KPFT Notes

KZYX&Z Community Radio currently has openings for a Business Support Coordinator and a Morning News Host & Producer. Both are full time salaried positions with benefits. Job descriptions and application information can be found at http://www.kzyx.org/jobs.html.

KZYX&Z Community Radio currently has openings for a Business Support Coordinator and a Morning News Host & Producer. Both are full time salaried positions with benefits. Job descriptions and application information can be found at http://www.kzyx.org/jobs.html.

The Center for Media and Democracy just launched Defend The Press, a new coalition of journalists, public interest groups, academics and citizen activists. Defend The Press is asking the US Army to drop its subpoena of Sarah Olson, an independent print and radio journalist based in Oakland, California, in the court martial of Iraq war resister Lieutenant Ehren Watada. Olson interviewed Watada in May 2006, and in June he announced he would not go to war in Iraq, challenging its legality. Watada’s Army court martial begins February 5, 2007, at Fort Lewis, Washington. Sarah needs your help. Visit the Defend The Press website at www.DefendThePress .org to support her!

Sarah Olson has been served with a subpoena from the President of the United States requiring her to be a prosecution witness against Lieutenant Watada. The subpoena states “failure to appear may result in your being taken into custody and brought before the court martial.” Olson risks felony charges, jail and a fine if she fails to cooperate. Sarah Olson recently wrote in an editorial column, “I stand firmly by a conviction I share with many: a member of the press should never be placed in the position of aiding a government prosecution of political speech. This goes against the grain of even the most basic understanding of the First Amendment’s free press guarantees and the expectation of a democracy that relies on a free flow of information and perspectives without fear of censure or retribution.”

Defend The Press believes journalists should not be forced to participate in government prosecutions ­ especially prosecutions seeking to criminalize political speech. Defend The Press supports Sarah Olson and journalists like her; independent journalists especially need stronger protection of their rights in the age of the Internet. If you are outraged by this attack on freedom of the press, get involved! Visit the Defend The Press website at www.DefendThePress .org to join the campaign!

Among the dozens of noted journalists and authors participating in Defend The Press are Noam Chomsky, Phil Donahue, Daniel Ellsberg, Barbara Ehrenreich, Diane Farsetta, Laura Flanders, Robert McChesney, Greg Palast, Sheldon Rampton and Howard Zinn. Read what they are saying here. Defend The Press was founded by the non-profit Center for Media and Democracy of Madison, Wisconsin, and by Free Press Working Group of Oakland, California, in the belief that the press cannot function if it is used by the government to prosecute political speech. Turning reporters into the investigative arm of the government subverts press freedoms, and chills dissenting speech in the United States.

If you believe that journalists should serve the public, not government agendas, visit the Defend The Press website at www.DefendthePress .org to make your voice heard!

For more information, visit the Defend The Press website at www.DefendThePress .org, or contact the Center for Media and Democracy by email at editor AT prwatch.org, or by phone at 608-260-9713.

The Center for Media and Democracy
520 University Avenue, Suite 227
Madison, Wisconsin 53703
Phone: 608-260-9713
Email: editor@prwatch.org

LADIES DAY Celebration and Radio Tribute
KPFT 90.1 FM- ‘Blues on the Move’
Hosted by Mr. & Mrs. ‘V’, Nancy, Buddy & Friends
Sunday, March 18, 2007: Radio Program- 8 am –2 pm
(Most folks show up around 11:30 am – Noon)
419 Lovett Blvd. KPFT Ph: 713-526-5738
Ladies we lost in 2006 : Ruth Brown, Jessie Mae Hemphill, Etta Baker,
Anita O’Day, Barbara George, Martha Tilton, Bonnie Lee, Martha Turner.

• Come celebrate the contributions of the ladies of blues, soul, jazz and R&B….or consider tuning into this radio program. The radio show runs from 8 am to 2 pm but we will be partying at the station until 3:30 pm plus……..

• Food, drink and fun provided (with contributions welcomed)—call if you want to know what to bring!

• Mingle with female musicians/vocalists from the Houston area to possibly include: Carolyn Blanchard, Tommie Lee Bradley, Jewel Brown, Sweet Mama Cotton, Trudy Lynn, Lady D, Sandy Hickey and more.

• Come and party with us as we listen to the music of: Dinah, Ruth, Aretha, Etta, Saffire, Maybelle, Alberta, Ida, Bonnie and many more.

LADIES DAY Celebration and Radio Tribute
KPFT 90.1 FM- ‘Blues on the Move’
Hosted by Mr. & Mrs. ‘V’, Nancy, Buddy & Friends
Sunday, March 18, 2007: Radio Program- 8 am –2 pm
(Most folks show up around 11:30 am – Noon)
419 Lovett Blvd. KPFT Ph: 713-526-5738
Ladies we lost in 2006 : Ruth Brown, Jessie Mae Hemphill, Etta Baker,
Anita O’Day, Barbara George, Martha Tilton, Bonnie Lee, Martha Turner.

• Come celebrate the contributions of the ladies of blues, soul, jazz and R&B….or consider tuning into this radio program. The radio show runs from 8 am to 2 pm but we will be partying at the station until 3:30 pm plus……..

• Food, drink and fun provided (with contributions welcomed)—call if you want to know what to bring!

• Mingle with female musicians/vocalists from the Houston area to possibly include: Carolyn Blanchard, Tommie Lee Bradley, Jewel Brown, Sweet Mama Cotton, Trudy Lynn, Lady D, Sandy Hickey and more.

• Come and party with us as we listen to the music of: Dinah, Ruth, Aretha, Etta, Saffire, Maybelle, Alberta, Ida, Bonnie and many more.

6:30 p.m.: Arrived and all good. Semi-packed house.

7:00 p.m.: Greg Guma is doing his presentation. He’s touched upon a variety of topics, including how programming can change (giving both sides of board members who want programming to change and staff that can be reluctant to change programming due to perceptions of board intervention); elections and whether they are bringing the necessary talents to the organization; bylaws and potential changes and staffing matters. He’s covered lots of ground so far. Asked by one board member to slow down. Guma asks to work on a civil culture, emphasizing free expression and credibility; nurturing new voices; and at least three hours a day of national programming at each station. In addition to DN, Guma recommends addition of From the Vault and Informed Dissent to the pool. He concludes by saying he’s unimpressed by his own progress, because the “deficit of trust” remains significant. he suggests taking more risks and welcoming more system changers.

7:14 p.m. Question and answer begins. Chandra Hauptman starts by saying democracy is messy. Asks for a budget for national office needs. Criticizes Francie Warner’s accessibility report that has not been seen by Accessibility Committee.

7:17 p.m.: Bob Lederer asks about Affirmative Action and producers of Informed Dissent; and what is Guma planning to incorporate diversity issues in programming. Guma says he doesn’t even have addresses for all 55 people in Informed Dissent, and invites Bob to mail them if he’d like. Guma says Affirmative Action will be monitored; issue is inclusivity not quotas.

7:20 p.m.: Sarv Randhawa asks about goal for organization. Guma replies news coverage and its comprehensiveness and objectivity are probably not values we are doing or necessarily want to do. Guma says mission is wonderful, but needs to be revisited. Sarv Randhawa asks about Guma’s past statements of concern about “ideological hegemony.” Guma says it’s important to be the megaphone of movements, but not surrender independence of thought to even critiquing allies.

7:25 p.m.: Margaret Prescott asks about outreach to diverse communities, and clarifying about quotas. Says she is encouraged by some of Guma’s comments. Guma says he has been approached by factions which claim programming should be structured around demographics of a city; in the end, he says, that will make programming incoherent.

7:31 p.m.: Thomas Ruffin comments that he’s disturbed that Guma says taking quotas farther can be divisive. Adds that he is disturbed by a white man trying to protect against diversification of programming. Guma says he doesn’t want to place down on said board member’s station to make programming 50 percent Latino programming, if we follow the Race and Nationality Policy to the letter; he says we must avoid following items to the letter.

7:36 p.m.: Adelson says we need to shift agenda due to time which involves trimming time. Motion to postpone thematic discussion passes. Break until 8 for dinner.

8: 15 p.m.: Board reconvenes for KPFT report. Duane Bradley welcomes everyone to Houston, and says he respects and honors what the board members represent.

8:18 p.m.: Duane notes his report in members’ binders, and that he will visit with people about the contents after his remarks. He highlights positives, including the 100,000-watt transmitter and incoming HD unit; grant effort to replace studio equipment; and recent Pacifica Radio Archives’ donation to Texas Southern University.

8:22 p.m.: Says drive is going okay, although some lines are down, and we only have two phone lines up.. We finally got lines going in the afternoon.

8:24 p.m.: Discusses his history at KPFT, including his work as a volunteer, programmer, staff, PD and Pacifica leader/activist. Accepted GM position five years ago next week.

8:28 p.m.: Begins what he calls a sermonette. Says he believes in Jesus’ message and tries to walk a righteous path. Knows in his heart that are all one. Talks about Sermon on the Mount, regarding peacemakers. Feels Pacifica is rife with absolutism, negativity and warring, even after Lew Hill took his life. He says people assign the worst motives, operating out of fear rather than faith. The fear prevents us from moving forward.

8:31 p.m.: “We have the power to choose faith over fear.” Says he prays we seek path of trust, faith and love. He asks us to practice the conscious choice of harmony because Pacifca and the world needs it. Asks people to please release factionalism. He believes ghosts of our ancestors are watching. Standing ovation.

8:35 p.m.: Question and answer session. Evelyn Bethune says she will do her best to follow that example. Lisa Davis asks about Black History Month. Duane says drive was moved into January. notes all Open Journals post-pledge drive will be preempted for Black History Month programming, and encouragement to include Black History Month programming in all programs. Also discusses the summer youth program.

8:45 p.m.: Michael Woodson asks placement of progressive programming on weekdays and music on weekends, and whether programming is progressive as it might be. Duane says dynamics are complex, including support of programming, success of programs, and debatability of progressivism of programming.

8:48 p.m.: Lederer asks about morning drivetime programming, specifically Morning Mix and BBC. Adelson adds a comment about tensions of financial constraints and how KPFK changed its programming and found a new audience. Duane responds that morning programming has evolved over the years. He says it’s not Uprising or Wakeup Call, but is uniquely Houston’s. BBC relationship is indicative of unique international communities who find BBC brings them a bit of home. He says there is no more a comprehensive a news source.

8:57 p.m.: Agenda deferred to let Jane Jackson speak. She speaks about first meeting Duane, and how Houston has done more with less regarding accessibility. She threatens to sue Pacifica in May if buildings are not accessible.

9:03 p.m.: Robert Scott Adams makes the WBAI report. Says he could go a lot of ways with his report, but gives a personal history.

9:09 p.m.: Says he felt like he’s not wanted here. Says he’s told by everyone that he has a tough job. Found that no faction wanted him at WBAI.

9:10 p.m.: Continues personal history. Says he appreciates being interim GM, but has removed himself from selection process.

9:12 p.m.: Talks about fund drive and staffing. Says it is hard to figure out staff, including constant warnings of enemies from everyone, except from national office. Figuring out staff has been a major task, including evaluations and setting up standards. His job is now pulling themselves out of what they are used to doing, including not working together, or extra hours on projects, and a level of comfort among staff.

9:18 p.m.:Says he wants WBAI invites everyone to become involved, as well as outreach. WBAI, he says, needs a new image, and will seek a new logo and new slogan. Media is spontaneous and there are times when Gms and Pds must make unilateral decisions to do our jobs. Purpose is not exclusion, but we need to have understanding for experience.

9:23 p.m.: If listeners knew what was going on, there would be a riot.

9:26 p.m.: Question and answer session. Berthold Reimers says he will accept challenge and volunteer at station.

9:28 p.m.: Sarv Randhawa asks about the value of the commodity. Adams says if people understood what we can do for them, tey can enact change in their communities.

9:31 p.m.: Thomas Ruffin remarks that one does not have to be liked, but you do a good job.

9:33 p.m.: Don White says WBAI lacked a management team, and asks if trust is being developed and whether team can move forward. Adams says yes. Says he told PD that he needs him here, but also Adams needs PD to do what he needs him to do.

9:35 p.m.: KPFK Report. Eva Georgia says congrats to new board. Talks about Informativo Pacifica. Mentions staff and other issues with KPFK.

9:42 p.m. WPFW Report. Last two drives fell short. Pledge levels are lower. Mentioned a few solutions, including use of Archives material. Ron Pinchback says there are some programming vacancies. Should get a PD and a News Director shortly. Celebrating 30th anniversary on February 28. Will be launching new website shortly.

9:51 p.m. KPFA Report. Lemlem Rijio covers station issues. Drive missed last goal by $100,000, but recouped $40,000 with phone bank and web campaigns. Interim PD hired after seven years without one.

10:01 p.m. Station reports end. Question and answer sessions start. LaVarn Williams asks about Pinchback’s remark about programming as real estate.

10:02 p.m. Berthold Reimers asks about exchange of information among stations, and about all the shortfalls in fund drives. Pinchback talks about constituencies change with programming, as well as annual programmer contracts and triannual evaluations. Rijio says KPFA made a commitment to ending drives on time, thus shortfalls. Adds that DN is not raising what they used to. Pinchback says operations collective recently had a productive meeting with DN. Georgia talks about community outreach efforts.

10:10 p.m.:Hauptman says we must market ourselves more. Georgia says Pacifica needs a vision and strategy for outreach.

10:11 p.m.: Lisa Davis raises issue of diversity at WPFW. Pinchback says recent postings have sought to recruit new communities. Doesn’t anticipate a huge staff turnover, and expects more diversity through attrition.

10:16 p.m.: Thomas Ruffin asks why Free Speech Radio News is at midnight, and about adoption Pacifica.org website changes. Pinchback says FSRN has not been a revenue generator. Hauptman outburst admonished by Adelson.

10:20 p.m.: Adjourn

I expect to be liveblogging tonight’s KPFT presentation by Duane Bradley at the Pacifica National Board meeting. Those in Houston are welcome to come by Houston MediaSource on Texas Avenue around 7 for his presentation. Otherwise, barring wireless problems, check here for my report to listeners about this session!

Last night’s session was good, with a solid presentation by CFO Lonnie Hicks with ideas for generating revenue, and the ever-unique public comment segment. I got to catch up with several folks, including KPFK GM Eva Georgia, fresh from her trip to South Africa, and others.

Just a few photos to share from the drive, and visit from staff as part of the weekend’s Pacifica National Board meeting this weekend.

Albina Molina of Music Beyond Borders on the air.

Duane Bradley with WBAI Interim General Manager Robert Scott Adams.

Yogi and Alxxx of GenerAsian Radio on the mic.

Kicking back in the KPFT backyard (from left) KPFA Interim GM Lemlem Rijio,
National Program Coordinator Nathan Moore, Affiliates Coordinator Ursula Ruedenberg and Pacifica Radio Archives Director Brian DeShazor with Duane.

StoryCorps is a nonprofit oral history project that exists to record the stories of everyday people. Participants come to the soundproof recording booth in pairs. They have a 40 minute time slot to interview each other about anything they’d like, and at the end of the 40 minutes, they receive a copy of the recording and an additional copy, with their permission, is sent to the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress to be kept on an archive for posterity.

We have permanent booths in New York City, but for the month of January through Feb. 3, our West MobileBooth is in Houston. We are especially interested in capturing the voices of Hurricane Katrina survivors while we are here, and I am asking that people who know of Katrina affected individuals who might be interested in participating in StoryCorps contact me directly at this email address or at 646-38-0088.

The interviews do not have to be conducted in English, and if there are any immigration sensitive issues, we do not have to use participants’ full names–a first name would suffice. This is a safe place for the survivors and rescue workers to talk about that experience, though the interview need not be not limited to the subject of Hurricane Katrina.

Again, I can be reached at this email address or at 646-388-0088. If you’d like to learn more about StoryCorps, please visit our Website, www.storycorps.net.

Many Thanks,
Kamilah Duggins
StoryCorps Facilitator

Pacifica has relaunched its website this evening. Please check out the redesign.