Attempts to silence KPFA’s workers

Kpfaworker already filed a complaint with the Labor Relations Board claiming that KPFA programmers were being subjected to a gag rule.

The Labor Relations Board suggested the union withdraw the complaint. The union did.

Stop lying and throwing around inflammatory language.

David Gans has been playing the music of the 60's on KPFA for some 35 years now. If it is too oppressive for him to continue doing so if there is a new program on Saturday mornings that he doesn't like, then he is free to open up that time slot on Wednesday evenings for another DJ.

Nothing wrong with passing the torch after 35 years.

Fighting for the soul of KPFA and Pacifica, or fighting to keep the status quo.

Carrie Core, interim Program Director at KPFA, was right to send a disciplinary letter to David Gans, in that the station needs to observe fairness in its on air presentations which concern controversial matters in KPFA governance.
On programmers have an unfair advantage if they just present their side of the controversy. In this case, Gans opined that Andrew Phillips was doing a poor job as interim General Manager. And Core wanted to save controversy for after the fund drive; and had asked programmers to observe this request.

Gans' view is one held by one faction in KPFA governance, the faction led by, and in support of, a small group of entrenched staff which want to be the sole decision makers at the station, and their supporters.
This contradicts the Pacifica network Bylaws, which mandate a democratic structure for network and station governance.

A petition was sent to Andrew Phillips and Carrie Core a short while ago, the Fairness in Broadcasting petition, setting forth standards for presenting news and opinion about Station internal affairs.

Two excerpts:

b) When the KPFA news team reports on internal issues, it should adhere to standard practices of good journalism - i.e., assign such stories to reporters who are not directly involved in the conflict; give all parties a fair chance to explain their positions in their own words; avoid advocacy for one side or another; and, if directing listeners to websites or other sources, include sources from a variety of perspectives. (Such policies are nothing new - they are already spelled out in guidelines the KPFA news department itself adopted years ago - but they need to observed more carefully than they have been in recent months.)

c) Other programmers, paid and unpaid, should also refrain from one-sided comments on internal conflicts on the air. This policy applies to, among other things, ‘tags’ introducing or describing shows, fundraising pitches, characterization of former or current staff and management, and promotion of outside events.
Programmers who wish to state a personal position on internal controversies must allow equal time for opposing viewpoints.
If directing listeners to websites or other sources about such issues, they should include sources representing opposing points of view.

The complete petition is attached below.

The standards put forth in B have been officially those of the KPFA News Department for many years, but which they conveniently ignore when it serves their interests, since its directors Alfandary and Merical are prime players in that controversy. They have recently fought tooth and nail the layoffs which were critical to bringing back KPFA and Pacifica from the brink of bankruptcy.
All the other stations and the Pacifica National Office have all had to make such deep cuts, but these people have, and are still, waging a massive disinformation campaign about who Pacifica is and why and how the cuts were made, including numerous lawsuits which have further threatened KPFA and Pacifica's finances. These lawsuits were thrown out by the courts and the NLRB as lacking in merit - including the baseless charge of a gag rule - but they were used to try to force Pacifica to comply with their demands. The allegation that management is anti-union is refuted by these dismissals.
Part of this campaign includes smearing Andrew Phillips, the new interim General Manager, appointed to fill the void left by their driving out past managers who didn't manage 100% as they wished.
(Their own favored GM was fired for serious financial mismanagement.)

We applaud Carrie Core for enforcing a standard of fairness.

David Gans and his faction are continually referring people to their websites; now look at ours for more information and a different point of view: http://supportkpfa.org


Fairness in broadcasting petition petition

We the undersigned KPFA listeners, sponsors, and staff members believe it's important that KPFA keep listeners informed about major issues involving the station and Pacifica, including disputes over budgets, staffing, labor policies, and programming.
We do not, however, believe that one-sided, misleading reports and sniping about these issues serve that goal.

We therefore propose that the station adopt a fairness policy for coverage of such issues. The essence of the policy is that whenever internal controversies are discussed on air, alternative positions should be fairly represented.

Specifically, we propose that:

a) When major controversies arise, the station should arrange special programming to discuss them on the air. These programs should have fair and neutral host(s), board operators, and call screeners; guests representing different points of view and all major constituencies (paid staff, unpaid staff, management, and listeners); and time for listeners to pose questions and comments.

b) When the KPFA news team reports on internal issues, it should adhere to standard practices of good journalism - i.e., assign
such stories to reporters who are not directly involved in the conflict; give all parties a fair chance to explain their positions in their own words; avoid advocacy for one side or another; and, if directing listeners to websites or other sources, include sources from a variety of perspectives. (Such policies are nothing new - they are already spelled out in guidelines the KPFA news department itself adopted years ago - but they need to observed more carefully than they have been in recent months.)

c) Other programmers, paid and unpaid, should also refrain from one-sided comments on internal conflicts on the air. This policy applies to, among other things, ‘tags’ introducing or describing shows, fundraising pitches, characterization of former or current staff and management, and promotion of outside events.
Programmers who wish to state a personal position on internal controversies must allow equal time for opposing viewpoints.
If directing listeners to websites or other sources about such issues, they should include sources representing opposing points of view.