Journalism, Ethics, and the KPFA Board Election

KPFA Radio, America's first listener-sponsored station, has an impressive history of groundbreaking journalism. Throughout its 61 years, the station has been justly famous for hard-nosed reporting, award-winning radio documentaries, cutting edge and wide ranging music, and coverage of some of the key events of our time—whether Iran Contra or the Iraq War.

It has also been no stranger to conflict. The conflict that besets the station today, however, could remake KPFA into something quite different than listeners have come to depend upon for decades.

The outcome of the current local station board election will determine what the station will look like a year from now. And it will determine whether the KPFA programs that listeners tune into in the greatest numbers will remain at all—programs like Letters to Washington, Against the Grain, and even the Morning Show.

The slate that I am part of, SaveKPFA, believes that in a moment when professional reporting has become an endangered species in America, KPFA should set the standard for critical, ethical journalism. Consistently high quality programming takes labor and resources, as well as a commitment to fairness, accuracy, and a willingness to ferret out the truth. Radical journalism is ethical journalism.

Our opponents revile professional journalism and openly have stated that they would like to get rid of the unionized staff at KPFA. They have long argued for a mainly volunteer station, where the door is wide open to 9/11 “truthers” of all stripes, Lyndon LaRouchites, and those who argue the government is spraying “chemtrails” on the U.S. population as a form of mind control. (Their allies have called for an investigation of Democracy Now’s Amy Goodman to find out if she is taking CIA money to cover up 9/11 “truth.”) The economic crisis of the past several years, which has hurt KPFA along with media outlets everywhere, has provided an opportunity for these people to bring their own brand of austerity to KPFA. Ethics and high quality journalism be damned.

These two sides’ differing approaches to ethics in journalism can perhaps be best illustrated by a few examples involving the leader of the Independents for Community Radio slate, which is running against my slate. Tracy Rosenberg has used all candidate forums and on air spots to point out that she is executive director of Media Alliance, an organization whose stated mission is to promote “diverse, accountable and ethical media.” She has also been using Media Alliance's e-newsletter and postal permit to promote her own candidacy. Unfortunately for Media Alliance, it is against the law for the director of a non-profit to use its resources for personal gain. That’s a very serious matter for a 501c3 non-profit. The members of Media Alliance, as well as KPFA, deserve better.

Last month in the Huffington Post, Rosenberg published an article in which she attacked the slate that I am running with, SaveKPFA. In a story on the lack of truthfulness in journalism, she inaccurately accused the slate’s members of circulating misleading information about an event they were holding. Bizarrely, what Ms Rosenberg neglected to disclose in her piece on media ethics was that she is, in fact, a candidate running against the folks that she assailed. In other words, she failed to reveal her personal interest in having these candidates lose—an enormous breach of journalistic ethics.

If these breaches were not astounding enough, Rosenberg bought a website with our slate's domain name and deceptively posted an endorsement for her own slate on it. When challenged, she said that we might be able to get the domain name--if we named a price. This unethical practice, of extracting ransom money for a domain name, was the recent subject of a NY Times article and is called “cybersquatting.” Needless to say, we refused to bow to such extortion.

KPFA listeners need to ask themselves whether they would entrust the station’s governance to people with such a flagrant disregard for ethics.

If you support professional journalism, radical and progressive politics, and basic media ethics, I urge to you check out our website, savekpfa.org, and vote for those running with me on the SaveKPFA slate. Our endorsers include Norman Solomon, Raj Patel, Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, Pratap Chatterjee, Carlos Munoz, Ignacio Chapela, and Jello Biafra.

The SaveKPFA candidates are Matthew Hallinan, Margy Wilkinson, Suzi Goldmacher, Mal Bernstein, Terry Doran, Mark Hernandez, Dave Saldana, Jack Kurzweil, Tanya Russell, and Don Goldmacher. http://www.saveKPFA.org (From Berkeley Daily Planet, Sept 28)

SaveKPFA's ENDORSERS

KPFA Workers

C.S. Soong, Co-host “Against the Grain”
Mitch Jeserich, “Letters to Washington”, Producer & Host
Brian Edwards-Tiekert, “Morning Show”, Producer and Host
Mark Mericle, Co-Director “KPFA News”
Aileen Alfandary, Co-Director “KPFA News”
Bonnie Simmons, Host, “The Bonnie Simmons Show”, former KPFA LSB, Pacifica National Board
Philip Maldari, “Sunday Show”, Producer & Host
Kris Welch, “Living Room” & “Saturday Morning Talkies”, Producer & Host
Miguel Guerrero, Web Producer & Producer “Rock and Rebellion”
Jan Etre, Crafts Fair Coordinator
Laura Prives, “Morning Show”, Executive Producer
Sasha Lilley, “Against the Grain”, Producer & Host
Max Pringle, News Reporter
John Hamilton, News Producer & Anchor
Rose Ketabchi, “Free Speech Radio News”, Technical Producer, KPFA News Co-Anchor
Scott Pham, “Free Speech Radio News”, Technical Producer
Derk Richardson, Host of the “Hear and Now”
David Gans, Host of “Dead To The World”
Bob Baldock, KPFA Events Coordinator
Richard Wolinsky, Bookwaves on “Cover to Cover”, Producer and Host
Vanessa Tait, labor journalist, “KPFA News Co-Anchor
Lewis Sawyer, KPFA Receptionist and producer Early Morning Music
Esther Manilla, Morning Show and Fund Drive producer
Eddie Yuen, “Against the Grain”, co-editor of Confronting Capitalism
Sally Phillips, KPFA Producer, Host, Engineer
Artists, Journalists, Academics

Raj Patel, author of “The Value of Nothing” and “Stuffed and Starved”
Jello Biafra, artist/musician/entrepreneur
Rychard Withers, Executive Director, Fresno Free College Foundation, General Manager KFCF
Ignacio Chapela, Professor, Director of Laboratory of Microbial Ecology, UCB
Norman Soloman, media critic, author, “WarMade Easy”
Conn Hallinan, foreign policy analyst, Foreign Policy In Focus, Institute for Policy Study, columnist, LSB member
Aaron Glantz, “Free Speech Radio News, co-anchor, “Winter Soldier” broadcasts
Karen Paget, author
Mattie Harper, Democracy Now former producer
Ramsey Kanaan, founder, AK Press andco-founder/publisher, PM Press
Rick Flores, Host of “Wasteland Of The Free” on KFCF
Andrea Turner, cultural and community activist, LSB member
Frank Delgado,”Frank D”, KFCF, Creative Director
Bernard Gilbert, Freedom Song Network
Vic Bedoian, former KFCF General Manager, currently KPFA News reporter
Barbara Epstein, Professor, Dept. of History of Consciousness, UC Santa Cruz
Jon Fromer, singer/songwriter, NABET/CWA local 51 shop steward
Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, Native American historian
Pat Wynne, Dir. Bay Area Rockin’ Solidarity Labor Chorus
Peter Najarian, Artist, Writer, “The Great American Loneliness”
Andrej Grubacic, radical historian and sociologist
Summer Brenner, author of Richmond Tales and community activist
Pratap Chatterjee, CorpWatch investigative journalist, author of Halliburton’s Army
David Martinez, radical filmmaker
Sheila Tully, Faculty CSUSF
Dr. Carlos Muñoz, Jr., Professor Emeritus, Dept. of Ethnic Studies, UC Berkeley
Kay Trimberger, Professor Emerita, Sonoma State University and author
Johanna Poethig, Professor, CSU, Monterey Bay, Public & Community Artist
Lynne Hollander Savio, Chair., Mario Savio Memorial Lecture & Young Activist Award
Beth Lisick, author/poet/performer
Debbie Speer, Journalist, former KFCF Director, former LSB member
Dr. Carla J. Fehr, Professor of Philosophy and Women’s Studies, Iowa State University
Scoop Nisker, radio commentator and author
Marty Price, educator, youth worker
Kathleen Weaver, author of Peruvian Rebel
AnnaMarie Smith, Professor, Government Department Cornell University
Susan Stone, former KPFA Drama and Literature Director
Community Activists

Rashidah Grinage, founder, People United for a Better Life in Oakland (PUEBLO)
Cecilia E.”Ces”Rosales, Alameda Cnty. D.C.C., Ntl. Cntr. for Lesbian Rights, E. Bay No on Prop 8 Campaign
Marty Bennett, Co-Chair of the Sonoma County Living Wage Coalition
Max Anderson, Berkeley City Council Member
Dr. Jeff Ritterman, Vice Mayor of the City of Richmond
John Iversen, Act Up, East Bay
Mal Warwick, consultant, author, and public speaker
Tom Bates, Mayor, City of Berkeley
Loni Hancock, State Senator, District 9, East Bay
Anna Rabkin, former City of Berkeley Auditor
Bob Meyer, President, Progressive Perspectives
Giuliana M. Sorro, SF Community Activist
Linda Olivenbaum, Director, Early Childhood Program Administration
Kathy Lipscomb, Senior Action Network, S.F. Executive Board
Fran Taylor, SF Community Activist
Anne Weills, Civil rights lawyer and community organizer
Nick Jones, Atchison Village Co-op, former UFWA Boycott Director
Sandy Spiker, East Bay community activist
Nancy Friedman, MFT, Oakland
Jack Radey, historian, game designer, Eugene, OR
Labor Leaders

Dan Siegel, civil rights and labor attorney, former Pacifica General Counsel
Sal Rosselli, president, National Union of Healthcare Workers
Glenn Goldstein, National Organizing Director, NUHW
Shelley Kessler, Sec. Treas., San Mateo Labor Council
Walter Johnson, emeritus Secretary Treasurer of the SF Labor Council
Michael Eisenscher, Coordinator, Bay Area Labor Committee for Peace and Justice
Betty Olson-Jones, President, Oakland Education Association
Warren Mar, labor & community activist
Roger Scott, Executive Board AFT 2121, CCSF
Susan McDonough, labor activist, LSB member
Catherine Powell, California Faculty Association
Larry Hendel, No. Ca. Organizing Director, California Faculty Assn.
Tho Thi Do, International General Vice President, Hotel and Restaurant Employees International Union (HERE)
Bill Harvey, former Sec-Treas. CWA 9415
Ana Turetsky, President, American Federation of Teachers, Local 771
Sandy Kaplan, Co-President, Shoreline Educators Association/CTA
Peter Olney, International Organizing Director, ILWU
Maria Guillan, SEIU Local 1021 activist
Mary Fromer, Organizing Director SEIU Local 707, Sonoma County (retired)
Tonette Garcia, Worksite Organizer, SEIU Local 1021
Paul Kaplan, Executive Board Member, North Bay Labor Council

See also:

Aaron Glantz
Vote to Save Progressive Radio
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/aaron-glantz/vote-to-save-progressive_b_721740.html

Randy Shaw
KPFA Election Will Decide Progressive Network’s Future
http://www.beyondchron.org/news/index.php?itemid=8492