National Lawyers Guild Letter to KPFA On The Morning Mix

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REMOVAL OF MORNING MIX FROM DRIVE TIME PROGRAMMING

The recent removal of the Morning Mix radio program from the 8:00 AM time slot on KPFA has raised some concern at the San Francisco chapter of the National Lawyers Guild (“Guild”). We write this letter because KPFA and its free speech mission, are important to the Guild and to many activists that either work with, or are represented by, Guild members.

The Guild views KPFA not as simply another movement organization, but as a key part of the information commons. In that sense, KPFA is similar to a public utility — it is for the public benefit. KPFA policies on openness and actions regarding access to its airwaves affect all of us striving for a better world.

Like KPFA and Pacifica, the Guild was created with a particular mission: it was founded in 1937 as an alternative to the American Bar Association’s exclusionary practices and political orientation, and the Guild was the first integrated bar association. KPFA was launched in 1949, three years after pacifist Lew Hill created Pacifica. The aim of the station has always been to promote cultural diversity, to promote pluralistic cultural expression,  to contribute to a lasting understanding among diverse constituents, to maintain freedom of the press, and to create a forum for various viewpoints.

At KPFA’s core is the concept of pacifism or non-violence. Non-violence is often mistaken for being simply the absence of, or opposite of, violence. Instead nonviolence is a systematic framework of both conceptual principles and pragmatic strategies to reduce harm and promote positive peace at the personal, community, national and global levels. Contrary to popular belief, non-violence requires boldness and courage. Moreover, it is easy to fall astray from the path of non-violence in the pursuit of financial stability or in response to political pressure.

With this framework and history in mind, we raise our concerns about an uncomfortable pattern of events that have transpired at KPFA that appear to be the antithesis of non-violence. We do not list these concerns to cast blame, or to impose our set of values on another organization. We list these concerns because our collective silence could be perceived as approval or consent. We consider individuals and organizations on both sides of this debate as both friends and allies. It is in the spirit of a friend and ally that we speak about the recent decisions at KPFA, and seek to build trust through transparency.

The Morning Mix was unique within the KPFA lineup because it was hosted by a diverse group of community volunteers with programming important to community members. The Morning Mix often reported on local political movements that were under-reported elsewhere. One such issue is tar sand extraction and transportation by rail to refineries. Andres Soto, one of the hosts of the Morning Mix, and a Richmond resident and activist, often reported on this issue. He frequently reported on Chevron’s efforts to refine tar sands in Richmond which will have a direct impact on the people of Richmond and surrounding communities. Across the nation, we see a growing movement on this issue, and the Guild has recently received reports of brutal arrests of people who oppose tar sands. Instead of supporting this excellent reporting done by Andres Soto on this issue, KPFA has essentially silenced him by eliminating the prime time Morning Mix program. It is doubtful that the new paid host from LA will report on local efforts to oppose refining tar sands in the same way.

We could go through other hosts and programs on the Morning Mix, and discuss how each is connected to a local community and movement, however the point is that KPFA’s actions have actually decreased the diversity of speech on its airwaves.

As a community-based radio station dedicated to pluralistic expression, it would seem that KPFA would wish to avoid even the appearance of decreasing diversity, or of favoritism, or of bias. Gentrification of a neighborhood transforms it by displacing local residents, which in turn erases local character. Defenders of gentrification support the transformation, claiming that it increases public safety. Some at KPFA have described the removal of the Morning Mix as a ” move towards professionalism”. However we fear that “professionalism”, like “public safety” is pretext. The unqie character of the Morning Mix came from its local voices, accents, topics and perspectives. KPFA erased this local character with a single paid host out of LA.

Another reason put forth by by KPFA management is that the LA program will allegedly bring in more revenue. Although people can and do argue about interpretation of financial figures, the financial documents produced at the KPFA Local Station Board show that the Morning Mix was pulling is weight during fund drive. Thus, KPFA’s reliance on a specific interpretation of its financial figures, when there are other valid interpretations,  is a factor that creates the appearance of viewpoint bias. For example, the KPFA financial documents do not take into account the expenses incrred by having paid hosts. Thus, the financials purport to measure programs in terms of revenue generated, and disregard specific costs incurred by having paid hosts.

Moreover, and this point cannot be emphasized too much, KPFA can not and must not base all of its programming decisions on finance alone.

Although this letter was prompted by the removal of the Morning Mix, in the course of drafting this letter, we have learned of complaints that KPFA management has silenced specifically black programmers and/or failed to provide support for critical black programming or programming on critical local issues relevant to black communities. We are concerned that the removal of the Morning Mix, a show frequently hosted by black local hosts, is part of this pattern. We understand that KPFA is filling the Morning Mix time slot with a show hosted by a person of color, however the show is not produced locally, and does not have as close a connection to Bay Area black communities, and that features voices of black programmers, and not assume that programming by or for people of color generally will necessarily cover these issues.

KPFA, as part of its mission, must be ever vigilant of protecting diversity of viewpoints. Removal of the Morning Mix has narrowed the range of speech on its airwaves.

KPFA appears to promote radio programs that would prefer to talk about global economics, rather than race and the local displacement of black and immigrant families. It is an agenda that appears it would rather talk about gender discrimination in the boardroom, but not talk about the impact of gender, race and poverty on the young girls caught up in sex trafficking on Bay Area streets. It is an agenda that appears it would rather solve problems abroad, rather than those at home.

The Guild is an organization dedicated to human rights over property rights, and our collective conscious is touched when KPFA – a radio station dedicated to promoting diversity – consciously or unconsciously engages in viewpoint suppression. The allegations may be uncomfortable, however we in the Guild believe that it is through transparency and discussion of diverse viewpoints that this situation can be resolved.

In solidarity,

Sharon Adams, Vice President

National Lawyers Guild, Bay Area Chapter

August 12, 2014

NLG letter re Mix & KPFA

 

 

Veterans for Peace Sonoma County Supports the Morning Mix in Prime Time

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From Bill Simon, PhD
President, Veterans For Peace Chapter 71, Sonoma County
Statement: on KPFA

Sonoma County Veterans for Peace supports the continuation of the Morning Mix at KPFA in prime time hours.  The Morning Mix has been on KPFA at 8:00 A.M. for three and half years. They are men and women; black, white, and brown; and are gay and straight; radical scholars and labor activists; young, old, retirees, and  are all volunteers in service to the mission of KPFA.  We strongly support this type of community programming instead of a daily external show from LA.

Harvey Milk Democratic Club Passes Resolution To Restore The Morning Mix

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On June 17th, San Francisco’s Harvey Milk Democratic Club adopted a resolution calling for the return of the Morning Mix to KPFA’s 8am time slot, Mondays to Fridays.

 

East Bay Veterans for Peace Says Restore The Morning Mix

On Saturday, June 14, 2014, VETERANS FOR PEACE East Bay Chapter 
#162(VFP-EB#162) voted to endorse the below petition for the Morning 
Mix and local programming, and also the same time voted to 
co-sign/co-endorse the SF Labor Council Resolution (of June 9) calling 
for the reinstatement of the Morning Mix to drive-time at KPFA.

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BELOW IS THE PETITION ENDORSED BY VFP-EB#162

Support local community activist programming
at Pacifica and KPFA

We oppose the displacement of the 8:00 AM Morning Mix show on KPFA 
with a network show “Uprising” hosted by Sonali Kolhatkar from LA. A 
new small majority of the Pacifica board of directors are replacing 
local community “activist oriented” programs with what they perceive 
as higher value national programming. We believe that the need for 
local community and labor programming in prime-time is a key factor in 
building support locally and regionally for KPFA and all Pacifica 
Stations. We strongly urge the KPFA Interim General Manager Richard 
Pirodsky, Pacifica Executive Director Bernard Duncan, Pacifica Board 
Chair Margy Wilkinson and the Board of Directors to respect and 
support the needs of the listeners in protecting and advancing local 
community programming throughout the network.

Golden Gate Branch of the Letter Carriers Union Says Bring Back The Morning Mix

Golden Gate Branch 214 of the Letter Carriers Union adopted this resolution:

Reinstate the “Morning Mix” drive-time radio show –

Say No to Cuts in Labor/Community Programming on KPFA Radio

Whereas, KPFA Radio 94.1 FM, with a powerful radio transmitter, has been a megaphone for community free speech radio throughout northern California for over 65 years, and is the flagship station of the Pacifica Radio Network; and

Whereas, for the last 3 and a half years KPFA has aired a ground-breaking labor and community program called the Morning Mix – broadcasting at a time when more working people could hear it, during “drive time” from 8 to 9 AM, Monday to Friday; and

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Whereas, the rotating hosts of the Morning Mix radio shows on KPFA have featured the voices of Bay Area working people and their issues, to a degree not found on any other Northern California station with the reach and power of KPFA. This included regular reporting on labor and community struggles – about the postal workers’ fight against privatization; the concerns of teachers, dockworkers, transit and healthcare workers, and immigrant workers; as well as the community fight in the city of Richmond against toxic pollution by Chevron Corporation; and

Whereas, the Morning Mix provided regular announcements of Bay Area labor and community events, so working people could be aware of these activities and participate; and

Whereas, late in the evening on May 21, KPFA and Pacifica management abruptly, and without proper consultations, cancelled the Morning Mix and replaced it with a syndicated program “Uprising” produced in Los Angeles that does not cover Bay Area issues and events; and

Whereas, we need more local labor and community programming on KFPA radio, not less – especially since working peoples’ stories are almost completely ignored by the mainstream media. This program change is a tremendous loss for the radio listeners in the Bay Area.

Therefore be it resolved, that the San Francisco Labor Council calls on KPFA/Pacifica management to reinstate the Morning Mix drive-time radio show. We need more labor and community programs on the radio – not less!

And be it further resolved, that this resolution be submitted to other Bay Area labor councils for concurrence and action.

Gray Panthers Letter of Support for The Morning Mix

 

imagesGray Panthers of San Francisco

2940 16th Street, Room 200-4

San Francisco CA 94103

415-552-8800, graypanther-sf@sonic.net

 

KPFA

1929 Martin Luther King Jr Way

Berkeley, California 94704

 

Dear Richard Pirodsky, Interim General Manager,

As a long-time supporters of KPFA, even prior to the 1999 attempted take over of our station, we strongly object to changing the Morning Mix programming. If this is listeners’ sponsored radio then we your listeners and supporters must be taken into account on such a major change of community focus.

The Morning Mix is the most diverse group programmers on KPFA. It specifically keeps us informed on local issues and ways to organize with labor, the African American community, the Richmond community’s fight against Chevron, and Poor News Network campaigns. Though the stories covered by Project Censored are not always local, they are not heard on corporate media. It is better to have the variety that comes with a show like the Morning Mix than to turn over these 5 hours a week to single program, Up Front. Uprising from LA could be combined and/or alternated withUp Front at the 7:00AM time slot.

In this era of complete corporate control of the media, we can protect the few remaining independent media sources. Changing of the Morning Mix affects our access to local media control and a progressive media forum.

The community wants the Morning Mix returned to its original time slot!

Sincerely,

The Gray Panthers of San Francisco Board of Directors

Patricia Jackson, Convener

Michael Lyon, Treasurer

Denise D’Anne, Secretary