KPFT Notes

Please tune in to KPFT 90.1FM Houston or www.kpft.org on Christmas Day December 25 and New Year’s Day January 1, from 2-3 pm local time when koy Severino will be hosting Music Beyond Borders.

On Christmas Day, Koy will be presenting an entire hour of Bob Marley and the Wailers’ spiritual songs.

On New Year’s Day, Koy will spin an hour’s worth of Juan de la Cruz Band, pioneers of Pinoy rock, including work from their respective solo albums and a special rendition of the Pinoy rock anthem Himig Natin performed live by Joey Pepe Smith, which Koy recorded at the Manila Metropolitan Museum during the summer of 2007.

Music Beyond Borders webcasts around the world on www.kpft.org.

Word from KPFT’s own Tony Diaz:

Nuestra Palabra: Latino Writers Having Their Say announced Friday, December 12, 2008 at the VIP reception for its 6th Annual Edward James Olmos Houston Latino Book and Family Festival that this was the last year it would be organizing the event.

“Ten Years ago, when Nuestra Palabra started in the party hall of Chapultepec Restaurant, people told us that there was not enough interest in Latino literature and that there were not enough Latino Writers to sustain our work. Ten, over 300 writers, and tens of thousands of attendees later, we are thrilled to have defied the odds,” said Tony Diaz, the group’s founder.

“Now as we celebrate over a decade of work in the community, we ask you to believe in us again, as we put all our time, energy, and resources on the line again to update our vision for the Latino Literary Renaissance. That includes no longer organizing the Edward James Olmos Houston Latino Book and Family Festival.”

Some of the major factors in this decision include:

• Costs of organizing a cultural exposition at a mega-sized hall such as the George R. Brown. Book fairs such as the Miami Book Fair or the Texas Book Festival do not function using the model of the business expo, of which the EJOLBFF is based on.
• The Economic Crunch. In January, Continental Airline had to stop sponsoring nonprofit organizations. Their support helped us defray the costs of flying in the superstar and celebrity authors necessary to fill a massive hall like the GRB.
• Banking institutions had to pull their support.
• Publishers have stopped paying for expenses associated with sending authors on tours.
• Also, the name “Latino Book and Family Festival” does not inspire non-Latinos to come and explore our literature. As an organization of writer and thinkers, it is our job to be on the vanguard of brilliant ways of conveying our literature to other cultures. We will dedicate 2009 to devising new ways to make the Latino Literary Renaissance bloom.

We will be discussing these and other reasons and issues surrounding our decision on our radio show which airs Tuesdays, 730 p – 830 p, on 90.1 FM, KPFT, and on our website: www.nuestrapalabra.org, both of which are projects that we can focus on more now that we will not have to dedicate over half of our season planning for the EJOLBFF.

Nuestra Palabra thanks all the authors, publishers, and volunteers who have worked with us on these 6 LBFF. We also invite them to dream big and work hard to help us pave the way for the next phase of the Latino Literary Renaissance in 2009.

Jeff Chang mourns the demise of National Public Radio’s News & Notes, an African-American-themed program recently axed by NPR amid a wave of cuts. Although most in Houston hadn’t heard the show (NPR affiliate KUHF does not air the show on its regular or HD-2 schedules), jounralist Farai Chideya did a unique, engaging mix of news and talk that will not be easily replaced.

In his piece, Chang alleges longstanding reluctance by NPR to stand with journalists of color, citing NPR’s stunning split with Tavis Smiley a few years back (Smiley later criticized NPR for lack of diversity), among other incidents. While I could almost predict how NPR would respond to such speculation (e.g. show not extensively carried, et al.), Chang makes valuable points. Is NPR all that interested in African-American audiences? And does seeking to make the programming sound more hip translate into gaining new members (not just listeners) or alienation of old ones? I’m certain both questions will hang in the air for awhile.

There is now an online petition to save News & Notes. Good luck with that. Jack & Jill Politics has a far more provocative post on this topic.

Pacifica, for its part, often tussles with issues of mission and revenues.To be frank, I doubt we strike the balance NPR is seeking any better, and occasionally we do it worse. Given all the money bound up in underwriting and such, I do not admire NPR’s position. I do not have all the answers, but doubt dumping a journalist like Farai Chideya is the answer.

PRPD reports Vicki Santa, longtime station manager of WMNF in Tampa, Florida, has died. She had stepped down earlier this year due to health reasons, and was admitted to the hospital for an illness. Vicki was an inspiration to many community radio managers, and she will be missed.

Deputy Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs at the U.S. Department of State David Merkel will on KPFT News (5 p.m.) tomorrow. Please tune in. Merkel is responsible for United States foreign policy towards Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova. He’ll be in Houston for a meeting with the Europe Committee of the Greater Houston Partnership, among other meetings.

Current reports National Public Radio’s stormy E-Verify relationship is seeing no signs of sunshine.

The Electronic Privacy Information Center has filed a Freedom of Information Act request seeking documents from the Department of Homeland Security related to the NPR underwriting credits that have sparked an outcry.

In a letter sent last week to NPR Ombud Alicia Shepard, the lead on NPR’s E-Verify defense, EPIC, the ACLU, Free Press and the National Immigration Law Center called for NPR to discontinue the E-Verify underwriting announcement. The publicly posted letter reads, in part:

EPIC, the CATO Institute, the Government Accountability Office, the Social Security Administration’s Inspector General, and others have detailed the many shortcomings of E-Verify, including its high cost, high levels of inaccuracies in the databases on which the program is based, employer misuse resulting in discrimination and unlawful termination, and the lack of privacy protections. While ineffective as a solution to U.S. immigration problems, many experts have documented how the flawed E-Verify program could deny many eligible individuals – including U.S. citizens and legal immigrants — the opportunity to work.

The ad running on NPR radio stations is part of a political campaign to make E-Verify mandatory for all U.S. employers. The Department of Homeland Security is actively recruiting employers to enroll. Several states, including Arizona, now require employers – approximately 200,000 employers — to enroll in E-Verify. A new regulation, issued by the DHS, requires federal contractors to use the program, even after similar proposals were
rejected by Congress.

We are concerned about efforts to expand this problem-ridden program that threatens to harm the livelihood of millions of U.S. workers.

We appreciate that NPR receives funding from many different sources and also that funding from sponsors does not imply endorsement by NPR. However, unlike typical underwriting credits that are heard on NPR, the DHS item explicitly promoted a controversial program and made a factual assertion that is in dispute.

On its website, EPIC cites FCC policy in calling for identification, but not promotion, of underwriters. E-Verify, EPIC argues, is promoted by NPR.

Previous attempts by NPR to tag E-Verify underwriting criticism as pro-immigrant grandstanding (my phrasing, not NPR’s) seemed to not stick, and critics are clearly graining control of the argument. With nearly two months to go in the NPR E-Verify ad, it should be intriguing to see how NPR responds. Still no word on changes to best practices or rejection of DHS money.

Previous Posts on E-Verify:

• NPR Defends E-Verify Underwriting
• More on NPR E-Verify Issue

Adopt A Cat, a local no-kill cat rescue organization, needs volunteers for the weekends of December 13 and 14 and 20 and 21 to play Santa Claus. No experience is needed, you can be male or female, and the suit will be provided.

Your volunteer job consists of taking photos as Santa with lovable pets. Proceeds from those photos benefit Adopt A Cat’s efforts in the Houston area. I did this last year and it was really fun… the suit’s a bit warm, but it was great to pose with dogs and cats of all sizes.

Santa headquarters will be at the Petsmart at 8230 Kirby, across the street from Reliant Stadium, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Interested Santas can do a full shift, or whatever hours work for you.

Please call 281-580-6652 or email info@adoptacattexas.org to participate.

Audio activism at its finest.

The South African organization Gender Links launched its annual campaign this past week, delivering first hand accounts of women and men affected by gender based violence. Take a listen:

The recordings are part of a mix CD of music, feature reports, interviews and testimonials from survivors of violence. The mix CDs are intended for play on public transport in South Africa. Interested in getting your own copy? Check here.

A lightly reported story this week deserves some recognition here because, if successful, the changes advocated represent a sea change for independent media and culture.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation filed petitions seeking exemptions for media actions related to the Digital Milennium Copyright Act. These exemptions would protect noncommercial video creators to utilize fair-use media in remixed clips; mobile phone owners who want to unlock phones for use on other networks; and phone owners who want the option of importing applications from places other than a carrier’s propeitary venue (*cough* IPhone App Store *cough*).

Currently, DCMA restrictions make using film footage in a documentary fashion a crime. And the DCMA approach essentially supports the phone carriers’ premise that, though you bought the product, you have no right to tweak it or take it elsewhere. Imagine applying that logic to your car, computer or home. Breaking the restrictions is a good thing for industry and consumers.

Comments supporting or opposing the proposed exemptions are due by Feb. 2, 2009.

The PRPD blog reminds us that National Public Radio continued defense mode yesterday on Talk of the Nation (airing in Houston on KUHF’s HD-2) regarding the E-Verify underwriting controversy. I’m unconvinced NPR’s attempts to deflect criticism as steeped in immigration partisanship (per the program and the ombud column) versus bona fide criticism of E-Verify specifically are sticking with listeners, at least judging from the program calls. Listeners seemed instead genuinely interested in seeing substance related to underwriting issues. NPR’s Blog of the Nation shares more, including a recent case where a judge ruled a public-radio station had the right to reject ads.

Conspiciously absent from NPR’s explanations are discussions on changes to underwriting best practices and acknowledgment of past siding with controversial underwriters over listener concerns. Also absent is any statement by NPR to decline future Homeland Security money.