speakers in order are KPFA listener representative Mal Burnstein, KPFK listener representative John Wenger (speaking against the idea) KPFT listener representative Nancy Saibara Naitoma (also speaking against the idea) and then Mal Burnstein again. The motion died at the end of the discussion.

Pacifica in Exile Newsletters

Empty Pockets

July 6, 2015 Pacifica In Exile Leave a comment

Originally posted July 1, 2015

Berkeley – In fairly stark terms, Affiliates Director Ursula Rudenberg addressed the national board and asked them to support a plan she has been developing for over a year for Pacifica to administer a group underwriting plan for the 200+ Pacifica affiliates (independent radio stations that partner with Pacifica – most of them already take underwriting as independent entities). Rudenberg told the board they could embrace the plan or face the erosion and end of the Affiliates program which she said was “no longer competitive”. Some snippets from the meeting were recorded by a NY-based listener and are available here. The national board did not embrace the plan. The NY listener characterized the meeting as follows: Continue reading Empty Pockets →

Pacifica in Exile Newsletters

Factional Lawyering

July 6, 2015 Pacifica In Exile Leave a comment

Originally posted June 25, 2015

Berkeley – The Pacifica National Board, after 15 months of ad-hoc legal consultation, is moving ahead with appointing a corporate counsel. Unfortunately, the fix appears to be in for the law firm of former board member Dan Siegel. Siegel and Yee has been an active factional entity within Pacifica for years, sending three of the firm’s employees to the KPFA local station board in the last six years as listener representatives with the Save KPFA group. Jose-Luis Fuentes, a Siegel and Yee associate from 2002-2014, is on the search committee appointed by the board, despite his 12 years of employment at one of the applicant firms. Continue reading Factional Lawyering →

Pacifica in Exile Newsletters

Citizen Arrests and the CIA: An LA Weekend

July 6, 2015 Pacifica In Exile Leave a comment

Originally posted June 16, 2015

Los Angeles – Pacifica’s National Board held one of its increasingly rare in-person board meetings in Los Angeles this past weekend, as LA station KPFK, the most financially successful Pacifica station as recently as 2013, contines its rapid free fall into insolvency. In May, outgoing IED Margy Wilkinson saddled KPFK with a community college teacher as a new general manager, Leslie Radford, whose only credential appears to be a few years as a factional fighter on the local and national boards. Continue reading Citizen Arrests and the CIA: An LA Weekend →

Pacifica in Exile Newsletters

Wilkinson’s Note Pad

July 6, 2015 Pacifica In Exile Leave a comment

Originally posted June 9, 2015

Berkeley- A note pad found on the floor at the Pacifica National Board meeting in November of 2013 and belonging to soon-to-be board chair and interim executive director Margy Wilkinson has been given to Pacifica In Exile. The note pad details strategic notes regarding the board’s in-person meeting, as well as notes from a few KPFA local station board meetings of the same period. A full scanned copy of the contents will be made available in the future, but some highlights from the national board section are below. Continue reading Wilkinson’s Note Pad →

Pacifica in Exile Newsletters

Uprising at KPFK

July 6, 2015 Pacifica In Exile Leave a comment

Originally posted June 1, 2015

Berkeley-Controversy continues to rage at Pacifica’s Los Angeles station KPFK-FM, after former board chair Margy Wilkinson appointed former board member and factional crony Leslie Radford as the new permanent general manager at Pacifica’s LA station KPFK, one day before vacating her position as interim executive director. Incoming ED John Proffitt was driving across the country to begin his tenure on May 11th when the hire was made. The manuever has thrown Pacifica into chaos and deeply depressed fund drive revenues at KPFK. As recently as 2013, KPFK was the network’s most successful fundraiser. Continue reading Uprising at KPFK →

Pacifica in Exile Newsletters

Is Broadcasting Community Events Selfish?

July 6, 2015 Pacifica In Exile Leave a comment

Originally posted May 23, 2015

Berkeley- Former Board chair Margy Wilkinson, who deposed her predecessor in March of 2014 and then served as Pacifica’s interim executive director for most of the last 15 months pulled a last-minute fast one a day and a half prior to new ED John Proffitt’s arrival in Berkeley, by appointing former board member and factional crony Leslie Radford as the new permanent general manager at Pacifica’s LA station KPFK. The maneuver has thrown Pacifica into chaos and incited an uprising at LA station KPFK. Continue reading Is Broadcasting Community Events Selfish? →

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