The question is does she care to save the show? Indeed, given Tuesday's actions by The KPFA Morning Show hosts and producers Aimee Allison and Brian Edwards-Tiekert, and Morning Show Executive Producer Laura Prives and Esther Manilla - with an assist from producers in Berkeley and in Los Angeles who called in "sick" to make way for The Morning Show team - they were able to host a "guerilla" show.
If you're reading this, scratching your head, and asking "why," all of this has it's roots in a long-standing disconnect between KPFA show staff, and the local board and the Pacifica Network. It's confusing that KPFA, the station that gave birth to Pacifica, would be in this position against Pacifica, but nothing about this story meets the logic test. Some back story is needed; here it is.
According to Sasha Lilley, of KPFA's Against the Grain and a critic of the management and board of KPFA, the foundation for today's unrest started in 1999, when Pacifica attempted to sell KPFA, and locked out the staff for 23-days in an effort to clear the decks. The result was a 10,000 person "Save KPFA" march in Berkeley and an end to Pacifica's lockout efforts.
In order to theoretically make a KPFA that was more responsive to its listeners and end the staff / management rancor, the organization was altered to allow board members elected by KPFA listeners, which really is anyone the board candidate could get to cast a vote. Instead of less rancor, the new system only created more arguments and power struggles.
A big reason for this was that a person can be on the KPFA Board with just 300 votes out of a listenership of around 150,000 people. So, what happens, according to Lilley, is that the board that's elected doesn't actually reflect what the listeners want, only what the individual KPFA board members want. That's the foundation for the recent problems.
Adding to that foundation is the fact that KPFA is losing money because it can't attract listeners. Arlene Engelhardt is on record as saying KPFA has lost over $1.5 million over the last two years. Moreover, from the perspective of one who's been a guest on KPFA shows several times, the organization has not learned how to master New Media to help gain more listeners.
All of that, and this bloggers observation that Liberals - and I'm Liberal - all too often eat their own for reasons of ego.
The Email In The Printer
The current controversy started when an email written by one of the KPFA managers and calling for The Morning Show hosts to be fired along with other staffers was found in a printer. According to Lilley, the misdirected email was a violation of the CWA 9415 Union contract with KPFA management.
The person targeted was Brian Edwards-Tiekert, who had the most seniority. But in order to "get him" reportedly, management had to sack the whole staff.
Brian Edwards-Tiekert A Save KPFA Enabler
According to a source via email, Brian Edwards-Tiekert's name was on a list of people to be fired that was created, reportedly, by three members of Pacifica's National Board.
The email states that Edwards-Tiekert was a "key player" in the "SaveKPFA slate" that is in power after October's KPFA Board elections.
Arlene Engelhardt Targeted As Problem
KPFA Executive Director Arlene Engelhardt was targeted by Save KPFA members as the person who made the decision to sack The Morning Show. Save KPFA reports that:
Engelhardt has rejected most of the alternative proposals put forward in a Sustainable KPFA Budget backed by workers, the local station board, and KPFA management, and refused to reveal her own salary and those of other high-level managers. While Pacifica’s plan would lay off a large portion of the union staff, the Sustainable Budget would reduce bureaucratic overhead and board expense rather than cut on-air programming.
Engelhardt planned to let go of the KPFA Morning Show staff and replace it with "piped-in" programming from Pacifica's KPFK station in Los Angeles. Instead, what she got was an on-air argument with show producer Esther Manilla on Monday...
...And a Monday show broadcast featuring Aimee Allison, Brian Edwards-Tiekert, and Morning Show Executive Producer Laura Prives featuring long-time Pacifica broadcaster Larry Bensky.
Sasha Lilley said today that some KPFA managers and board members wanted a volunteer staff. That, she said, would result in a dramatic loss of listenership, and already she's received calls from long time supporters who said they would stop contributing to KPFA if The Morning Show was axed.
No comments:
Post a Comment