http://www.berkeleydailyp...-Response-to-Healing-KPFA-
In Response to 'Healing KPFA'
By Shahram Aghamir and Nick Alexander
Thursday September 25, 2008 , Berkeley Daily Planet
----------------------------------------------------------
First of all, we must confess we were a bit
puzzled that the authors of the Sept. 18 commentary
http://www.berkeleydailyp...145?headline=Healing-KPFA
"Healing KPFA," self-identified as "KPFA Staff,"
when nearly half the six signatories are actually
KPFA Local Station Board members affiliated with
the "Concerned Listeners" block, rather than
staff members. Furthermore, of the six actual
staff signers, five are paid department heads,
and not rank and file or unpaid employees. To say
the least, a rather skewed sampling of "KPFA staff."
Beyond that rather misleading representation, we
ask, is it really fair for the authors of this
letter (who ostensibly call for "healing") to use
innuendo and the term "opportunist" when
characterizing the many dedicated programmers who
have courageously taken it upon themselves to
discuss the troubling Aug. 20 police incident (a
public news event) on the air, both to educate
listeners and to bring healing to a traumatized and demoralized staff?
In addition, quoting from the "Healing KPFA"
letter, we see a number of other unfair and
divisive characterizations, to wit:
"And the loudest shouting over the police
incident has come from those entrenched
programmers at the station who stand to lose the
most from a revitalization of KPFA."
While we acknowledge differences of opinion among
KPFA staff, we ask this letter's authors whether
they are trying to instigate false divisions
along "seniority" lines within the vibrant,
strong coalition for fundamental change at KPFA.
The "Healing KPFA" authors seem to be trying to
create divisions in our struggle without
addressing the favorable or unfavorable
contributions of so-called "entrenched" staff
with regards to "revitalization." None of the
"Healing KPFA" authors have signed our widely
embraced open staff letter outlining a
desperately needed, prudent and carefully
developed vision for new leadership and the
revitalization of KPFA. (Visit
www.physicszone.org/letter2008/letter.html ) On
the other hand, those senior programmers derided
as the "loudest" by the "Healing KPFA" letter did
sign our letter. So who should properly be described as "entrenched?"
Unfortunately, the tragic arrest of unpaid
staffer Nadra Foster is but a symptom of deeper
problems inside the station or on KPFA's Local
Station Board that the "Healing KPFA" authors
have steadfastly refused to address. Indeed, LSB
staff representative Brian Edwards-Tiekert did
not support a LSB resolution calling on Interim
General Manager Lemlem Rijio to reverse her
"de-recognition" of KPFA's Unpaid Staff
Organization (UPSO). His close ally, then-LSB
Chair and journalist Conn Hallinan, was not
eligible to vote. But ally, voting LSB member and
Pacifica National Board Chair Sherry Gendelman,
also abstained. To be fair, Andrea Turner voted
for the resolution, but she has otherwise gone
along with the mute response of LSB "Concerned
Listeners" to Rijio methodically shifting KPFA's
culture away from collaboration and mutual
support, which ultimately culminated in the
unnecessary police arrest of Nadra Foster.
In the eight-point open letter, 80 paid and
unpaid staff from a broad spectrum of backgrounds
and positions at KPFA are demanding a number of
reforms, including fresh new KPFA leadership
committed to the following core values:
1. KPFA and Pacifica network's mission, which
promotes peaceful means to solve conflicts
instead of resorting to state force as occurred
in the tragic and unnecessary arrest of unpaid programmer Nadra Foster.
2. Active support and respect for KPFA's entire
staff, including the First Voice Apprenticeship
Program and other radio collectives, and no
obstruction of UPSO from lawfully holding
elections, as well as support for unpaid staff
participation in station affairs. KPFA's Unpaid
Staff Organization, which advocates on behalf of
the station's large unpaid workforce and had
established grievance procedures for volunteer
concerns, was abruptly de-recognized by Rijio in
August of 2007 and has not been reinstated, in
defiance of resolutions by KPFA's Local Station
Board and Pacifica's National Board.
The open letter's other points deal with new KPFA
leadership that works to achieveinstead of
blockingdemocracy in the station; helps reform
KPFA's program schedule and incorporates
interactive media tools; recognizes the need to
serve new and younger audiences (In 2006, Rijio
outraged many staff when she permanently removed
Youth Radio from the air for FCC profanity
violations without discussing other possible
disciplinary actions with the then-active Program
Council, which was also effectively dismantled
later, under her watch); allocates resources to
support local producers' needs, including
disabled staff; is accessible and impartial in
all staff matters; and respects and facilitates
the broadcasting of ethnic specials.
Finally, despite what the "Healing KPFA" authors
are trying to suggest at kpfa.org/august20, no
one in our coalition is saying do not call the
police in extreme circumstances involving bodily
harm or willful destruction of property. Falling
outside such circumstances is an unpaid KPFA
programmer, Nadra Foster, who was allegedly
"banned" from the station for apparently
disagreeing with a manager who said she could not
use the phone or photocopy machine.
----------------------------------------------------------
Shahram Aghamir is a staff representative on the,
KPFA Local Station Board and co-producer of
Voices of the Middle East And North Africa. Nick
Alexander is a reporter and co-producer for The Radio Chronicles.
Return to Davey D's Hip Hop Corner
In Response to 'Healing KPFA'
By Shahram Aghamir and Nick Alexander
Thursday September 25, 2008 , Berkeley Daily Planet
------------
First of all, we must confess we were a bit
puzzled that the authors of the Sept. 18 commentary
http://www.berkeleydailyp...145?headline=Healing-KPFA
"Healing KPFA," self-identified as "KPFA Staff,"
when nearly half the six signatories are actually
KPFA Local Station Board members affiliated with
the "Concerned Listeners" block, rather than
staff members. Furthermore, of the six actual
staff signers, five are paid department heads,
and not rank and file or unpaid employees. To say
the least, a rather skewed sampling of "KPFA staff."
Beyond that rather misleading representation, we
ask, is it really fair for the authors of this
letter (who ostensibly call for "healing") to use
innuendo and the term "opportunist" when
characterizing the many dedicated programmers who
have courageously taken it upon themselves to
discuss the troubling Aug. 20 police incident (a
public news event) on the air, both to educate
listeners and to bring healing to a traumatized and demoralized staff?
In addition, quoting from the "Healing KPFA"
letter, we see a number of other unfair and
divisive characterizations, to wit:
"And the loudest shouting over the police
incident has come from those entrenched
programmers at the station who stand to lose the
most from a revitalization of KPFA."
While we acknowledge differences of opinion among
KPFA staff, we ask this letter's authors whether
they are trying to instigate false divisions
along "seniority" lines within the vibrant,
strong coalition for fundamental change at KPFA.
The "Healing KPFA" authors seem to be trying to
create divisions in our struggle without
addressing the favorable or unfavorable
contributions of so-called "entrenched" staff
with regards to "revitalization." None of the
"Healing KPFA" authors have signed our widely
embraced open staff letter outlining a
desperately needed, prudent and carefully
developed vision for new leadership and the
revitalization of KPFA. (Visit
www.physicszone.
the other hand, those senior programmers derided
as the "loudest" by the "Healing KPFA" letter did
sign our letter. So who should properly be described as "entrenched?"
Unfortunately, the tragic arrest of unpaid
staffer Nadra Foster is but a symptom of deeper
problems inside the station or on KPFA's Local
Station Board that the "Healing KPFA" authors
have steadfastly refused to address. Indeed, LSB
staff representative Brian Edwards-Tiekert did
not support a LSB resolution calling on Interim
General Manager Lemlem Rijio to reverse her
"de-recognition" of KPFA's Unpaid Staff
Organization (UPSO). His close ally, then-LSB
Chair and journalist Conn Hallinan, was not
eligible to vote. But ally, voting LSB member and
Pacifica National Board Chair Sherry Gendelman,
also abstained. To be fair, Andrea Turner voted
for the resolution, but she has otherwise gone
along with the mute response of LSB "Concerned
Listeners" to Rijio methodically shifting KPFA's
culture away from collaboration and mutual
support, which ultimately culminated in the
unnecessary police arrest of Nadra Foster.
In the eight-point open letter, 80 paid and
unpaid staff from a broad spectrum of backgrounds
and positions at KPFA are demanding a number of
reforms, including fresh new KPFA leadership
committed to the following core values:
1. KPFA and Pacifica network's mission, which
promotes peaceful means to solve conflicts
instead of resorting to state force as occurred
in the tragic and unnecessary arrest of unpaid programmer Nadra Foster.
2. Active support and respect for KPFA's entire
staff, including the First Voice Apprenticeship
Program and other radio collectives, and no
obstruction of UPSO from lawfully holding
elections, as well as support for unpaid staff
participation in station affairs. KPFA's Unpaid
Staff Organization, which advocates on behalf of
the station's large unpaid workforce and had
established grievance procedures for volunteer
concerns, was abruptly de-recognized by Rijio in
August of 2007 and has not been reinstated, in
defiance of resolutions by KPFA's Local Station
Board and Pacifica's National Board.
The open letter's other points deal with new KPFA
leadership that works to achieveinstead of
blockingdemocracy in the station; helps reform
KPFA's program schedule and incorporates
interactive media tools; recognizes the need to
serve new and younger audiences (In 2006, Rijio
outraged many staff when she permanently removed
Youth Radio from the air for FCC profanity
violations without discussing other possible
disciplinary actions with the then-active Program
Council, which was also effectively dismantled
later, under her watch); allocates resources to
support local producers' needs, including
disabled staff; is accessible and impartial in
all staff matters; and respects and facilitates
the broadcasting of ethnic specials.
Finally, despite what the "Healing KPFA" authors
are trying to suggest at kpfa.org/august20, no
one in our coalition is saying do not call the
police in extreme circumstances involving bodily
harm or willful destruction of property. Falling
outside such circumstances is an unpaid KPFA
programmer, Nadra Foster, who was allegedly
"banned" from the station for apparently
disagreeing with a manager who said she could not
use the phone or photocopy machine.
------------
Shahram Aghamir is a staff representative on the,
KPFA Local Station Board and co-producer of
Voices of the Middle East And North Africa. Nick
Alexander is a reporter and co-producer for The Radio Chronicles.
Return to Davey D's Hip Hop Corner
