Pacifica Glossary

| A - G | H - L | M - R | S - Z |

A - G

Mumia Abu-Jamal

Philadelphia journalist on Death Row since 1982 for a highly controversial cop shooting conviction. The amount of Mumia coverage became an issue in the PNB's and executive director's attempted "mainstreaming" of Pacifica.

ACG

American Consulting Group, whose secret 1999 consultation by Pat Scott led to accusations of union-busting.

David Acosta

Houston accountant sent to PNB by KPFT LAB, became board chair and corporate majority stalwart, said to have favored sale of KPFA or WBAI, resigned under fire in 2001.

David Adelson

Los Angeles neurophysiologist, former KPFK LAB chair, ADA member, and lead plaintiff in the LAB Members' Suit.

Affiliates

Approximately 60 radio stations which buy Pacifica news or other programs.

Affiliates in Exile

15 former affiliates, led by KGNU, carrying alternate productions such as Democracy Now! and FSRN until these banned, fired and striking return to Pacifica.

AFTRA

American Federation of TV/Radio Artists, the union at WBAI, KPFK, and Pacifica Network.

Alameda County

California Bay Area county of Pacifica's original incorporation, and venue for the lawsuits and their settlement.

Mary Katherine Aldin

Long-time KPFK volunteer producer, former co-host on the blues program, whose Alive&Picking show was returned by Mark Schubb and Betto Arcos to Sunday evenings to replace the cancelled FolkScene.

Teresa Allen

KPFT LAB member, arrested and later found guilty of trespassing, after a confrontation with Molly O'Brien at the station. Also a member of the iPNB.

Arbitron

International research and consulting firm based in Maryland, which collects and publishes ratings of subscribing radio stations in a thick "book" every 3 months. CPB funding requires Arbitron data, and many Pacifica critics think this leads to bland, mass-market programming.

Betto (Beto) Arcos

Former KPFK music director and host of a world music show, generally a staunch Schubb defender.

Audience Research Analysis

Firm started by David Giovannoni, which uses a computer weighting scheme called AudiGraphics to adapt Arbitron ratings to public radio. Hired by PNB to help the push toward "professionalization."

AudiGraphics

Research system widely used by public radio stations to crunch and display quarterly Arbitron numbers. Divides audiences into "core" and "fringe" listeners, stressing something called "loyalty," or the percentage of total listening time spent with that particular station. The system is proprietary to David Giovannoni of Audience Research Analysis. Pacifica subscribes to it.

Verna Avery Brown

Pacifica Network News on-air anchor, who resigned in 1999 to protest Lynn Chadwick's firing of national news director Dan Coughlin. Returned as executive vice-director in 2002.

Balkanization

A derogatory name given to the largely volunteer and single-issue "narrowcasting" that characterized Pacifica at the end of the 70s, when some programs were on as rarely as monthly. Refers to the fragmentation of the schedule into small, competing programs for small, competing groups.

Banned and fired

A group of around 200 [down to about 160 in Jan 2002 -Hugh] former producers, programmers, and engineers who were terminated during the various purges comprising the Pacifica Crisis, the dates of which differ depending on the station involved. The Gag Rule was usually cited as a reason, though there were also union and contractual issues at various times. The technical distinction here is that volunteers cannot be fired, because they were never hired (in a union sense), so they are terminated by banning from the premises.

Diana Barahona

Los Angeles activist and FPNN member.

George Barnstone

Houston real estate agent and ACLU director, appointed to PNB by the "corporate majority," voted with the dissidents anyway, appointed to iPNB in 2002.

Marion Barry

Controversial ex-mayor of Washington, DC, arrested while in office for smoking crack, appointed to PNB late on, now an iPNB member who votes with the old majority faction.

Beat Generation

A loosely affiliated group of 1950s dissident writers, poets, and artists who appreciated modern jazz, free verse, literature, Eastern religion, strong language, and stronger coffee. West coast Beats tended to coalesce around San Francisco and KPFA.

Jon Beaupre

Los Angeles broadcast journalist and voice teacher, former host of a morning drive-time public affairs program at KPFK.

Jim Bennett

Current interim general manager at KPFA, formerly operations director and host of a jazz program, and before that a recording engineer and musician with such bands as 13th Floor Elevator.

Larry Bensky

Longtime left-wing journalist and Pacifica news correspondent, host of "Sunday Salon" at KPFA when the 1999 trouble began. Broke the gag rule on-air to discuss Nicole Sawaya's firing by Lynn Chadwick and Mary Frances Berry; this got him fired and the show briefly cancelled; Bensky returned as unpaid staff, but has recently been put back on the payroll.

Dennis Bernstein

San Francisco writer, investigative reporter, and producer at KPFA; co-host of the Flashpoints news show. Arrested in an on-air confrontation with Garland Ganter when he tried to talk about the Palmer Letter, precipitating a demonstration and some 50 more arrests, then a lockout that put KPFA off the air for several weeks.

Mary Frances Berry

National Board chair, coming from the Clinton commission on civil rights, and known as a heavy-duty DC player. Instrumental in many of the confrontations of the late 90s as she tried to mainstream Pacifica at any cost. Accused by critics as seeking to turn Pacifica into a Democratic Party pundit mouthpiece. Had a very strong influence in appointing the "corporate majority" board faction. Did much to inject the "Race Card" into Pacifica politics, especially by not squelching rumors that her real goal was to turn Pacifica into a network of small, Southern, black music stations. Berry is rather uniformly hated by Pacifica activists and dissidents.

Black Tuesday

August 1, 1995, two weeks after the "My way or the highway" memo, when KPFA changed its entire broadcast schedule, cancelling many programs, and beginning the tensions that finally exploded in the summer 1999 lockout.

Board Suit

Legal Action filed 2000 in Alameda County Superior Court, CA, by co-plaintiffs and dissident minority PNB members Rob Robinson and Rabbai Aaron Kriegel, against the Pacifica Foundation and its executive committee, charging illegal secret meetings and seeking injunctive relief and access to Foundation financial records. Settled out of court in 2001.

Blase Bonpane

Highly regarded KPFK programmer, fired for no stated reason by Mark Schubb after 25 years. Later briefly rejoined the station as a news commentator, before striking in 1998.

Duane Bradley

KPFT program director in 1987-88, and then a LAB member, hired as general manager of the station in 2002.

Pete Bramson

Longtime KPFA supporter sent to PNB by that station's LAB, became one of the "dissident minority," now on iPNB.

Lydia Brazon

Controversial KPFK LAB chair, who was appointed to Bert Lee's iPNB seat as part of the defendant block, despite being a co-plaintiff in the lawsuits.

Janice K. Bryant

WBAI producer banned from the station by Utrice Leid, now a member of iPNB.

Andrea Buffa

San Francisco media activist whose 1999 disclosure of the Palmer Letter caused an immediate blowup at KPFA.

Leslie Cagan

Veteran New York leftist organizer and activist for peace and other causes, one of 6 in the PNB dissident minority, plaintiff in the Second Board Suit, and elected iPNB chair in 2001.

CdP

Coalition for a democratic Pacifica, a Berkeley group of activist KPFA listeners.

CdPNY

Coalition for a democratic Pacifica New York, the CdP's sister group for WBAI. Formerly S.O.S. (Save Our Station).

Lynn Chadwick

Executive Director of the National Federation of Community Broadcasters, KPFA GM, and then Pacifica executive director 1998-2000. Remembered mostly for the KPFA firings, lockout, and confrontations of summer 1999, and complicity with the various CPB initiatives to "professionalize" Pacifica as a requirement for funding.

Valrie Chambers

Houston accountant and college teacher, member of "corporate majority" on PNB.

Gail Christian

Pacifica national PD whose name appears on the 1992 Stragegy for National Programming.

Andrea Cisco

New York PNB member of "corporate majority", resigned in 2001.

COINTELPRO

COunter INTELligence PROgram, a covert FBI operation 1957 through 71 which engaged in various surveillance, infiltration, and disruption/provocation missions, with one aim out of many being to neutralize the American far left and render it irrelevant by creating internal squabbles and/or forcing police reprisals. Subject of much paranoia, not all of it unjustified, in Pacifica circles, especially post-S11.

Committee to Remove the Pacifica Board

A California fund-raising group headed by Carol Spooner on behalf of the Listener's Suit, with a web page at http://home.pon.net/wildrose/remove.htm.

Marc Cooper

Veteran leftist writer and journalist who was fired as Pacifica national news director after confronting the national board in 1983. Became a rather controversial on-air host at KPFK, until his suspension in 2002. Generally regarded as Mark Schubb's right-hand man for most of the 90s, and now considered something of a KPFK counter-revolutionary.

Christmas Coup

The surprise, late-night seizure of WBAI on December 22, 2000, when Bessie Wash forcibly installed Utrice Leid as GM.

Commercial band

Currently, the US broadcast allocation from 92 to 108 MHz, where commercial broadcasting is licensed, in contrast to the lower band from 88 to 92 MHz reserved for non-commercial use. Commercial potential added immensly to the monetary values of WBAI (99.5) and KPFA (94.1), making sale or lease of these two stations a tempting cash cow for the "corporate majority" on the PNB.

Community Radio

Type of radio broadcasting, pioneered largely by Pacifica, characterized by a mostly volunteer staff, financing from listener sponsorship, and public affairs or arts oriented programming by local talent for local audiences. Its relative lack of slickness was bemoaned in the CPB/Pacifica push for "professionalism ".

Robert Coonrod

CPB President and CEO since 1997, and deputy managing director of the Voice Of America and the Office Of Cuba Broadcasting (Radio Marti) before joining CPB as a vice president in 1992. Supposedly, Coonrod (who presumably knew Scott and Chadwick) wrote a letter to Pacifica threatening a funding cutoff if the LABs were not stripped of their power. This was always the excuse given by the PNB for unilaterally changing the by-laws in 1999. Accusations of back-room deal making continue to this day.

Dan Coughlin

Pacifica national news director, removed in 1999 by Chadwick for airing a story about KPFA, helped start the Pacifica Campaign, became executive director in 2002.

CPB

Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private nonprofit corporation created by Congress in 1967, which channels government money to non-commercial radio organizations meeting certain "healthy station" criteria. It currently provides about 17 per cent of Pacifica's income.

Cume

Cumulative Arbitron rating, a quick snapshot of how many people are listening to a radio station. "CUME Persons" is the number of different listeners in a rating period who reported a given station for at least 5 minutes. "CUME Rating" is this number as a share of total population in a Metro area.

CWA

Communications Workers of America, the union at KPFA.

Bob Daughtry

Successor to Utrice Leid as GM of the post-coup WBAI, continuing with the bannings and firings pretty much where she left off, until he too was fired in January 2002.

Farah Davari

Activist from Iran, who contributed a great deal to the KPFK dissident movement in 2001.

Dead air

The allowing of prolonged silences, a cardinal sin of radio broadcasting, usually caused by people pausing to read notes and collect their thoughts while on-air.

Decision Strategies

Large, global, corporate security and investigation firm, secretly hired by Pacifica in 2001, now a major creditor.

Democracy Now!

Controversial Pacifica national news program first aired in 1996, and in trouble with management pretty much continuously until 2002. Became a thorn in the side of "Brave New Pacifica" due to its refusal to compromise its content and "exception to the rulers" attitude. Left WBAI's physical premises due to bad working conditions created by Utrice Leid and Clayton Riley. Returned to Pacifica early in 2002, but it is still produced under an independent agreement, and it also does a separate, two-hour "War and Peace Report," that includes television.

Democracy Now! In Exile

Name temporarily given to Amy Goodman's show after it left WBAI and was dropped from Pacifica's main satellite feed. DNIX was produced at Manhattan Community Television, upstairs from one of the closest firehouses to what became September 11 Ground Zero, and carried by many stations and webcasts. The program has returned from exile, and is once again a Pacifica must-carry, but it is currently still produced at the firehouse, aka "Ground Zero Radio."

Dirty linen

In Pacifica's case, the discussion of internal matters and disputes on the air, especially when "abusing the air" to further one's own side in the latest factional struggle. A KPFK GM was fired in 1967 for airing too much dirty linen, but in general the policy has always been less strict than the more recent Gag Rule.

Gene Edwards

HR consultant and layoff specialist for the firm of Lee Hecht Harrison, hired by Chadwick in June of 1999.

Epstein, Becker, and Green

Huge, multistate, corporate law firm which employs John Murdock, and which represented Pacifica until 2001, when replaced by an even more expensive firm.

Executive Director

A position appointed by the PNB, starting in 1980, to increase central control over the stations. A whole string of these attempted to mainstream Pacifica, with disastrous results.

Executive Membership

Original 1940s executive board of the Pacifica Foundation.

FAIR

Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting, a New York media watch group whose Counterspin program was dropped from WPFT and censored elsewhere for talking about the Pacifica crisis.

Robert Farrell

Former Los Angeles City Council member and ADA director, sent to the PNB by the KPFK LAB, later recalled, but defiantly stayed on to become board chairman in 2001. Surprisingly enough, he almost immediately started putting out peace feelers to the dissident minority at this time, and he figured prominently in getting the board to accept the settlement.

Bob Fass

Long-time WBAI legend and inspirational 60s "Yippie," whose late-night show was cancelled in a 1977 factional struggle, precipitating the labor lockout that put this station temporarily off the air. Returned to his slot until 2001, when banned by Daughtry for gag rule violations. Fass survived this one too, and he's back - again.

FCC

Federal Communications Commission, the agency charged with licensing broadcasting stations and enforcing standards for speech, obscenity, and so on.

Lawrence Ferlinghetti

Famous Beat poet whose reading on KPFA led to FCC trouble for Pacifica in the late 50s and early 60s.

James Ferguson

Washington, DC planning director of Council for National Black Churches, WPFW LAB member and PNB "corporate majority" member, now on iPNB.

Dave Fertig

Long-time Southern California activist and civil rights lawyer, sent to iPNB by the KPFK LAB.

Five-Year Plan

Strategic mission plan adopted by Pacifica in the mid-90s Pat Scott/ Mary Frances Berry era, which called for major programming changes, more national control, and more network content.

FM

Frequency Modulation, a high-fidelity broadcasting system developed by Major Armstrong and ultimately licensed by the FCC in the band 88-108 MHz, after existing broadcasters successfully lobbied to move it from its original lower frequencies. FM was still something of an experiment looking for an audience when KPFA went on the air. Radios were scarce and expensive, and the best ones connected to super-complicated hi-fi systems (no stereo yet). All this appealed mostly to a small, fanatical, affluent, and white audience of highbrows and audiophiles; in other words, perfect for KPFA's original collegial programming style. Today, 50 years later, FM is in just about every radio in the US, it's AM that's trying to carve out an audience, and broadcasting is a completely different industry.

Folio

A program guide and listener newsletter published by several Pacifica stations until it was ordered discontinued by the PNB for financial reasons in the late 1990s. Currently undergoing a rebirth.

FolkScene

Roz and Howard Larman's longtime, popular, KPFK folk music program, cancelled by Schubb for Y2K contract reasons. It was replaced in its Sunday evening time slot by Alive&Picking with Mary Katherine Aldin. This cancellation was perhaps the nadir of Schubb's time at KPFK. It led to his famous utterance on how people use radio like an appliance, started a bitter legal dispute, and caused an incredible amount of lingering bad blood throughout California. Jackson Browne sang at the program's legal aid benefit. FolkScene was restored to its traditional slot when later managers came to contract terms with the Larmans, but was then moved to early Saturday morning by Armando Gudiño.

Ken Ford

Washington, DC real estate lobbyist, succeeded to PNB chair in 2001 when David Acosta resigned, soon he also resigned under fire after he likened Pacifica Campaign to Al'Qaeda terrorists, and mentioned sale of KPFA.

Peter Franck

Pacifica president in the 80s, before they started having executive directors, and afterwards a critic of the corporate majority.

Tim Frasca

Journalist and AIDS activist working in Chile while Nation writer Marc Cooper was also there covering Pinochet; both ended up at (and were fired from) the first Pacifica Network News.

Free Form FM

Radio format which will always be associated with the sixties, characterized by eclectic unpredictability and experimentation, and pioneered by Bob Fass at WBAI.

Free Pacifica

(1) Historic web site and archive set up by Lyn Gerry at radio4all to disseminate Pacifica activist information not available on gagged stations, and
(2) A general name for the entire movement to retake Pacifica and return it to its mission.

Free Speech Radio News

Alternate news program begun in exile by striking PNN stringers in 2001, replacing PNN altogether in 2002.

FSRN

Free Speech Radio News

Friends of Free Speech Radio

Berkeley group active in the KPFA struggle.

Gag Rule

A beefed-up version of Pacifica's long-standing "dirty linen" policy, which was brought in as a management weapon in the mid-90s. It requires the immediate termination of any employee or volunteer airing internal matters or even allowing such a discussion to go out on the air. Enforcement was especially Draconian at KPFK and WBAI, both of which produced long lists of banned and fired. The gag rule was essentially lifted by iPNB and Judge Sabraw in 2002.

Garland Ganter

KPFT news director, becoming PD in 1990, and GM in 1994. Instrumental (no pun intended) in the station's conversion to a bland, if relatively popular, music/public affairs format. Also sent briefly to pacify KPFA in the dramatic 1999 summer lockout, where he installed an ISDN at the transmitter, and rebroadcast KPFT. Even later on, did a stint as national PD, while still at KPFT. Resigned, along with program director Mary Ramirez, in 2002.

Sherry Gendleman

San Francisco lawyer and KPFA LAB member, co-plaintiff in the LAB Members' Suit.

Eva Georgia

Permanent general manager of KPFK, replaced Roy Hurst in June of 2002.

Lyn Gerry

KPFK production engineer, producer, UE shop steward, anarchist, IWW member, and generally very cool person, fired/banned in 1995 in an early confrontation with Schubb over labor matters and general principles. Lyn got mad, but she also got even, becoming a tireless Pacifica activist, and making an imeasurable contribution to the cause with her Free Pacifica web page at Radio4All, plus her Free Pacifica Archives and FreePac mailing list, all of which were early demonstrations of The Internet's organizing power. Along with Carol Spooner and 3 or 4 others, Lyn is one of the true legends of the Pacifica movement.

David Giovannoni

Founder and president of Audience Research Analysis, a sophisticated number-crunching consulting firm which was hired by the PNB several times in the 90s. Important in convincing the board that rating numbers were all that would save Pacifica from, as he called it, "irrelevance."

Golden Parachute

Corporate-speak for lucrative severance packages negotiated by top managers. PNB members and executive officers apparently tried to give themselves these, adding greatly to the post-settement debt.

Juan Gonzalez

Veteran journalist and New York Daily News columnist, whose dramatic, on-air resignation as co-host of Democracy Now! was instrumental in starting the Pacifica Campaign. First to categorize the PNB majority as "corporate vultures." Returned to Democracy Now! in early 2002.

Amy Goodman

Hard-hitting journalist and former WBAI news director, who temporarily became the only host of Democracy Now! when Juan Gonzalez resigned on-air in protest. Currently doing Democracy Now! offsite, due to personality clashes with various management types, in an ongoing struggle which has made her something of a left-wing hero.

Barney Goodman

KPFT LAB member sent to iPNB, voted with the former majority, but resigned after one week.

Dick Gregory

Famous comedian appointed to PNB by the old majority, now on iPNB. Gregory, a very bright man from outside Pacifica, voted his conscience a couple of times, then pretty much stopped participating.

Armando Gudiño

KPFK senior producer who became program director under contentious circumstances in 2003.

Carl Gunther

Computer analyst and FPNN member active in bylaws revision.

Terry Guy

Member of KPFK LAB, plaintiff in the Lab Members' Suit, now subscription director at KPFK.

 

H - L

Lou Hankins

Controversial general manager of WPFW, known for not returning calls, removed by the iPNB and replaced by Tony Regusters in 2002.

Sharan Harper

WBAI union steward, fired by Utrice Leid at the beginning of the Christmas Coup.

Healthy Station Project

A 1990s CPB initiative and training program, formulated by (among others) Coonrod, Scott, and Chadwick, which abandoned the traditional volunteer model of community radio for a more "professional" model with paid talent doing stripped shows (no, not strip shows... this is radio), and basing funding partially on Arbitron ratings, same way commercial stations use these to set advertising rates.

Hellpope Huey

Legendary KPFT music jock and PD, went in the last big purge before total Ganterization, now an iconoclastic newspaper columnist, musician, and SubGenius in Arkansas.

Lew Hill

1940s pacifist visionary who was instrumental in starting the Pacifica Foundation and defining its mission.

Ray Hill

1970s gay and prison rights activist, no relation to Lew Hill, GM at KPFT 1980-81, a very innovative programmer before the Ganter era put an end to all that. Still doing their prison show.

Ruth Hirschman

KPFK GM who left to manage KCRW, (College Radio Workshop), the highly successful Santa Monica College NPR affiliate, and fairly prototypical healthy station, so beloved by yuppies all over the L.A. West Side. Now calls herself Ruth Seymour.

Hot topics

A number of problem areas identified at the last regular PNB meeting in November, 2001, many of which found their way into the agenda of the iPNB as priority items. They included, among other things, bringing back Democracy Now!, finding an executive director, settling the PNN strike, mitigating the situation at WBAI, dealing with the fired and banned issue, and trying to get an accounting of finance.

Roy Hurst

KPFK interim GM for two months in 2002, between Steven Starr and Eva Georgia. Before and after, an engineer, producer, and operations manager.

Sam Husseini

WPFW LAB chair, and longtime Pacifica activist.

Independent Media Center

Loose aggregation of local media collectives, the model for which was started by anarchists to report the real story from the street at the November, 1999 "Battle In Seattle." IMC has done remarkable things in its brief history. The one in Los Angeles was started just before the 2000 DNC protests, and immediately came into some conflict with Marc Cooper and KPFK when it barred Cooper and some news personnel from its facilities due to labor unfairness. Two years later, the IMC supplied Steven Starr as KPFK's interim GM.

Hep Ingham

Longtime Houston political activist, later a member of the KPFT LAB.

iPNB

interim Pacifica National Board, created in the 2001 legal settlement with representatives from each of the three litigating factions (old majority, old minority, LABs).

IPSA International

Very large, high-powered, "risk mitigation" consulting and security service firm, hired in at great expense by Mary Frances Berry in 1999 to post guards at KPFA.

ISDN

Integrated Services Digital Network, phone line with a data channel and 2 or more (sometimes many more) "bearer" channels for digital audio or data. When used with a coder-decoder (CODEC), can pass FM-broadcast-quality audio. An ISDN was installed at KPFA's transmitter in the 1999 lockout by Garland Ganter, using strikebreakers who crossed a CWA picket line. It was used to pipe in KPFT for relay.

Vince Ivory

14-year KPFK unpaid staffer, producer of the highly regarded Tuesday Community Calendar, banned/fired by Mark Schubb in 1999 for participating in a demonstration outside the station. Was a lead organizer of the Pacifica Accountability Committee, a dissident group involved early-on with reform of the bylaws.

Miya Iwataki

One time host of KPFK's cancelled East Winds show, banned/fired after 13 years.

Wendell Johns

Washington, DC employee of Fannie Mae (Federal National Mortgage Association), treasurer of last PNB, resigned from iPNB in 2002.

Edwin Johnston

Houston activist arrested at a KPFT protest on charges that were later thrown out of court.

K254AH

KPFK relay transmitter, Santa Barbara, CA (recently moved to Gibraltar Peak, above Santa Barbara).

KFCF

Fresno, CA community station, relays most KPFA programs.

Sonali Kolhatkar

Former Cal Tech computer programmer with a degree in astrophysics, active locally in various causes regarding Afghan women and refugees. Took over the KPFK morning public affairs show in early 2002.

KPFA

First Pacifica radio station, started 1949 in Berkeley, CA.

KPFB

KPFA relay transmitter, Berkeley, CA.

KPFK

Second Pacifica radio station, started 1959 in Los Angeles, CA.

KPFK gag order

1996 memo "to all programmers and board ops," from Mark Schubb, requiring that any "dirty linen," be immediately cut off the air, and warning that not doing so "will absolutely lead to permanently being removed from the station." Revoked by iPNB in 2001.

KPFK transmitter

High-powered, and high-priced, broadcasting installation on 5600-foot Mt. Wilson above Los Angeles, completely rebuilt in 2002 after a Pacifica-wide fund drive replaced money that had been raised for this purpose and stolen by the old Pacifica National Board in 2001. KPFK was originally designed in the 1950s as a world-class facility, using the best site on the best mountain in one of the best FM propagation areas in the world, and running over 110 kilowatts effective power, or enough to reach 5-6 million people. With its new Armstrong twin transmitters through a switchless combiner to a new .9-wave-spaced 4-bay antenna, KPFK is now a world-class facility again.

KPFT

Fourth Pacifica radio station, started 1970 in Houston, TX.

Aaron Kriegel

Prominent Los Angeles rabbai and former KPFK LAB member, co-plaintiff in LAB Members' Suit.

Ku-Band

Newer, cheaper, higher-frequency (around 12 GHz), satellite band. First used by Pacifica in 1997 when it set up its own alternative to the costlier, C-band (~6 GHz) Public Radio Satellite System run by NPR, although Pacifica still uses this as well. Despite the inevitable technical failings of anything Pacifica operates, the Ku-band system remains useful to affiliates with small dishes, and thus a good alternative to the alternative. For example, it distributes Free Speech Radio News as of February, 2002.

LAB

Local Advisory Board. Each of the 5 owned/operated stations has a LAB. The LABs appointed the PNB until the by-laws were changed in 1999.

LAB Members' Suit

Legal action brought in 1999 against the Pacifica Foundation by lead plaintiff David Adelson and co-plaintiffs Sherry Gendleman and Miguel Maldonado, representing other members of all LABs except KPFT's. Complaint alleged illegal by-law changes and unfair labor practices, and sought both injunctive relief and monetary damages. A majority of the plaintiffs agreed to settle out of court in late 2001.

Saul Landau

Los Angeles university teacher, highly esteemed journalist, and Pacifica Network News commentator until PNN's 2002 demise. Ally of Marc Cooper and Mark Schubb in the drive to "professionalize" Pacifica.

Landau Letter

Saul Landau's open "Appeal to All Progressives" to "Stop The Pacifica Bashing," possibly co-written by Marc Cooper and which attracted wide attention and many co-signers when circulated around the Internet beginning early in 2000. Landau has since asked Pacifica to take it off their web site, and several co-signers have retracted.

Roz and Howard Larman

Co-hosts for 30 years of the Sunday night FolkScene show, one of KPFK's most popular. This show was cancelled in 2000 after the Larmans refused to sign the Y2K contract. It was in reference to this cancellation that Shubb gave his infamous "radio is an appliance" speech.

Matthew Lasar

Well-known Berkeley writer and Pacifica historian, who has published a number of articles and a book, Pacifica Radio: The Rise of an Alternative Network.

Law Suits

Four of them, in order of their filing: LAB Members' Suit, Adelson et. al. v. Pacifica Foundation, 1999; Listeners' Suit, Spooner, ex. rel. People of the State of California v. Pacifica Foundation, 2000; Board Suit, Robinson and Kriegel v. Pacifica Foundation, 2000; and the Board Cross-Complaint/ Second Board Suit, Moran, Cagan, and Bramson, 2001. All four suits were settled out of court in December, 2001.

Bertram Lee

Deceased Washington, DC businessman and sports owner, who aroused considerable suspicion when added to the PNB in 2000 due to his lucrative activities in broadcast station sales. Lee was also appointed to the iPNB, where he served until his death in 2003, when he was succeeded by the even more controversial Lydia Brazon.

Utrice Leid

WBAI employee abruptly promoted to GM in the Christmas Coup of 2000. Kicked upstairs to national PD (replacing Steve "Mike Bilt" Yasko) in late 2001, then fired/resigned. Remembered mostly for a year of conflict, banning, and firing at WBAI, and more or less the destruction of this station.

Arturo Lemus

KPFK programmer with the Colectivo Latinoamericano (Latin American Programming Collective) until this was eliminated in 1985. Still involved with Latino programming at KPFK.

Listener-sponsored radio

A concept set forth by Lew Hill in a visionary 1940s document, wherein the listeners pay for the radio station and decide (both with their wallets and through local boards) what they want to hear. In practice, this rather anarchistic notion guarantees factionalism and financial poverty, but also far more interesting radio.

Listener-supported radio

A slightly different concept from listener-sponsored radio, where the listeners pay to keep the station going, but have little or no input into programming or management choices. Also, listener-supported stations (like NPR) are more likely to take corporate underwriting.

Listener's Suit

Legal action against the Pacifica Foundation, Mary Frances Berry, and a number of PNB members, filed in Alameda County (CA) Superior Court in 2000. Plaintiffs were Carol Spooner and eleven other listeners acting on behalf of the people of California. Desired relief was the removal of the executive commmittee and most of the board, and a number of other changes, many of which found their way into the out of court settlement.

LMA

(1)Local Management Agreement; a station is leased to a third party which is responsible for its on-air content but does not actually hold its license; and (2) Local Marketing Agreement, a business arrangement. A LMA for KPFA showed up on the last PNB meeting agenda in late 2001, but was never publically discussed.

Joung Yoon Lym

WBAI producer fired for violating the gag rule.

 

M - R

Otis Hardy Maclay

Longtime WBAI and KPFT personality, became PD in 2002 after Ganter's departure. Before this, a co-producer of the weekly Radio4Houston webcasts.

Sharon Maeda

Pacifica's first executive director, appointed by the board in 1980, served until '84. Remembered largely for her attack on KPFT and an abortive attempt to secure underwriting from Exxon.

Samori Marksman

Highly regarded activist, film maker, writer, and WBAI producer/ program director; dropped dead from heart failure in March of 1999.

Mainstreaming

The idea, pushed heavily by a series of executive directors from CPB, that Pacifica could increase its listenership and financial health by departing from the original model of community radio. This involved such measures as eliminating clutter and rough edges to the program schedule, concentrating more on liberal as opposed to radical politics, stripping in daily shows which will build upscale audiences, and increasing "professionalism" in the general on-air sound. Also known as "firing the audience," and "Brave New Pacifica."

Miguel Maldonado

Dedicated New York activist and WBAI LAB member, arrested in a demonstration at the station, and a co-plaintiff in the LAB Members' Suit.

Majority

The dominant PNB faction in 2000-01, characterized by a tendency to treat Pacifica as a big business, and accused of wanting to bring in corporate rule and/or sell WBAI or KPFA to raise cash for a more lucrative network of small music stations.

R. Paul Martin

Pre-Coup UE shop steward at WBAI, frequently in conflict with pre-Coup GM Valerie Van Isler. Keeps up a good history of the Pacifica crisis on his Internet archive.

Eleanor McKinney

First program director at KPFA, in the 1950s Lew Hill era.

Joanne Meredith

Pacifica national development director, briefly became executive director in 2001.

Minority

AKA "dissidents;" the 2000-01 PNB faction that strongly fought nearly all aspects of Pacifica governance and personnel issues (the banned and fired), culminating in the Board Suit and a cross-complaint (settled in 2001). At the end, the minority was Rob Robinson, Aaron Kriegel, Tomas Moran, Pete Bramson and Leslie Cagan.

Loraine Mirza

KPFK news staffer and host of Islamic Perspectives, banned/fired in January 1995. Injured her back after being forced to carry heavy boxes full of her research notes out of the station without help. Still active, and very vocal, in the Pacifica movement, and also a producer of shows on Arab affairs.

Mitchell, Siberberg, and Knupp

Law firm specializing in "union avoidance work," hired by Chadwick during the KPFA lockout.

Tomas Moran

Dissident KPFA LAB and PNB minority member, who was elected to the governance committee in 1999 but never allowed to serve, and was finally thrown off by Mary Frances Berry in 2000; co-plaintiff in the Second Board Suit.

Morning coffee

One of two astonishing quotes widely attributed to KPFK GM Mark Schubb. The other was a reference to people using radio "like an appliance."

The story of the "morning coffee" incident comes directly from a memo dated 10/18/00, in which Amy Goodman states:

"On September 14, Steve Yasko called me to a meeting with Pacifica General Managers. KPFK Manager Mark Schubb, expressed his repeated criticism that audiences don't want to hear graphic details of police brutality before breakfast, or as he said last year "before I have my coffee." "

Schubb denied he said this, and indeed we will never know for sure, seeing as his word versus Goodman's. [I think I know who's the more credible of the two here, but that's an opinion. -Hugh] Regardless, the "morning coffee" or "breakfast coffee" semiotic went viral in the Pacifica movement. It came to stand for a number of Schubb's other, well-documented, and unpopular,criticisms of Goodman's no-nonsense reporting.

Coffee cups appeared on picket signs in front of KPFK for the rest of Schubb's tenure.

Denis Moynihan

Veteran anti-corporate activist from the Direct Action Network, joined the Pacifica Campaign, and became co-chair in 2002 when Juan Gonzalez went back to Democracy Now!.

John Murdock

Washington, DC corporate lawyer brought onto PNB by Mary Frances Berry, instrumental in the by-law revisions of 1999, became secretary, remained a fighter to the last for corporate dominance of Pacifica, but not on iPNB.

Don Mussell

Highly regarded consulting engineer in Santa Cruz, CA, used by many community radio stations, and by Pacifica for equipment upgrades. Started as a volunteer at KPFK. Also a folk musician.

Must carry

In this case, Pacifica's poorly articulated 1993 policy that, as license holder of all 5 stations, it can require them to carry the national network's products. The criteria for a must-carry are: (1) National board must "talk to" local station managers (whatever that means), after which it becomes a must-carry if (2) three of the five stations approve it, or (3) the national PD decides the program is of sufficient "news value and urgency" (whatever THAT means). This policy was originally intended to destroy most local programming at Pacifica, but instead its main effect was to save Democracy Now! by clearing out obstructionist managers after the settlement.

My Way or the Highway

Infamous 1995 memo from Pat Scott and PNB, stating that anyone not willing to help the national board reconfigure local programming to "increase the audience" was "advised to resign."

Ralph Nader

Well known writer, consumer advocate, and Green Party candidate for president in 2000, who was barred from the Republican National Convention until given a press credential by Amy Goodman. This helped start the war between Democracy Now! and the PNB.

Ken Nash

Co-host, with banned/fired Mimi Rosenberg, of WBAI's "Building Bridges" labor show, who was cut off the air by Utrice Leid, and banned/fired himself, in early 2001. After a long music break, Leid launched into an extended tirade about why people must tell the truth, after which she took calls and repeated several half-truths about BAI politics.

NLRB

National Labor Relations Board, arbitrates union disputes.

NPR

National Public Radio (aka National Pentagon Radio, National Petroleum Radio), a listener-supported network which derives a great share of its income from corporate underwriting, not to mention a big chunk of bread from Ray Kroc's widow. NPR is not Pacifica, though some at Pacifica would like it to be more like NPR.

NTIA

National Telecommunications and Information Administration; a large and highly influential Federal agency which, among many other things, helps fund US communication infrastructure improvement. NTIA grants large sums of money for various major Pacifica equipment upgrades, some of which can apparently not be accounted for on the stalled KPFK studio and transmitter project. Not using NTIA money for its granted purpose would be a serious offense.

Marty Oaklander

Hard-working L.A. activist and FPNN Coordinating Council member.

Molly O'Brien

Former KPFT development director and rather excitable wife of former GM Garland Ganter; she is known mostly for calling the cops on Edwin Johnston and Teresa Allen in confrontations at the station.

Robbie Osman

Long-time activist and KPFA music host, fired in 1999 for intentionally violating the gag rule on his folk show, Across the Great Divide. Still active in Friends of Free Speech Radio.

Otie

Otis Hardy Maclay, interim PD of KPFT 2002. See Otis Hardy Maclay.

Major Owens

US Representative (D-NY) from Harlem, who delivered a stirring speech to Congress comparing the Utricians to Iraqi media, after being cut off WBAI by Utrice Leid.

Pacifica Accountability Committee

Listener-activist group started in Los Angeles and later Berkeley in 1995, after the KPFK coup and My Way or the Highway memo, by fired/banned producer Vince Ivory and others. Jonathan Markowitz and other members of PAC spent years writing the first set of alternate bylaws, which were offered (and ignored) in 1997. The Pacifica Listeners Union, a more radical Los Angeles group stressing listener action and diversity in programming, split off from the PAC in 1999. Both groups remain active in by-laws reforms and web information dissemination.

Pacifica Activism

The organizing and implementation of advocacy, pressure, and direct action by Pacifica Foundation listeners to effect change in the governance and to facilitate the drastic shifting of Pacifica program content back to the community mission that characterized Pacifica before the 1980s.

Pacifica Campaign

A militant, and sometimes controversial, Pacifica activist organization aimed at driving the "corporate majority" off the PNB, as started by Juan Gonzalez and supporters in 2001 after he resigned on-air from Democracy Now!, in the famous "corporate vulture" speech.

Pacifica Crisis

An unusually bitter and prolonged struggle for control of the Pacifica Foundation, with roots in the 1980s when a string of national officers from elsewhere in public radio sought to change the programming to fit a larger audience. Most people agree that what we now usually call the Pacifica Crisis started in 1995, when Pat Scott took over KPFK, and issued the all-station memo usually referred to as "My Way or the Highway." Some, though, put the real start in 1999, when it escalated into four legal suits (since settled out of court) after the national board illegally usurped power from the LABs and then tried to change KPFA's format. It finally led to open conflict between two factions on the PNB itself.

Pacifica Employee Handbook

A 1996 document, aka the "Strip Search Proposal," obviously written by some consultant, setting forth strict work rules (by former Pacifica standards), including guidelines on grooming and visitors. An earlier draft, not used, provided for body searches of persons entering or leaving facilities.

Pacifica Foundation

Private foundation incorporated in California, 1946, which owns and operates five listener-sponsored FM radio stations. The name means "peace," as the foundation was started by pacifists.

Pacifica Listeners Union

Radical listener group split off from the Pacifica Accountability Committee in Los Angeles, by Rafael Renteria and others, making a 15-point list of demands including replacement of the National Board with an elected body, rewriting of the Bylaws, and elimination of CPB funding.

Pacifica Mission

Basically articles II (c), (d), and (e) of Pacifica's original articles of incorporation, as amended soon after to focus on the foundation's broaecasting activities. C seeks to aid cultural and community activities, D to promote international harmony and understanding of the roots of conflict, and E to disseminate accurate information affecting the community that it cannot hear elsewhere. Pacifica's mission is usually spoken of in fairly reverent terms, like the US Constitution, as something your side is serving, or the other side is destroying.

Pacifica Network News

National news department started in 1970s as Pacifica Radio News. Changed its name, and became an early victim of the Pacifica Crisis when PNB began meddling in its editorial content. Never really recovered from labor and management problems, and was put out of its misery in 2002.

Pacifica Radio Archives

An amazing collection of many thousands of recorded Pacifica programs, giving an indispensable research and documentary resource of pretty much the whole history of post-WW II American thought, art, and culture. The archive is housed at KPFK, and, like everything else, it was allowed to deteriorate by the corporate majority. Along with being part of Pacifica's soul, it would probably provide a steady income source, and for these reasons its rescue is now a major fund raising goal.

Pacifica Reporters Against Censorship

Group formed by striking PNN stringers, which puts out FSRN.

Michael Palmer

Texas industrial real estate broker appointed to PNB by the KPFT LAB, one of the leaders of the "corporate majority," and writer of the Palmer Letter, an e-mail the leaking of which precipitated the 1999 blowup and lockout at KPFA.

Palmer Letter

Scary 1999 e-mail from PNB member Michael Palmer to Mary Frances Berry and Lynn Chadwick, "containing such phrases as shutting down that unit [KPFA] and reprogramming immediately." Somehow intercepted by Andrea Buffa, and (when authenticated and made public) gave proof that Palmer was exploring the sale of a station, probably WBAI, and the reformatting of KPFA. The result was an instant meltdown at KPFA, and a summer of protests and arrests.

Shel Plotkin

Longtime member of the California Federation of Scientists, and a political activist, also co-host of the Wizards' Show, a highly regarded KPFK program cancelled after the hosts refused a time change to Sunday at 8 AM.

PNB

Pacifica National Board, formerly selected by, and responsible to, the LABs, until unilaterally changing the by-laws in 1999, leading to the four lawsuits, the settlement of which replaced this board with the iPNB (interim Pacifica National Board).

PNN

Pacifica Network News, begun in the early 80s by Tim Frasca, with Marc Cooper as news director, until both were fired for confronting the PNB. Never really got past its labor problems, finally euthanised by Coughlin in 2002.

PNN strike

January 2000 walkout of PNN stringers and freelancers, to protest the gag rule and general censorship, ultimately leading to FSRN.

Professionalism

The idea, pushed heavily by Pacifica station managers and executive directors in the 90s, that community radio was no longer economically viable, and therefore a slicker, less volunteer-staffed, on-air sound would increase listenership and revenue. Implementation consisted of strictly enforcing the gag rule (except when your buddies broke it), banning many volunteers on miniscule pretenses, stripping in drive time shows, stopping for music breaks, talking less, and running news at the top of the hour. In other words, NPR Lite.

Programmers

Basically, air talent. People who have shows on Pacifica stations. Typically unpaid, because the air is considered compensation.

PRSS

Public Radio Satellite System; a C-band distribution network operated by NPR, which non-commercial stations can connect to for a fee. Only NPR members may rebroadcast NPR's own productions from this link, otherwise everything is clear for use once arrangements, if any, are made with the originating producers. Pacifica uses the PRSS, and also owns its own Ku-band system.

Public Radio

Poorly-articulated concept of US non-commercial radio, as largely created by the Public Radio Act of 1967, and modeled loosely on Pacifica's existing scheme of national boards plus local advisory bodies of different people. A major difference is that public radio, as it evolved, is listener-supported, where (in theory anyway) Pacifica is listener-sponsored. It's a fine distinction, but an important one as regards direct, participatory, listener input into programming decisions. This is largely absent in public radio, making it a bad model for Pacifica to emulate. This isn't to say they didn't try very hard to emulate it in the 90s.

Race Card

In Pacifica's case, the tendency for Mary Frances Berry, the "corporate majority", and the WBAI Utricians to provoke racial tension in disputes with white dissidents. Most consider this as an obfuscatory tactic, since a large number of dissidents, not to mention most of the banned/fired, are persons of color.

Radio4All

Great anarchist radio web site which has archived a great deal of Pacifica audible and written content, mostly through the work of Lyn Gerry's Free Pacifica and also the A-Infos Radio Project.

Radio4Houston

Lively, entertaining web site run by a Houston activist group.

Radio is like an Appliance

One of two rather phenomenally ignorant utterances ("morning coffee" is the other) by KPFK GM Mark Schubb, quoted in the 2000 Los Angeles Times story concerning the cancellation of Folk Scene. The full text is:

"People use radio like an appliance," responds Schubb. "If they find something they enjoy listening to, they'll listen to it. It's a wonderful time slot. Whatever we put there, we'll find an audience."

Radio Marti

US radio service beamed at Cuba on a number of frequencies; started out as a pretty decent music station, but now heavily propagandized and jammed; under control of the office of Robert Coonrod before he went to CPB.

Mary Ramirez

Garland Ganter's program director at KPFT, drew up computerized playlists, resigned along with Ganter in 2002.

Tony Regusters

Former press secretary for hell-raising Congress member Maxine Waters (D-CA), now general manager of WPFW.

Renaissance Pleasure Faire

Visionary 1960s Los Angeles event where participants dressed in Renaissance costumes, giving rise to hundreds of annual imitators, originally a KPFK fund raiser.

Rafael Renteria

Long time Pacifica activist, starting out as a program director at KPFT when that station had probably the most eclectic FM format in the US.

Richmond

Working-class San Francisco Bay Area city, where Lew Hill and Pacifica tried unsuccessfully to start an AM station before succeeding with KPFA in the nearby university town of Berkeley.

Clayton Riley

WBAI producer and stalwart Utrician, replaced Bernard White in the morning show, and vigorously played the Race Card pretty much daily. More recently, Riley distinguished himself by threatening two iPNB members at the January 2002 meeting, having to be removed by security both times. Other inappropriate epithets and/or threats of violence were cited by Amy Goodman in her claim that the WBAI workplace was unsafe.

Rob Robinson

WPFW LAB member appointed to PNB, became a dissident and co-plaintiff in the Board Suit, now on iPNB.

Mimi Rosenberg

New York lawyer/activist, long-time WBAI producer of Building Bridges and a segment on The Morning Show, LAB member representing unpaid staff. Fired by Utrice Leid soon after the Christmas Coup. Came back in 2002, became a rather controversial figure in the bylaws controversy.

 

S - Z

Judge Sabraw

Judge of California Superior Court, Alameda County, who is responsible for enforcing the settlement and deciding contested board votes as per its terms.

David Salniker

Executive director 1984-94, remembered mostly for his union-busting and NPR-izing efforts.

Nicole Sawaya

KPFA station manager fired by Pat Scott in 1999, precipitating the lockout at that station.

SCA

Subsidiary Communications Authorization; a technical scheme where such services as stock market quotes, reading to the blind, and background music are broadcast on leased subcarriers transmitted by FM stations. Non-commercial stations were allowed to rent out their SCAs in the 90s, giving Pacifica a large, steady income for just about the first time in its history. This income became a cash cow for the national, depriving the stations of a good revenue source.

Mark Schubb

Controversial KPFK GM 1995 to 2002, aka "The Gagmaster," often accused of heavy-handed management, paranoia, door-slamming, sulking, and excessive re-programming, as allegedly urged on by Marc Cooper. While Schubb achieved near-fanatical loyalty from his surviving inner circle at the station, and his underlying goodness as a human being was never in question, his dizzyingly uninformed remarks on morning coffee (a possible apocrypha), and using radio like an appliance (on the record), created considerable ammunition for those criticizing his general cluelessness on the Pacifica mission. In general, give Schubb a B+ for administration and an F for people skills.

Schubbistas

Derogatory name given to the circle of loyal employees that formed around Mark Schubb at KPFK, also known by their self-applied name of "The Third Faction." Later, the tag 'Schubbite' was used like a heresy accusation, to persecute and ultimately drive away several key staff members, greatly increasing chaos at KPFK.

Louis Schweitzer

Original owner of WBAI, who donated the station to Pacifica in 1960.

Scooter

KPFT oriented sound editor extraordinaire, and co-producer of Radio4Houston's webcasts with Otis Maclay.

Dred Scott

WBAI engineer and producer fired by Utrice Leid in 2001, rehired 2002.

Pat Scott

KPFA manager and then executive director 1994-98. Joined Lynn Chadwick on the CPB task force that recommended rating-driven programming in community radio. Remembered mostly for insider deals, for secretly hiring ACG to bust the unions, and for the "Wednesday Night Massacre" at KPFK in 1995.

Second Board Suit

Legal action filed 2001 in support of the original Robinson/Kriegel Board Suit, by three more dissident PNB members: Tomas Moran, Leslie Cagan, and Peter Bramson. Settled out of court later in 2001.

George Seldes

Legendary 20th century journalist, and perennial antifascist turned press critic, blacklisted in the 50s, died in 1995 at the age of 104 after his trail-blazing mid-century work had been widely rediscovered. Cited by FAIR's Jeff Cohen and Norman Solomon as a major inspiration.

Settlement

The December 2001 agreement reached between all litigants in the four lawsuits which (1) dropped all four suits; (2) created the iPNB out of 5 majority, 5 minority, and 5 LAB appointed members; (3) froze station sales or leases; (4) provided 15 months for the iPNB to create new by-laws for Pacifica and then dissolve itself; and (5) created a means whereby a judge would resolve plurality votes not made by a 2/3 or a "balanced" majority.

S.O.S.

(1)Save Our Station, a WBAI listener group formed in 1996, which later became the Coalition for a Democratic Pacifica - New York (CdP-NY).
(2)Save Our Signal, a nationwide fund drive that successfully rescued KPFK's failing transmitter in March of 2002.

Clare Spark

Noted Los Angeles scholar and KPFK program director 1981-82, who read the program directors' resolution on the Pacifica Mission on-air, and wrote a controversial letter to CPB regarding secrecy of subsequent meetings. Opposed Maeda's efforts to seek corporate grants. Favored the old-Pacifica approach of airing "people who write books," not "people who write bumber stickers;" an idea later used by Schubb et. al. to help support massive purges at KPFK. Ultimately fired in a dispute with GM Jim Berland. Still writes on matters regarding Pacifica history.

Carol Spooner

Tireless KPFA listener-sponsor and LAB member, writer, law school graduate (at age 53!), lead plaintiff with 12 other listeners filing the 1999 Listeners' Suit in California Superior Court, head of the Committee to Remove the Pacifica Board, and iPNB member (whew!); unanimously elected secretary in 2001.

Squire, Sanders & Dempsey

International corporate law firm hired by iPNB to deal with large creditors (mostly other law firms).

STA

Special Temporary Authority, a renewable modification of an FCC radio license for a limited time period, to allow equipment changes or temporary event coverage. KPFK was granted an STA for lower than licensed power during its extended transmitter upgrade.

Steven Starr

Interim KPFK GM for two months in 2002, following the departed Mark Schubb, who was put on administrative leave in January. Starr came from New York, by way of the Los Angeles Independent Media Center. His short term was remembered for a great fund drive and many constructive changes at KPFK. He was succeeded by operations manager Roy Hurst, also on an interim basis.

Stragegy for National Programming

A 1992 five-year plan drawn up by national PD Gail Christian, calling for Pacifica to greatly increase its network news output, and fund it via grants from private foundations, a la NPR.

Stripping

The scheduling of programs at the same time on multiple days of the week, typically Monday-Friday, tending to create personality-oriented radio as opposed to issue-oriented. Considered a good way to increase audience size, especially in drive time, through habitual tune-ins.

Take Back KPFA

Very early dissident group, formed after the initial "Black Tuesday" wave of cancellations in 1995.

Third Faction

Self-appointed group of Mark Schubb supporters at KPFK, which issued regular on-air and Internet statements accusing the other two factions (board majority and dissidents) of everything from incompetence to assault. Along with Schubb, the possible members included Marc Cooper, Betto Arcos, Saul Landau, and a handful of others.

Elsa Knight Thompson

KPFA public affairs director in the late 50s/early 60s, described as various things (not all printable) by various people, definitely a strong presence in that era's pre-hippie San Francisco leftist political scene.

UE

United Electrical Radio and Machine Workers of America, originally the bargaining units at KPFA, KPFK, and WBAI, where paid and unpaid staff were represented. Target of considerable union busting in the Scott era, especially at KPFK, where a new contract went un-ratified for years. KPFA changed to the CWA in 1997, KPFK went to AFTRA, and WBAI went to AFTRA in 2001, though there is talk there of re-negotiating with the UE.

Unpaid Staff

The majority of Pacifica station employees, who do not receive financial compensation for their work. In the case of programmers, the air is considered compensation. Unpaid staff at least used to be at least partly in the bargaining units, and getting them out was a good means of pitting unpaid against paid staff. This was a favorite divide-and-conquer tactic used by Pacifica executive directors against the United Electrical union.

Robin Urevich

Los Angeles freelance journalist, temporarily banned from KPFK in 1999 for writing about Pacifica in an outside publication, went to FSRN, now back at KPFK.

Utricians

Post-WBAI Coup followers of Utrice Leid and Bob Daughtry, especially those claiming that dissidents and banned/fired were racist, even though many were black.

Valerie Van Isler

Controversial WBAI GM, unpopular with many staff and union stewards, who was given notice by Bessie Wash, but then suddenly sent walking a week or so early in the 2000 Christmas Coup. Returned to the GM position in 2002, before moving to the national office.

Karolyn Van Putten

Western public radio executive and member of the PNB "corporate majority", resigned in June of 2001.

Fernando Velasquez

KPFK Spanish/English programmer/producer fired/banned in 1999 after participating in a KPFA solidarity demonstration outside KPFK. Still active in L.A. radio production, and the new KPFX webcast.

Voice of America

Overseas broadcasting service of the US Information Agency, in just about all known languages before post-cold-war budget cuts, and reporting to Robert Coonrod before he went to CPB. While VOA was and is actually pretty good, it is obviously under government control. It is also going downhill fast due to low funding and government indifference toward shortwave broadcasting in general.

Volunteers

Community members, usually listener-sponsors, who show up at stations to help out. The main difference between volunteers and unpaid staff is that staff have set hours and tasks, and used to be partly represented in bargaining units.

Bessie Wash

WPFW GM, then Pacifica executive director 2000-2001, remembered mostly for the "Christmas Coup" at WBAI.

Alan Watts

San Francisco mystic philosopher whose clear and entertaining lectures on Eastern religion and other subjects ran on KPFA for 20 years. Old tapes still air late at night.

WBAI

Third Pacifica radio station, in New York City, as donated, lock stock and Empire State Building transmitter, to Pacifica by its late owner in 1960.

WBAI gag order

2001 memo from Utrice Leid to "all programmers and staff," providing immediate suspension or dismissal for anyone discussing, or allowing to be discussed, "station business, station policy, personnel issues or meetings regarding these topics or other confidential matters." Revoked by iPNB in 2001.

WBAI In Exile

Webcast on the New York Independent Media Center by a group of WBAI banned and fired. Also carried Democracy Now! In Exile and FSRN.

Wednesday Night Massacre

The surprise takeover of KPFK by national executive director Pat Scott in 1995, which completely changed the station's management and moved its bookkeeping to DC.

Westhill Partners

Expensive DC PR firm, also represented Monica Lewinsky and the tobacco lobby, hired by Bessie Wash in 2001, but dropped Pacifica when the money ran out.

Bernard White

WBAI program director and host of the morning show, longtime rival of Utrice Leid, who fired him in the early stages of the Christmas Coup, replacing him with Clayton Riley. White has since returned to the station.

Williams and Connelly

High-powered law firm hired in 2001 by Bessie Wash to defend the lawsuits before their 2001 settlement.

Gregory Wonderwheel

Carol Spooner's Santa Rosa, CA attorney husband, KPFA listener, intellectual, health and labor activist, and frequent writer on Pacifica matters.

WPFW

Fifth Pacifica radio station, started 1977 in Washington, DC, with a jazz and public affairs format.

XLNC

Mexican radio call letters (technically XHLNC); stands for "Excellency;" a San Diego classical music station with a transmitter in Tijuana, as licensed in 2000 as a close-sited micro-power station on the same frequency as KPFK and also as a large Mexicali station owned by broadcast giant Clear Channel. XLNC has been measured far in excess of licensed power, and causes interference to both of these stations. In a final act of defiance, the station's web site quotes a rather suspicious looking letter from a supposed L.A. listener who says that KPFK is the problem for thinking it should be able to cover all of Los Angeles in the first place! This interference makes the KPFK transmitter upgrade more critical.

Y2K Memo

At KPFK, a policy enacted in 2000, which required unpaid volunteer programmers who produced shows at their own expense to give up at least partial ownership to the station, for use in fund drives or archives. Many shows were cancelled after their producers refused to sign.

Steve Yasko

Pacifica national program director, replaced Garland Ganter in 2000, remembered mostly for joining Mark Schubb in a series of confrontations with Amy Goodman over the content of her show. At one point, Yasko gave Goodman a series of requirements, the violation of which would cause termination. Yasko resigned about a year later, charging homophobia, after being "outed" as "Mike Bilt," operator of several gay porn sites.

Jabari Zakiya

Washington, DC libertarian and tax activist, ex-NASA engineer, member of WPFW LAB, elected treasurer of iPNB in 2001.

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