Steven Starr (repost)
Message from KPFK's interim general manager
Sun Feb 17 16:46:10 2002 209.179.247.149
Dear KPFK Listener,
Welcome to a new beginning!
When Ed Pearl asked me to write a quick note to his friends, I jumped at the chance. As I'm sure he's told you, I've been making the rounds of FPNN [Free Pacifica Neighborhood Network] meetings, and I've heard a great many of your suggestions and concerns. FPNN meetings provide an excellent forum for community input, and I'm grateful for the opportunity to meet with you.
Beyond that, and on behalf of the diverse staff and programmers here at the station, thank you so much for your support of KPFK. You're continued support, at this critical time, makes all the difference to us. KPFK's diverse mix of news, talk, culture and music, including "Democracy Now," can only be possible if listeners like you empower our important mission by keeping KPFK independent of corporate sponsorship and influence.
As you know, Amy Goodman's show has returned to our airwaves, broadcasting during its original time slots -- 6 am and 9 am, Monday through Friday. David Barsamian's Alternative Radio is back Thursday and Friday at 3 pm. Seditious Beats has returned to it's Friday nighttime slot, the Community Calendar is starting back, and Report To The Listener is back. Further, I'm happy to announce that, starting tomorrow, you'll be hearing Free Speech Radio News every weekday at 6:30 pm. And there are exciting plans for other program initiatives that I look forward to sharing with you soon.
I trust these developments show that we are listening close to you, the listener, and that we've considered your concerns carefully. As Interim Station Manager, I'll continue to be deeply committed to building a closer and more interactive relationship with listeners.
Now, if I may, I'd ask that you please listen very closely to what I'm about to say.
We need your help. At this very moment. Right now.
There are serious challenges facing us. The Pacifica Network is faced with an unprecedented capital deficit of $4.8 million and a projected budget gap in the 2002 calendar year of $1.5 million. For those of you unfamiliar with the background, a brief summary of how this happened is in order.
The network plunged into deep crisis following the 23-day lock out of staff and community at Pacifica station KPFA in Berkeley in the summer of 1999 and the so-called "Christmas Coup" at Pacifica station WBAI in New York in December 2000, which led to mass firings.
Listeners around the country, National Board members, and Local Advisory Board members filed a series of lawsuits charging malfeasance and the undermining of Pacifica's mission.
Coupled with a nationwide grassroots campaign aimed at ousting Pacifica's leadership, the lawsuits led to a December 2001 settlement that created an interim board, changed the network's leadership, and mandated revisions of the by-laws and empowerment of the Local Advisory Boards with listener-member elections.
But in the year before the settlement was reached, network executives went on a spending spree never before seen in network history - hiring the most expensive professional service firms in the country and handing out huge pay raises to loyalists. As a result, Pacifica went from a $600,000 surplus in September 2000 to a working capital deficit of almost $5 million by December 2001, a decline of $6 million in 15 months.
The squandering of listener resources was punctuated by a series of golden parachute severance packages handed out by the previous leadership, costing the network some $500,000. Further, Pacifica has been billed some $2.2 million by a range of top-tier law firms, public relations firms, and security companies during the past year.
On a local level, KPFK is currently $250,000 in debt. There are major financial challenges confronting the completion of our Transmitter Project, intended to revitalize the largest radio signal west of the Mississippi, and our studio construction, designed to facilitate an increase in local programming, has been halted.
There is no question that we will pull out of this crisis, but we must have your help.
To stop the financial hemorrhaging, we are taking immediate action on a variety of fronts: we're reorganizing our satellite distribution service and national programming division, thus saving more than one million dollars over the next year.
Democracy Now!, is being reorganized to save some 25 percent in costs to the network. Pacifica's other national units, including the Pacifica Radio Archives, the national office, and the finance department, will be absorbing cuts of 20 percent.
The network's senior managers (including myself) are taking a 10 percent pay cut and Pacifica's acting executive director has agreed to a 25 percent reduction in salary. We are also in the process of renegotiating our national professional service obligations.
There are no simple solutions to this crisis, but we are moving quickly to restore financial stability.
Our KPFK Winter Fund Drive, starting this Wednesday, is a critical component of that restoration, and we can't do it without you. Given the challenges, I am determined to have the best Winter Fund Drive in KPFK's history.
You will find an agreement, posted on our KPFK website, (www.kpfk.org), that restores local control to all of the funds raised during our Fund Drive, and we are opening a local bank account this week to take ownership of these funds.
We are determined to not make any cuts in staffing at the station, to pay off our debts, to bring the Transmitter back up to full power by the FCC deadline of April 25th, and to bring our studio construction project to a finish by the end of this year.
The great news is that the entire Pacifica Network is deeply committed to this, and as mentioned on last weeks' Report To The Listener, there will be a network-wide, one day, five station "Save the Signal" Fund Drive on February 28th to prove it.
Our sister stations in Washington, New York, Berkeley and Houston will all join together, with KPFK for one day during it's Fund Drive on February 28th, to save the transmitter. It's an incredible show of solidarity as the entire network tackles our challenges together.
And to you, our treasured listeners, please know that we can't do it without you. I repeat, we cannot do this without you. It is absolutely essential that you, our listeners, understand that this is the time, this is the moment, this is the chance for you to stand up and be counted. We need your help! We need you to go to the KPFK website (www.kpfk.org) to sign up to come down and volunteer your time and energy during the Fund Drive. We need you to tell your friends to join us.
But most of all, we need you to reach into your pockets and help us. Your financial support is what gives us a future, and we need you to dig deep. If you believe in the idea of community, if you believe in our magnificent mission, if you believe in the promise of Pacifica, the possibility of a world that can be changed only if the voiceless are given a chance to speak, you need to stand up for us, to stand up for Pacifica, right now!
Please help us! With your help, we look forward to working together to take KPFK into a future we can all be proud of. Thanks again for hearing me out, and on behalf of all of us at the nation's oldest listener-sponsored radio network, thank you for listening to KPFK!
In solidarity,
Steven Starr General Manager KPFK-90.7 FM