Pacifica Radio Acting Executive Director Report to the Interim Pacifica National Board
March 8, 2002
The priorities of the Pacifica national office - in addition
to the day-to-day management of network operations -- have
been to:
1) Get a clear handle on the network's financial situation
and to stabilize economically.
2) Begin the healing and rebuilding process in each of the
five signal areas as mandated by the December legal settlement
and recent board resolutions. This includes the urgent need
for reconciliation between Local Advisory Board's and local
stations in the run-up to LAB elections and by-law changes.
The Pacifica Radio network is in far worse financial shape
than any of us have imagined. Let me be very clear: Pacifica
has been - and remains - on the brink of financial collapse.
Every day at the national office, and at our five stations,
staff are dealing with vendors and creditors banging on our
doors. We are living hand to mouth, figuring out how to meet
payroll and keep the network running for another day. Whether
it is a phone bill or a transmitter problem or an angry law
firm, we have been thrown into crisis management and will
remain so for some time to come.
As you all know, the new board and administration inherited
a network that faced a $1.5 million budget gap for this calendar
year and a $5 million working capital deficit.
In addition, Pacifica's national offices, and its professional
relations, were in chaos. Our institutional capacity to handle
day-to-day operations let alone a full blown crisis were -
and are - extremely limited. While an interim comptroller
was hired, and an independent review of the books was conducted,
there are no formal accounting procedures and policies in
place, and basic systems - like our accounting software --
are not functioning properly. To be sure, strengthening Pacifica's
financial spine is one of our top priorities over the coming
months.
Despite these difficulties, we are moving aggressively to
tackle the problems and we've adopted a three-pronged strategy
to address what I am calling "Pacifica's Special Period:"
1) Negotiating Existing Debt: Based on the board decision
made on the Feb. 15th conference call, we have hired a law
firm to bring order and professionalism to the largest legal
and professional claims now outstanding. These total about
$2 million from some eight professional service firms. (Deputy
ED Verna Avery-Brown report.)
2) Cutting Costs: We have taken aggressive steps to balance
our budget for this calendar year. We closed down the network
news operations on Feb. 15 and reorganized the Ku satellite
system. (Calendar year 2002 savings from cuts is estimated
at $900,000). We have also cut back sharply on salaries for
national management and general managers. In fact, salary
cuts for top managers have ranged from 32 percent to ten and
five percent. Overall, the focus of our cuts have been at
the national level. Our local stations are the heart of the
network and we will do all we can to preserve them.
3) Raise revenue: I am happy to announce that in the wake
of December's legal settlement, and the dropping of the listener
boycott by community groups across the country, Pacifica Radio
posted its highest ever winter fundraising drive in history,
generating nearly $3 million in on air pledges at four stations.
Listeners at WBAI in the New York tri-state area led the surge,
doubling the amount given during last year's winter drive.
Both KPFA and KPFK hit a historic high fundraising marks.
And during its programming time slot, Democracy Now! raised
an incredible $630,000.
All five stations participated in a historic one day nationwide
solidarity drive to help repair KPFK's transmitter, which
is presently at reduced power. That raised $180,000 in on-air
pledges and generated a day of riveting national programming.
The response was so positive that we will be doing some more
programming of this kind in the near future.
In the meantime, we will be launching a comprehensive fundraising
campaign that will include direct mail drops, the targeting
of high donors, national on-air fundraising, and special events.
We are also looking at ways we can leverage Pacifica's real
estate assets.
But the reality is that even with this record fund drive,
Pacifica must still raise $1.5 million between now and May
15th just to cover operational costs and salaries across the
network. And between May 15th and October 15th, we will have
to raise another $2 million in addition to our normal on-air
drives.
So how do we Save Pacifica?
Everybody in the Pacifica community - on their own initiative
-- must become a fundraiser - every LAB member, every National
Board member, every Pacifica worker and listener. Today, this
task must be the No. 1 priority of all of us associated with
the network. Save Pacifica Committees - or Save our Station
committees - can be created throughout the country and every
listener can be urged to become an organizer and recruit five
or ten new members. We need to organize in the streets, at
community meetings, in churches, in trade unions. We can and
must organize huge fundraising events in New York, California,
Texas, and Washington, DC, and bring in name musicians and
speakers. The same mass movement that has brought the promise
of democracy to the network can save the network by independently
raising hundreds of thousands of dollars in a few short months.
This strategy relies on our greatest strength -- the thousands
of loyal Pacifica listeners and the spirit of solidarity and
volunteerism that has shaped this network for more than 50-years.
It mobilizes people into action, it forces us to organize
and expand the base of our membership, and it simultaneously
paves the way for a greater voter base in the democratic elections
of advisory boards that must be accomplished within the next
year.
One important way to mobilize listeners at the level would
be through a mass education campaign where we explain, in
detail, exactly how Pacifica got into this mess in the first
place. As the independent financial review of Pacifica's books
revealed, the previous Pacifica administration went on a reckless
and irresponsible six million dollar spending spree in a 15
month period. And not just because of the exorbitant fees
paid to and charged by legal firms. Senior Pacifica managers
treated the network like a trough.
In the first six months of 2001, for instance, one top manager
racked up an American Express bill of nearly $120,000 on travel
expenses alone. And on their way out the door, these managers
handed out exorbitant golden parachute severance packages
to themselves and their staff without any regard to professional
standards.
Upon leaving Pacifica, one former executive charged up huge
hotel bills and absconded with a rental car, saddling the
network with thousands of dollars in bills. We had to call
the police and report the car stolen to get it back. And to
this day, some former officials believe the gravy train is
still flowing and they continue to demand huge sums, like
more than $100,000, to leave and/or not file lawsuits. In
total, some 20 severance payments were handed out over the
last year at an expense of nearly $500,000 to the network.
We believe these were improper and they have been halted pending
a review and renegotiation.
These kind of payments are part of the reckless and uncontrolled
spending that occurred over the last year. One firm, for instance,
has billed Pacifica more than $500,000 for a few months work.
Most alarmingly, I also want to report to you and the entire
Pacifica community that the former administration apparently
committed hundreds of thousands of listener dollars on an
undercover intelligence operation targeting Pacifica staffers
and listeners. Secret dossiers were apparently created on
programmers, like Amy Goodman, on board members like Leslie
Cagan, and on listener activists. Undercover agents were reportedly
despatched to spy on Local Advisory Board meetings and on
community events. Internet newsgroups and web sites were closely
monitored and liaisons were established with local police
forces.
It is imperative that some kind of independent review of
the files from the last two years be conducted - a kind of
Truth Commission, if you will -- to ascertain what exactly
happened and why. At the very least, there must be some review
of what appears to be an extensive surveillance operation
and appropriate steps must be taken to properly handle the
information gathered from such undercover activities. Our
challenge is to figure out how to learn from the problems
and weaknesses of the past so we can develop new safeguarding
mechanisms, as well as new governance structures and new commitments
to mission-driven programming. And also, if we are asking
for on-going financial support from our listeners, we need
to be completely transparent with the wider Pacifica community
about why.
You will be hearing more about what is happening at Pacifica's
five stations tomorrow. But one key development we have prioritized
at the national level has been the reintegration of the Local
Advisory Boards at KPFK, KPFT, WBAI, and WPFW. This process
has raised a series of key questions on by-law changes and
upcoming LAB elections.
Another key issue that has emerged during this period of
healing and reconciliation has been programming. How do local
Pacifica stations articulate Pacifica's mission in their day-to-day
programming? What are the structures and processes around
programming? There is widespread debate - often sharp -- on
the nature of community radio in the 21st century and indeed
on the very purpose and direction of Pacifica programming.
We welcome that debate and now is precisely the time to organize
a national discussion on the issue.
As a result, Verna and I are setting up a commission to look
at Pacifica both programming and the programming process,
what we are calling a Mission Commission. The Commission will
be empowered to organize a network-wide discussion on structure
and programming within the Pacifica community and those who
are rooted in progressive social movements and in community
radio nationwide. We believe the ideas generated by this process
will help encourage, focus, inform and strengthen the general
debate on Pacifica's future as well as providing concrete
programming ideas for the network as we move forward in this
new democratic era.
Verna and I have asked long-time programmer and former Pacifica
Board member Robbie Osman to coordinate this effort in an
unpaid capacity. We have asked him to establish panels of
respected progressive organizers and activists to report to
the LABs, the National Board, the station staff, and the national
office on these questions facing Pacifica.
We hope that out of this period of crisis and upheaval within
Pacifica we will be able to salvage a unique opportunity to
take a careful look at how our institutional culture and our
decision-making structure affect how successfully our programming
serves the network's mission.
In terms of day-to day operations at the network we are all
working hard to reestablish critical network functions. The
KPFK transmitter work on Mt. Wilson is a top priority for
this administration. Our best estimate - after hearing from
Southern California Edison and Los Angeles County -- is that
KPFK will be at low power until mid-May, and even perhaps
June. The FCC will be asked for a third extension to allow
this work to be completed. Since the delays were out of our
immediate control, it will likely be no problem obtaining
another extension on our special temporary operating authority.
A full technical report will be made available to you this
weekend.
Another key area of operations that this new administration
has moved quickly to reestablish are Pacifica's sub-carrier
licenses. I regret to report that between June and December
2001, no revenue was generated from Pacifica's 10 sub-carrier
frequencies at our five stations. As far as we can tell, contracts
were just sitting around the national office unsigned. We
have already got five leases fully activated, in what is a
weak SCA market, bringing in some $35,000 a month. Fully leased,
we expect a revenue of about $900,000 a year.
I'm also pleased to report that Pacifica's affiliate stations
are returning, largely due to the legal settlement and the
return of Democracy Now! A total of 51 affiliates still remain
with the network and we are very pleased that many have been
spontaneously sending in checks and renewing their affiliation.
As these examples show, Pacifica is coming back. Staff, community,
and board members are pulling together to bring this network
into a new and historic period in the US media - the first
national broadcast network to be democratically run. This
is an exciting time and it was best exemplified by the Save
Our Signal day of solidarity with the Southern California
and KPFK listener community.
But we cannot make these internal changes without actively
engaging in the world around us. Today, on International Working
Women's Day, 64 people were killed in Israel and the Occupied
Territories. Not only does this underscore the urgent need
for this radio network to redouble its commitment to peace
and social justice programming. But it also reminds us that
for Pacifica to be able to successfully change internally,
we must actively engage with the historical events and processes
and debates that are shaping the world today.
Thank you. |
