The Associated Press State & Local Wire

December 13, 2001, Thursday, BC cycle

12:17 AM Eastern Time

California lawsuits against public radio organization settled

OAKLAND, Calif.

The Pacifica Foundation, the parent company of several public radio stations
around the country, settled four lawsuits against its board of directors
Wednesday.

The settlement ends more than two years of bitter legal wrangling over the
board's makeup by setting up an interim board with representatives from all
concerned sides.

Attorneys were pleased with the settlement. "It means a new direction for
Pacifica," said Adam Belsky, an attorney with Gross & Belsky LLP who
represented Pacifica listeners and the state of California. "Pacifica is in
crisis right now. The current board of directors has taken control of the
foundation and tried to change it, and alienated the listener base."

The interim board will serve for 15 months, and will be able to come to
decisions on some major issues facing the organization, such as working out
the role of the national board, said Robert Darby, an attorney with
Fulbright & Jaworski who represented the foundation.

"I think the settlement's a very positive step for the foundation, and it
puts in place a consensus-based decision-making process, and an interim
board composed of all the warring factions," he said.

Decisions will be made by a majority, but that majority must have one vote
from the different interests on the board, or must have two-thirds support,
Darby said. If no consensus can be reached, then the board can go to Alameda
County Superior Court for resolution.

In recent years, the foundation, now based in Washington, D.C., has had a
contentious relationship with some listeners.

In Berkeley, for instance, the foundation locked out KPFA-FM staffers for 17
days in 1999, following clashes over fired programmers and rumors the
station would be sold. Pacifica let staffers back in provided the station
would increase its audience size and diversity.

The foundation has also seen protests over leadership in New York City where
it has WBAI-FM and in Houston, where it owns KPFT-FM.

Pacifica was founded in 1949 by pacifists and conscientious objectors.
Unlike National Public Radio or PBS, it accepts no corporate underwriting.