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Save KPFA benefit
Conn and Matthew Hallinan will Save KPFA, but only if you give them money. So please read their urgent message, attend the Friday evening benefit, and give generously. A $20 donation is requested, but please don't be cheap, give more than that. If you don't, this will be the end of KPFA.
Save KPFA Benefit Concert
When: Friday, August 06 2010 @ 08:00 PM - - 10:00PM
Where: Humanist Hall
390 27th St (near Broadway)
Oakland, CA 94612
AN URGENT MESSAGE
From:
Matthew Hallinan
Conn Hallinan
Dear Fellow Progressive,
We are sorry to bring you some sad news. Our long-time companion and voice of the Left, KPFA, is in serious danger of disappearing from Northern California's airwaves. In these hard times, the station faces many challenges, but the most serious threat to its survival comes from the crisis within the larger Pacifica Network. While part of the problem comes from growning defecits at WBAI and other sister stations, and part of it is due to competition with the Internet and a changing media environment, frankly, most of the damage is self-inflicted.
A recent S.F. Chronicle article by the well known labor reporter Randy Shaw outlining this story is enclosed.
Since the establishment of elected Local Station Boards (LSB) in 2002, the Pacifica stations have been embroiled in a series of destructive
struggles for the control of these boards. Most of KPFA's listeners are neither organized nor familiar with the problems of managing these stations. Most of KPFA's listeners do not vote in the Board elections. As a consequence, positions of power on the Board have fallen to small groups of activists who have neither connection with nor concern for the larger progressive community.
The LSBs are bitterly polarized, and the poisonous atmosphere has affected the working relations inside the stations. Where these stations once broadcast a broad spectrum of progressive voices, they have increasingly come to express the views of a narrower slice of our community. As the message has narrowed, membership has declined, and an ever-smaller circle of supporters determines the outcomes of LSB elections.
At a time when corporate and conservative consolidation over the media is at an all-time high, Pacifica is caught in a death spiral: Listener support is down 27%; net assets have decreased by 38%; the financial deficit now totals almost three million dollars.
KPFA is currently the most viable station in the system, the only one that has a listener base sufficient to support a transition to the realities of the new media world.
But KPFA may not make it. The current majority (by one vote) on the KPFA LSB is bent on following the same course that has produced disaster throughout the system. Over the issue of a misplaced check, they engineered the firing of one of the best station managers and fundraisers the station has had in decades.
(For the rest of this extremely important letter, please see Conn or Matthew Hallinan)
When: Friday, August 06 2010 @ 08:00 PM - - 10:00PM
Where: Humanist Hall
390 27th St (near Broadway)
Oakland, CA 94612
AN URGENT MESSAGE
From:
Matthew Hallinan
Conn Hallinan
Dear Fellow Progressive,
We are sorry to bring you some sad news. Our long-time companion and voice of the Left, KPFA, is in serious danger of disappearing from Northern California's airwaves. In these hard times, the station faces many challenges, but the most serious threat to its survival comes from the crisis within the larger Pacifica Network. While part of the problem comes from growning defecits at WBAI and other sister stations, and part of it is due to competition with the Internet and a changing media environment, frankly, most of the damage is self-inflicted.
A recent S.F. Chronicle article by the well known labor reporter Randy Shaw outlining this story is enclosed.
Since the establishment of elected Local Station Boards (LSB) in 2002, the Pacifica stations have been embroiled in a series of destructive
struggles for the control of these boards. Most of KPFA's listeners are neither organized nor familiar with the problems of managing these stations. Most of KPFA's listeners do not vote in the Board elections. As a consequence, positions of power on the Board have fallen to small groups of activists who have neither connection with nor concern for the larger progressive community.
The LSBs are bitterly polarized, and the poisonous atmosphere has affected the working relations inside the stations. Where these stations once broadcast a broad spectrum of progressive voices, they have increasingly come to express the views of a narrower slice of our community. As the message has narrowed, membership has declined, and an ever-smaller circle of supporters determines the outcomes of LSB elections.
At a time when corporate and conservative consolidation over the media is at an all-time high, Pacifica is caught in a death spiral: Listener support is down 27%; net assets have decreased by 38%; the financial deficit now totals almost three million dollars.
KPFA is currently the most viable station in the system, the only one that has a listener base sufficient to support a transition to the realities of the new media world.
But KPFA may not make it. The current majority (by one vote) on the KPFA LSB is bent on following the same course that has produced disaster throughout the system. Over the issue of a misplaced check, they engineered the firing of one of the best station managers and fundraisers the station has had in decades.
(For the rest of this extremely important letter, please see Conn or Matthew Hallinan)
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As usual, these appeals contain a glimmer of truthiness, but only a bit. Not enough.
The biggest part of the problem is that in 2009, KPFA, under the leadership of Concerned Listeners a.k.a.Save KPFA who dominated the Board of Directors from 2007-2009, ran a $652,000 deficit. That's spending more than half a million dollars more than came in the door.
How did this happen? It's not that hard. The board, observing correctly that the economy collapsed in the fall of 2008 and listener donations were likely to be down, decided to cut expenses by the amount of $300,000. They did this by undifferentiated "staff reductions" of 20%. But as it turned out, staff reductions were only made in the amount of 2%. So KPFA saved some jobs, temporarily, but ran through its entire cash-in-bank overspending in defiance of its budget and with the support of Save KPFA.
Concerned Listeners a.k.a.Save KPFA is the reason KPFA needs to be saved from financial distress.
In 2009, KPFA issued the SECOND LARGEST DEFICIT in the 5-station network. just narrowly avoiding topping WBAI. KPFA has been financially unviable since 2008. KPFA owes money to Pacifica National and hadn't even paid the bill for airing Democracy Now at the end of June.
KPFA used to be in better shape, but a few years of Concerned Listeners overspending ended that pretty fast.
While I'm not inclined to go into details about missing checks, its a strange person that believes an institution doesn't take action when $375,000 reported to be in a bank account for 14 months, isn't there.
Don't be fooled by truthiness.
It's not about who fights with who. It's about things much more important than that.
Basic management, integrity, community responsiveness, and not running KPFA like a playground for a few, but as a meaningful outlet that is genuinely accountable to listeners and supporters and to radical movements for social change and a better world.
Don't vote for Concerned Listeners a.k.a Save KPFA. They've been a catastrophe.
The biggest part of the problem is that in 2009, KPFA, under the leadership of Concerned Listeners a.k.a.Save KPFA who dominated the Board of Directors from 2007-2009, ran a $652,000 deficit. That's spending more than half a million dollars more than came in the door.
How did this happen? It's not that hard. The board, observing correctly that the economy collapsed in the fall of 2008 and listener donations were likely to be down, decided to cut expenses by the amount of $300,000. They did this by undifferentiated "staff reductions" of 20%. But as it turned out, staff reductions were only made in the amount of 2%. So KPFA saved some jobs, temporarily, but ran through its entire cash-in-bank overspending in defiance of its budget and with the support of Save KPFA.
Concerned Listeners a.k.a.Save KPFA is the reason KPFA needs to be saved from financial distress.
In 2009, KPFA issued the SECOND LARGEST DEFICIT in the 5-station network. just narrowly avoiding topping WBAI. KPFA has been financially unviable since 2008. KPFA owes money to Pacifica National and hadn't even paid the bill for airing Democracy Now at the end of June.
KPFA used to be in better shape, but a few years of Concerned Listeners overspending ended that pretty fast.
While I'm not inclined to go into details about missing checks, its a strange person that believes an institution doesn't take action when $375,000 reported to be in a bank account for 14 months, isn't there.
Don't be fooled by truthiness.
It's not about who fights with who. It's about things much more important than that.
Basic management, integrity, community responsiveness, and not running KPFA like a playground for a few, but as a meaningful outlet that is genuinely accountable to listeners and supporters and to radical movements for social change and a better world.
Don't vote for Concerned Listeners a.k.a Save KPFA. They've been a catastrophe.
Aren't Conn and Matthew Hallinan loaded?
What's with hitting people up for twenty bucks?
What's with hitting people up for twenty bucks?
The Friday benefit was attended by 28 people
With a new KPFA Local Station Board election coming up I plan on reviewing all the candidates and make recommendations. I will try to give the voters a view from the inside and expose those that have been deceptive and dishonest in their statements, speeches and practices. My guidelines will not be slates or allies but principles: truth, honesty, transparency, democratic practices v. power politics, concern for the Mission v. individualism.
First, I want to thank all those people that have supported my campaigns and Peopleradio in the past with your monetary, political and personal support. I am not running for election this time. Perhaps I will go into detail with the reasons why in a future post. I am no longer active in PeoplesRadio, I have moved to alumni status. The views presented here and in future posts are my own.
My focus now is on trying to help develope an honest culture in KPFA/Pacifica politics by exposing deviations and hoping the voters will hold people and groups accountable. I want to give the voters an inside view of the political culture that has developed at KPFA/Pacifica. It has drifted away from the kind of politics that would be consistent with the Pacifica Mission to the point that the two main factions appear to now be resembling the Republicans (CL) and Democrats (ICR), not in their political positions, but in their political practices. Winning has taken center stage and truth, transparency and democratic process have all fallen by the wayside to a startling degree. Money has begin to poison the elections as it does in the governamental elections.
Here is one recent example of unprincipled behavior by candidates. In a June 5, 2010 letter to rally support from its base Conn and Matthew Hallinan stated in a letter addressed to:
Dear Fellow Progressives: the Hallinans went on to claim that the current leadership of Pacifica removed the previous manager "over the issue of a misplaced check". Sounds like a petty thing to fire someone over, right?
Conn Hallinan is a retired Professor of Journalism. I wonder how he would have graded himself when the true facts are disclosed.
The check in question was for $375,000.00 and it wasn't misplaced it was not deposited for about a year and now Pacifica has lost direct access to the money. All the facts behind what happened are yet to come out but the amount and time withheld stated above are true.
Matthew Hallinan is running for reelection. Do we want people on our LSB that will distort reality and withhold important information from our listener/subscribers? This is a clear violation of honesty and transparency. Please hold these folks accountable.
Unfortunately everyone on the other side of the isle does not have "clean hands". More later.
First, I want to thank all those people that have supported my campaigns and Peopleradio in the past with your monetary, political and personal support. I am not running for election this time. Perhaps I will go into detail with the reasons why in a future post. I am no longer active in PeoplesRadio, I have moved to alumni status. The views presented here and in future posts are my own.
My focus now is on trying to help develope an honest culture in KPFA/Pacifica politics by exposing deviations and hoping the voters will hold people and groups accountable. I want to give the voters an inside view of the political culture that has developed at KPFA/Pacifica. It has drifted away from the kind of politics that would be consistent with the Pacifica Mission to the point that the two main factions appear to now be resembling the Republicans (CL) and Democrats (ICR), not in their political positions, but in their political practices. Winning has taken center stage and truth, transparency and democratic process have all fallen by the wayside to a startling degree. Money has begin to poison the elections as it does in the governamental elections.
Here is one recent example of unprincipled behavior by candidates. In a June 5, 2010 letter to rally support from its base Conn and Matthew Hallinan stated in a letter addressed to:
Dear Fellow Progressives: the Hallinans went on to claim that the current leadership of Pacifica removed the previous manager "over the issue of a misplaced check". Sounds like a petty thing to fire someone over, right?
Conn Hallinan is a retired Professor of Journalism. I wonder how he would have graded himself when the true facts are disclosed.
The check in question was for $375,000.00 and it wasn't misplaced it was not deposited for about a year and now Pacifica has lost direct access to the money. All the facts behind what happened are yet to come out but the amount and time withheld stated above are true.
Matthew Hallinan is running for reelection. Do we want people on our LSB that will distort reality and withhold important information from our listener/subscribers? This is a clear violation of honesty and transparency. Please hold these folks accountable.
Unfortunately everyone on the other side of the isle does not have "clean hands". More later.
person above is trying to direct you to a rival website posing as SaveKPFA. The REAL site is http://www.kpfa.org (not kfpa. net)
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