KPFT Notes

Immediate opening for full-time Manager of Spanish Outreach & Programming

Democracy Now! is a daily, non-profit, national, independent news hour based in New York City. In 2005 we launched Democracy Now! en espanol to produce, market and distribute Spanish language translations of Democracy Now! content. Today, 200 stations broadcast either our daily headlines or our Resumen Semanal, an 30-minute weekly round up of top headlines.

Building on this strong foundation, the Manager of Spanish Outreach & Programming will lead our committed team in a period of new growth, bringing more Spanish language Democracy Now! content to bigger audiences worldwide.

RESPONSIBILITIES

- Manage, supervise and participate in the translation of audio, video and print content between English and Spanish.
- Manage, supervise and participate in the editing of audio and video content.
- Exercise discretion in identifying new markets for distribution and opportunities for content creation.
- Market Spanish language content to stations, websites, publications, etc.
- Manage, recruit and supervise remote and New York City based staff, interns and contractors.
- Update content and supervise development of new features for Spanish section of website.
- Manage database of station, publication and website contacts.
- Develop audience for Spanish language content through outreach and publicity.
- Other duties as required.

QUALIFICATIONS

- In-depth knowledge of Democracy Now!
- Bilingual
- English/Spanish translation and/or interpretation experience
- Managerial and supervisory experience
- Publicity and/or marketing experience
- Audio/video editing
- Familiarity with Spanish language media networks
- Knowledge of Mac OS, Final Cut Pro, Office suite and Filemaker or similar database software
- Extremely well organized

This is a full-time New York City based position with benefits and salary based on experience. Democracy Now! is an Equal Opportunity Employer that actively recruits women, people of color, persons with disabilities, and persons with diverse gender and sexual identities.

To apply, please submit a resume and cover letter to job@democracynow.org with “Spanish Manager” as the subject. No phone calls.

Immediate opening for full-time Outreach & Publicity Director

Democracy Now! is a daily, non-profit, national, independent news hour based in New York City. Over the past 12 years, the outreach team at Democracy Now! has extended the reach of the program dramatically. In 2001 Democracy Now! was available on only 34 stations. Today, over 700 TV and radio stations across the globe carry the program and hundreds of thousands of viewer/listeners stream and podcast the show at democracynow.org. Democracy Now! is hiring a full-time Outreach Director to lead our ongoing efforts to reach hundreds of millions new viewers and listeners with our grassroots global news hour.

RESPONSIBILITIES

- Manage the work of outreach department staff and volunteers as they work to grow DN! audience and expand the network of stations that carry the program.
- Develop and implement DN! publicity strategy.
- Build online viewer/listenership and raise DN!’s profile on the Internet.
- Seek out new distribution platforms.
- Launch Teaching Democracy Now! project, which will provide resources and support to educators who want to use DN! content in their classrooms.
- Coordinate with Democracy Now! en espa�ol team as needed.
- Provide planning and reporting on department activities.

QUALIFICATIONS

- In-depth knowledge of Democracy Now!
- 3-5 years work experience in media field
- 3-5 years managerial experience
- Publicity and/or marketing experience
- Familiarity with viral marketing
- Familiarity with public broadcasting field
- Extremely well organized
- Flexible

This is a full-time New York City based position with benefits and salary based on experience. Democracy Now! is an Equal Opportunity Employer that actively recruits women, people of color, persons with disabilities, and persons with diverse gender and sexual identities.

To apply, please submit a resume and cover letter to job@democracynow.org with “Outreach Director” as the subject. No phone calls.

Great to see that Pacifica, which broadcast the late George Carlin’s legendary monologue, finally gets some press for it, amid remembrances of Carlin’s passing.

The Feisty Station That Defended Carlin’s ‘Seven Words’ Looks Back
by Glenn Collins
New York Times
06/25/08

As the encomiums for George Carlin have rolled in from stand-up legends, celebrities and scholars, his death at 71 has also been noted at a diminutive, iconic and iconoclastic radio station in Manhattan, WBAI-FM.

Its broadcast of the comedian’s “Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television” became a landmark moment in the history of free speech. In a 1978 milestone in the station’s contentious and unruly history, WBAI lost a 5-to-4 Supreme Court decision that to this day has defined the power of the government over broadcast material it calls indecent.

“It’s a bad time here for us because George Carlin was part of the family,” said Anthony Riddle, the station’s general manager. “I think all the producers are dealing with it in their own way,” Mr. Riddle said, some doing commentary and others running archival material, including a bleeped-out version of the “Seven Words” routine.

The 1978 ruling, often termed “the Carlin case,” was actually called Federal Communications Commission v. Pacifica Foundation, and turned on a 12-minute Carlin monologue called “Filthy Words” that appeared on a 1973 album, “Occupation: Foole.”

After the Carlin album monologue was broadcast on WBAI in 1973 during “Lunch Pail,” an afternoon show, a listener objected that his young son had heard the words on a car radio. The corporate parent of WBAI, the Pacifica Foundation, received a letter of reprimand from the commission, which the company challenged in court.

The Supreme Court said that the broadcast was indecent, though not obscene, and gave the commission the right to determine the definition of indecency and to prohibit such material from being broadcast during hours when children were likely to be listening.

Despite this legal Dunkirk, “the fact that his seven dirty words having emanated from here is kind of a source of pride,” said Jose R. Santiago, the station’s news director.

The court decision “was about more than just radio,” Mr. Riddle added, “it was about the right to be human beings in the United States.”
“It was a gutsy thing for a radio station to do, taking that stand,” he said.

Though the station was not fined, Pacifica paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees, said Larry Josephson, the WBAI station manager from 1974 to 1976.

Now, broadcasting the seven words “would cost us $360,000 per incident — so those seven words would cost us $2.5 million,” Mr. Riddle said, about equal to the station’s annual budget. “Now we’d be severely limited in taking a chance on protecting people’s free-speech rights.”

Recently Mr. Josephson had to abide by the consequences of the very commission decision he was involved in, as the independent producer of WBAI’s annual “Bloomsday” celebration on June 16, which honored James Joyce and his novel “Ulysses.”

Though the broadcast began at 7 p.m., the protagonist Molly Bloom’s famous lengthy monologue of erotic musings — which contains several forbidden words — had to be read after 10 p.m. during the “safe harbor” period when the F.C.C. allows the broadcast of what it terms “indecent” material.

The station that for generations has spoken truth to power is incongruously situated on the 10th floor of 120 Wall Street, and smack in the middle of the FM dial, at 99.5. Now in its 48th year, WBAI was both an expression, and ringleader, of the counterculture during its peak in the mid-1960s through the Vietnam War.

Observers have said that in its heyday, its on-air personalities, like Mr. Josephson, Steve Post and Bob Fass, extended the popularity of FM radio and explored the possibilities of the medium.

But its turmoil-filled subsequent history has featured a fiesta of staff clashes, board eruptions, station coups and protests. Amid accusations of every imaginable form of -ism, on-air personalities and producers have been summarily banned; on-air resignations have not been unknown.

These days WBAI, whose slogan is “Your Peace and Justice Community Radio Station,” has a paid staff of 25 and 200 independent volunteer producers, Mr. Riddle said, adding that WBAI has more than 200,000 listeners. He declined to say how many subscribers there are, but the number is believed to be fewer than 20,000; the minimum subscription rate is $25 a year.

Mr. Riddle, who joined the station in February, said that “it’s always difficult to run a democracy,” adding that “a lot of people believe in the kind of radio we provide,” since the station does not accept advertising, underwriting or grants.

If in many ways the station has changed, the legality of airing the “Seven Words” has not.

“Now, 35 years later, we can’t take a chance of playing it,” Mr. Riddle said. “Discussion of the words is not acceptable, unless you cut the heart out of it.”

This past Wednesday, the KPFT Local Station met and considered several proposals. I wanted to post about two of them.

KPFT’s LSB passed a resolution calling for the Pacifica National Board to discontinue its in-person meetings in the interest of saving money. KPFT is among all the Pacifica station facing financial hardships and PNB meetings are expensive endeavors which include flights and hotel rooms for almost two dozen national board members. These costs inevitably need to be raised by stations. Here is the text of the unamended motion passed this week, 11-3-1, by the KPFT Local Station Board:

Resolution on Pacifica National Board Meetings

Whereas the financial position of the Pacifica Foundation is dire; and

Whereas the failure to control costs at the national level creates a major unfunded burden on the local signal areas; and

Whereas the effort to make up local and national financial short-falls is translating into increasing numbers of fund drive days at all signal areas; and

Whereas increasing fund drive days has had a dramatic deleterious impact on audience; and

Whereas this negative spiral of unfunded costs and increasing fund drive days jeopardizes the very existence of the Pacifica radio network and the local signal areas;

It is therefore resolved that the Pacifica National Board discontinue in-person meetings until it has achieved financial solvency and identified funding, including contributions by individual board members, to completely defray the costs of any in-person meetings.

In another vote, the KPFT LSB waded into the ever-controversial issue of underwriting and sponsorships. Here is the text of the unamended motion before the KPFT Local Station Board: There was a motion by Ted Weisgal to refer it to the finance committee, but it failed 4-8. The motion itself passed, 9-5

Resolution on Ethical Sponsorships

Whereas KPFT fund drives are falling short of nationally established fund raising goals; and

Whereas KPFT fund drives are growing in length, decreasing in amounts raised per day and having a severe negative impact on audience; and

Whereas cost savings measures are being implemented despite the fact that KPFT has the lowest operating budget and smallest paid staff of any Pacifica station; and

Whereas additional revenue sources must be found in order to assure that KPFT continues to be a viable signal area;

It is hereby resolved that the KPFT Local Station Board requests the Pacifica National Board adopt a policy authorizing and establishing criteria for ethical sponsorships and underwriting as tools for signal areas to achieve short-term and long-term financial solvency and stability.

I believe the KPFT LSB should be commended for tackling two tough issues and, in the process, taking the lead nationally for Pacifica by bringing forward conversations that are important. Kudos to chair Bill Crosier and our board for their vision and courage.

Not Texas, but exciting news for one of my favorite towns…

METROEAST COMMUNITY MEDIA AND COALITION OF COMMUNITY GROUPS ACQUIRE RADIO LICENSE

GRESHAM, Ore., May 16, 2008-MetroEast Community Media, in collaboration with a coalition of community groups, received word this week that its application for a non-commercial educational (NCE) radio station has been approved by the Federal Communications Commission. With its transmitter located on Mt. Hood, the signal of the new station – 91.1 on the FM dial – will reach most of the East Metro area as well as much of Portland east of the Willamette.

The license was granted as part of a rare opening of non-commercial radio licenses available to non-profit organizations. The coalition has been working for more than a year to acquire the construction permit. According to Common Frequency representative Todd Urick “This is a once in a generation opportunity. This may well be the last time we have a window like this where community organizations can get a full power non-commercial FM radio license.” Common Frequency assists non-profits in acquiring NCE radio licenses.

As a non-commercial station, 91.1 will run no advertising and will be supported by its listeners and underwriting.

While decisions about the new station’s format are still being made, Bruce Fife, President of Musicians Local 99, said, “We’re hopeful that Portland’s diverse and vibrant local music scene will be well-represented on this new station. It’s long past time for these talented musicians to share valuable space on the air waves.”

Jeff Simmons, of the web-based Portland Radio Authority, looks forward to hearing local music on the FM dial. “Portland has one of the strongest independent music communities in the country. We have an international reputation for our music, but you wouldn’t know it listening to FM radio in Portland. 91.1 will give access to this vibrant cultural asset, and will open outsiders’ ears to the amazing things happening in Portland.”

Rob Brading, CEO of MetroEast said, “We’re thrilled to have acquired this license on behalf of the community. Other than our founding, this license is probably the most important event in MetroEast’s 25-year history. We’re very excited with the opportunity to offer radio with an east side emphasis and to give voice to the vibrant local music scene.”

Brading expects the station to go on the air sometime in 2009. “Next year is MetroEast’s 25th anniversary. What better way to celebrate than by going on the air with this new station?”

On Friday, the national broadcast “Celebrating Marriage Equality” will make history as the first major live broadcast of a legally recognized wedding in California.

In mid-May, the California Supreme Court ruled that people have a fundamental right to marry the person of their choice. KPFT will broadcast today at 10 a.m. the wedding of Linda Martinez and her partner Regina Rodriguez, as well as discussion with the happy couple, their minister, friends, and family

The broadcast will also features discussion and analysis with Los Angeles-area LGBT activists about the implciations of the Court decision and the looming November referendum that would constitutionally ban same-sex marriages in the state if passed. Hosted by Sonali Kolhatkar, host of Uprising Weekly, which airs Tuesdays at 1 p.m.

by Malkia A. Cyril and Jen Soriano, Center for Media Justice. Originally posted at Reclaim the Media.

Conservative Fox News host Bill O’Reilly has done it again.

Sensationalism, exaggeration, and inaccuracy are the cornerstones of Right-wing punditry- so it wasn’t surprising when Bill O’Reilly ripped the 2008 National Conference on Media Reform with ridiculous and unsubstantiated claims that “lunacy”, “danger” and “hatred” dominated the event. His “news” crew clearly didn’t experience what thousands of others did: the amazing speakers, strategic dialogue, and insightful information that predominated the conference.

What was surprising was that while some leaders of the movement for media reform rightly chastised Bill O’Reilly for his bullying, they were strangely silent on his obvious use of racist and homophobic stereotypes to bolster his claims – stereotypes we believe were leveraged to marginalize and divide our movement along lines of race, class, and gender identity.

How exactly did Bill O’Reilly try to use racism and homophobia to marginalize media reform?

During the Fox “news” show that aired on Monday June 9th, 2008, O’Reilly showed a clip of National Hip-Hop Caucus President Rev. Lennox Yearwood speaking passionately against Fox and commented, “Our crew felt they were in physical danger at this conference”. Then Mary Katherine Ham, Bill O’Reilly’s white female commentator, compared Rev. Yearwood to Barack Obama’s controversial former pastor Rev. Wright by saying that media reformers “apparently [have been] studying in the Reverend Wright school of oratory”. Most blatantly, O’Reilly said to Black Fox News correspondent Juan Williams, “Juan, you’re an African-American, you know this much better than I do – the hatred, Juan, at that conference…. was just off the chart.”

Um, why would “hatred” and (the erroneous insinuation of) “violence” be better understood by a black man?

And the homophobia…lawd-a-mercy. O’Reilly stated that in contrast to the so-called “liberal media”, Fox “played it straight” in providing critical coverage of Obama. He then claimed Fox to be a watchdog of media reform activists by touting that Fox is “outing them every time”. This wasn’t the first time that O’Reilly claimed to be “outing” media reform activists. In the lead-in show that appeared the Friday before the main story, O’Reilly referred to “outing” Dan Rather. His commentator answered, “Was he ever in the closet?”

African-Americans and queer communities might disagree with O’Reilly about the degree of their representation at the 2008 Conference on Media Reform, especially after he conjured up enough stereotypes to make his meaning clear: the media activists at the National Conference on Media reform were dangerous black men and closeted gays who represent a serious threat to traditional American values.

Let’s talk about the response.

Instead of directly confronting the bias, thereby increasing the scope and breadth of our movement, Free Press attempted to fight right wing conservatism with liberal conservatism and framed an attack on an entire movement as an attack against the narrowest version of its leadership.

Free Press’ video response to O’Reilly’ depicted Bill Moyers’ demand that O’Reilly appear on his show and stop “pretending to be a journalist”. The written response was similar, echoing the demand for real reporting and correctly claiming that media reform is a “main street” issue that belongs to everybody.

Movements that attempt to win the support of both the right and the left often choose not to confront racism because of the need to move quickly, or because of the challenges posed in moving issues through the legislature. These are real considerations. But whether under attack by Bill O’Reilly or by corporate media consolidation, ignoring blatant bias is un-strategic; it forces our movement into its most centrist position and surrenders rather than shifts the terms of debate.

And when this happens, our movement makes itself much smaller than we truly are. Today’s Main Street is no longer just middle-class white America; it is neglected and rural, targeted and urban, and more diverse than ever before. It is made up of communities structurally adjusted out of political and economic power – people of color, the foreclosed on middle class, poor & working class communities of all races, immigrants, women, queer & trans people, non-English speakers, disabled people, prisoners, progressives. Today’s Main Street requires a bigger vision for media change featuring us. Working together, we can establish compelling media policies that achieve Media Justice, with reform as a strategy on the road to an equitable redistribution of political, economic, and cultural power.

O’Reilly’s attempt to divide this growing movement for media policy change along lines of race, class and gender identity is just the latest example of the age-old tactic of using wedge communications to marginalize progressive fights with the potential to win real change. This strategy only works when elements within the targeted constituencies consent to splintering their own alliances. We won’t let that happen without a fight. We want our movement to do better. And we believe it can.

But we can only do better through broad-based alliances led by the diversity of people who make up the United States today. These alliances can only have integrity when their leadership sees racist, sexist or homophobic attacks for what they are, and chooses to respond. So when you tell O’Reilly that you don’t buy his journalism, tell him you don’t buy his racism either. And when you do, know that the Center for Media Justice and the Media Action Grassroots Network stand with all our constituencies and allies- including Free Press. Including you.

The only road to a truly free press is a movement united from the beltway to the hood against racism, sexism, and economic inequity- and for media accountability and justice for us all.

Technology and the Internet are changing politics and democracy. At the bipartisan 2008 Personal Democracy Forum, the nation’s top political professionals, technologists, and nonprofit executives will gather to discuss the future of democracy and advocacy in our networked world.

Discover how social technology can be harnessed to advance issues and ideas, and learn about the coming of “Wiki Government.” Learn more and register now at www.personaldemocracy.com/conference. Contact conference@personaldemocracy.com for special discounts available for nonprofits, group purchases and students.

On Thursday, June 26, Pacifica Radio will broadcast the House Judiciary Committee’s hearing on torture. David Addington, Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff to the Vice President, and Former Deputy Assistant Attorney General John C. Yoo will testify. Pacifica’s broadcast will start at 8 a.m., anchored from Capitol Hill by its veteran National Affairs Correspondent Larry Bensky.

Among the issues to be discussed are the use of stress and torture in interrogations; why many senior FBI and Department of Justice officials failed to take strong actions after identifying interrogation abuses; and the newly recent Supreme Court 5-4 decision upholding habeas corpus rights at Guantanamo.

Pacifica will present constitutional and legal experts to discuss the issues involved in the hearing and will invite its listeners to present comments following the hearings.

Radio Arte is looking for a summer coordinator for the Salud: Healing through the arts project. The coordinator’s responsibilities would include working with a group of 15 youth, 14-21 years of age, in researching, writing, performing and producing short “radio novelas” (radio theater) regarding issues of immigrant health. Participants will be given a stipend for their work. The course would be complemented by a series of guest speakers and workshops to aid in the curriculum and, however background in theater and/or radio production is strongly desired. Ideal applicants will also have experience working with immigrant youth, and be bilingual (English-Spanish).

Salud is a collaboration between Radio Arte, Latinos Progresando’s Teatro Americano and the National Museum of Mexican Art, part of the New Routes Initiative. Classes take place Tuesday through Friday, from 11:00-4:30 PM, at Radio Arte (1401 W. 18th Street).

To apply: Send cover letter and resume to training@radioarte.org, or 1401 W. 18th Street, Chicago, IL. 60608. For more information contact Tania Unzueta at (312) 455-9455 x 203, or tania@radioarte.org

After a long, fund-drive-inspired hiatus, I wanted to mention that I will begin posting my variety of KPFT and media content again. I have a post-drive update, some programming announcements and more.

KPFT’s recent pledge drive was long and challenging. Thank you to listeners who helped us raise $296,000 this drive. Our final tally was not as much as we had projected, but all Pacifica stations are struggling to raise money in a tough economy, so it was a positive fund drive nonetheless.

I made our two biggest announcements on Monday’s KPFT Report to the Community, the monthly managers’ call-in show I host with General Manager Duane Bradley. Along with that information, in case you missed it, I have an update since Monday to share.

First, KPFT is pleased to announce that it launched its HD-2 additional programming stream during the recent pledge drive. Last year, KPFT began delivering CD-quality audio to listeners via its HD-1 feed. The HD-2 schedule permits those who own HD Radios to hear programming concurrent with what you normally hear on our FM and HD-1 streams. Our current HD-2 schedule is as follows: Weekdays, Democracy Now! airs live at 7 a.m. and is repeated at 8 a.m.; Free Speech Radio News airs at 3 p.m.; Hard Knock Radio airs live at 6 p.m.; and Flashpoints airs live at 7 p.m. On Saturdays, hear Uprising Weekly at 10 a.m. and Explorations at 11 a.m. Sundays, KPFT presents the hour-long edition of the Pacifica Radio Archives’ popular From the Vault program at 10 a.m. At 11 to 1 p.m., tune in for Sunday Salon, live from Berkeley. Local programs on HD-2 include radio theater with Electromatic Radio, Mondays afternoons at 3:30 and freeform music with Transmissions from Mars, Sundays at 11 p.m. At this time, KPFT offers BBC news and features throughout the rest of the schedule.

Expect to see more on the HD-2 schedule in the coming weeks. Programs in the works include bringing our popular weekday community access hour, Open Journal, to the weekends, and more local additions.

Second, I am pleased to write about an exciting new national show, hosted by Dr. Helen Caldicott, launching with KPFT as its home station.

Dr. Caldicott is a noted scientist, author and activist whose honors include a Nobel Peace Prize nomination by Dr. Linus Pauling and being named by the Smithsonian Institution as one of the most influential women of the 20th century. Her new show, If You Love This Planet, will call KPFT its home, and it has already been picked by five more stations. Dr. Caldicott will bring some of the most important thinkers on science, the environment and nuclear issues to the airwaves. Tune in for promotion of If You Love This Planet with Dr. Helen Caldicott very soon. If you are outside of KPFT’s signal area, please encourage your local station to air If You Love This Planet.

On Monday’s Report to the Community, I announced that If You Love This Planet would replace Michio Kaku’s Explorations on our schedule. There was quite an outcry from listeners. Rightfully so. Dr. Kaku does an important program. The feedback was wonderful, and helped guide us down a new course. As a result, KPFT expects to maintain Explorations in its current spot and present a new, even more ideal, place for If You Love This Planet. The goal is to bring you great programming. We hope that you support both programs in future fund drives, and enjoy the perspectives Drs. Caldicott and Kaku offer.

Finally, KPFT’s Program Council is seeking listeners interested in participating in program evaluations, email me at pd@kpft.org if you are interested in helping out.