KPFA--Media Democracy but Not Without Eternal Vigilance
Reflecting on the fact that history can help guide us in our path to the future, the histories of other community radio stations are of relevance to those of us involved in new experiments in community broadcasting. KPFA's experience is both long and critical to understanding the multitude of issues raised for communities and programmers on these stations.
KPFA--Media Democracy but Not Without Eternal Vigilance
Wake-Up Call at KPFA
By Laura J. Weinstock
KPFA, one of this nation's last remaining free speech radio stations, has been under attack since February 1999. After being shut down for almost a month by its own Board of Directors at the Pacifica Foundation, KPFA is back on the air. But, Pacifica still retains the ability to control, even destroy, the station. The future of KPFA is far from certain. When looking for answers, let's not reinvent the wheel. Instead, let us learn from our ancestors who worshipped the Goddess and lived for millennia without hierarchy and violence.
KPFA was founded fifty years ago by pacifists who wished to promote diverse cultural expression and to increase understanding between nations and peoples. According to Joan Marler, a volunteer programmer for 15 years at KPFA, it was created to be a "free speech station, not dominated by censorship or interests that would limit the free flow of ideas." To protect this original vision, KPFA has maintained an independent funding base. It does not accept government or corporate money and is funded by listener contributions.
The founders wanted to create a true democratic structure, asserts Marler, and KPFA is the "mother station of the world in this experiment with free speech and democracy." KPFA has been "crucial in circulating the most innovative ideas and in creating an informed population. It has been responsive to the local community. It has cut through the lies and effects of censorship so endemic to other media. Without free media you cannot have democracy." What happened? How did KPFA come to be shut down? There have been other attempts to shut down the station - during the McCarthy era for example. But the greatest threat posed so far has been the most recent attempt by Pacifica, an entity that, according to Marler, was "started as a handmaiden to serve KPFA and other affiliates and now is sucking up their resources like a cancer."
In a nutshell, the crisis began in February 1999, when Pacifica changed its internal structure, eliminating representation from the local stations. Shortly after, Pacifica fired KPFA's popular general manager, Nicole Sawaya. A gag rule was instated, forbidding programmers to discuss internal affairs on the air. Veteran staffers Larry Bensky and Robbie Osman were fired for violating this order. Another producer, Dennis Bernstein, was yanked from the studio, mid-broadcast. A lock-out began. Pacifica hired armed guards to keep staffers out; peaceful protesters were arrested. The station was shut down for 21 days. Information was leaked that Mary Frances Berry, chairwoman of the board, had seriously considered selling KPFA, located in the commercial airwaves, for millions of dollars.
Thousands of protesters took to the streets. Widespread and intensive organizing, civil disobedience, fundraising, public outcry, even the intervention of certain politicians sent the message to Pacifica, that KPFA was a vital and loved resource which would not be easily relinquished. KPFA returned to the air, as did Bensky, Osman and Bernstein. The gag order was eliminated.
(Spokane's own Marianne Torres of the TAKE BACK KPFA coordinating committee at Berkeley arraignment of 52 arrested 7/13/1999)
Is there cause for celebration, now that KPFA is back and running? Not according to Mary Moore, long-time activist and founder of the Sonoma County Free Press. Moore, who has appeared on various KPFA shows throughout the years and is well-acquainted with several of the programmers, told me that the return to the air of KPFA "creates the dangerous perception that all is resolved when it is not." She told me that problems didn't suddenly arise out of a vacuum this February. At least as far back as 1992, there was "tension between the paid and unpaid staff" with the latter willing to take more risks against management. In 1995, this tension came to a head when Pacifica "purged" many of the people who had been more outspoken.
Coinciding with the firings was a mandate from Pacifica to diversify the station. But, diversify how? In a letter to Berry written in May 1999 and signed by 13 African American programmers, the writers affirmed that "KPFA staff remains one of the most diverse in public radio." "KPFA has maintained its commitment to diversity," stated Robin Birdfeather, a KPFA volunteer with roots in the Feminist Radio Network of the early 1970's. Since 1985, through the station's Apprenticeship Program, women and people of color have been taught radio production and engineering in an effort to remedy past discrimination and under-representation in media.
Did Pacifica want a more diverse listener base? "Yes," Moore agreed, "the listeners are mostly white and middle class; when you rely on listener donations, you are less likely to have working class supporters. But, she stated that Pacifica is not interested in diversity. "They played the race card as an excuse to keep control. And they did it in a horrible, mean-spirited way. The return of KPFA is not a victory. Pacifica allowed the station back for six months because of the public outcry, but there is no local advisory board and KPFA has no control. The takeover can happen again."
Birdfeather, who is currently involved with media affinity groups which watch the media portrayal of KPFA, concurs that the situation is not resolved. "Pacifica is ruthless, evil, power-mongering. They will do anything they want." Marler agrees that the station is still in crisis and that Berry is "spin-doctoring, telling lies, manipulating, to further undermine KPFA. Pacifica is from a corporate governmental culture, not from our culture. They have no idea what the value of listener sponsored radio is for people and for our times. They don't know and they don't care. The people who were supposed to safeguard free speech want to control and close it off; they refer to KPFA as a 'unit.'" She sees the return as a limited victory. To her, the loss of KPFA represents the "loss of the extent to which we have free speech and democracy. But even in its present state, there is depth, richness, preciousness."
It was while working as a KPFA programmer that Marler met and began to work with foremost archeologist Marija Gimbutas, renowned for her discovery of the existence of pre-patriarchal, Goddess-worshipping peoples. From the seventh to the third millennium B.C.E. and through 1450 B.C.E. in Crete, the people inhabiting what she refers to as "Old Europe" were peaceful, matrifocal,matrilineal and egalitarian. In her book, Civilization of The Goddess, Gimbutas states that they had "a rich and sophisticated artistic expression and a complex symbolic system formulated around the worship of the Goddess... as well as a balance of powers between the sexes. " These Goddess-oriented civilizations began to decline when they were invaded by alien peoples, the Indo-Europeans, who were warlike, hierarchical and patriarchal.
Gimbutas believed that our awareness of this prehistory might "affect our vision of the past as well as our sense of potential for the present and future. We must refocus our collective memory. The necessity for this has never been greater as we discover that the path of 'progress' is extinguishing the very conditions for life on earth."
During my conversation with Marler, I saw certain parallels between the KPFA crisis and the fate of Goddess-worshipping peoples. KPFA (like the Old Europeans) began with the clear intention of being cooperative and nonhierarchical. Women have played an important range of roles at KPFA. Birdfeather believes that the women have a "deep sense of community and communication with each other." According to Marler, there has been an attempt to have a balance between female and male contributions at least since the Second Wave of feminism. She mentioned that KPFA was the only place where she could have openly explored the discoveries of Gimbutas.
In contrast, the Pacifica Foundation is clearly operating in a hierarchical, topdown, patriarchal, warlike mode, motivated by greed and the desire to control. Interestingly enough, no one I spoke to seems to know what went wrong. How did this entity come to have the power to destroy KPFA? In a similar vein, no one really understands why exactly there were warlike invaders at a time when people practiced peaceful worship of the Goddess. We presume that the peaceful people fell easily because, unaware of war, they had no weapons and experience with defending themselves. But what caused the Indo-Europeans to become patriarchal and warlike? We can only guess.
Nevertheless, there is much we can learn from our ancestors. Gimbutas's work is so threatening that many people want to bury it. Yet many of us believe that it was our ignorance of the Goddess and those who had a good quality of life worshipping her, that has led us to our current, destructive era.
Knowledge of the Goddess has been suppressed for millennia. It is crucial that we examine these patterns of dismissal and cover-up so we can begin to transform ourselves and our world. Beginning with the crisis at KPFA.
What lessons have been learned? Marler stressed the continued need for solidarity. "All of the programmers remained in solidarity, refused to be censored and didn't break to the powers that be." The latest crisis has resulted in a tremendous awakening of activism. Birdfeather stated that veterans of the Free Speech Movement and an explosion of other activists have all come out of the woodwork. People have been organizing within the local community and with the 65 other affiliates of Pacifica. Media affinity groups report on KPFA and work toward freeing all of the U.S. media.
Perhaps the most important lesson is awareness and prevention. When someone acts in an objectionable manner, respond quickly. Moore's newspaper has critiqued Pacifica since 1992. She wonders why the revolt is happening so late. I echo this sentiment. Unlike the Old Europeans, the creators of KPFA and their successors were not strangers to a world of greed and evil. It would have been far simpler to control Pacifica if KPFA had reacted immediately to any signs of danger and disrespect. Like the 1995 firings of outspoken staff. Instead, signs were ignored and Pacifica got stronger.
Fortunately, people are awakened now. KPFA is alive and kicking because of the thousands who took to the streets. I hope it is not too late.
(from a goddess perspective)
By Laura J. Weinstock
KPFA, one of this nation's last remaining free speech radio stations, has been under attack since February 1999. After being shut down for almost a month by its own Board of Directors at the Pacifica Foundation, KPFA is back on the air. But, Pacifica still retains the ability to control, even destroy, the station. The future of KPFA is far from certain. When looking for answers, let's not reinvent the wheel. Instead, let us learn from our ancestors who worshipped the Goddess and lived for millennia without hierarchy and violence.
KPFA was founded fifty years ago by pacifists who wished to promote diverse cultural expression and to increase understanding between nations and peoples. According to Joan Marler, a volunteer programmer for 15 years at KPFA, it was created to be a "free speech station, not dominated by censorship or interests that would limit the free flow of ideas." To protect this original vision, KPFA has maintained an independent funding base. It does not accept government or corporate money and is funded by listener contributions.
The founders wanted to create a true democratic structure, asserts Marler, and KPFA is the "mother station of the world in this experiment with free speech and democracy." KPFA has been "crucial in circulating the most innovative ideas and in creating an informed population. It has been responsive to the local community. It has cut through the lies and effects of censorship so endemic to other media. Without free media you cannot have democracy." What happened? How did KPFA come to be shut down? There have been other attempts to shut down the station - during the McCarthy era for example. But the greatest threat posed so far has been the most recent attempt by Pacifica, an entity that, according to Marler, was "started as a handmaiden to serve KPFA and other affiliates and now is sucking up their resources like a cancer."
In a nutshell, the crisis began in February 1999, when Pacifica changed its internal structure, eliminating representation from the local stations. Shortly after, Pacifica fired KPFA's popular general manager, Nicole Sawaya. A gag rule was instated, forbidding programmers to discuss internal affairs on the air. Veteran staffers Larry Bensky and Robbie Osman were fired for violating this order. Another producer, Dennis Bernstein, was yanked from the studio, mid-broadcast. A lock-out began. Pacifica hired armed guards to keep staffers out; peaceful protesters were arrested. The station was shut down for 21 days. Information was leaked that Mary Frances Berry, chairwoman of the board, had seriously considered selling KPFA, located in the commercial airwaves, for millions of dollars.
Thousands of protesters took to the streets. Widespread and intensive organizing, civil disobedience, fundraising, public outcry, even the intervention of certain politicians sent the message to Pacifica, that KPFA was a vital and loved resource which would not be easily relinquished. KPFA returned to the air, as did Bensky, Osman and Bernstein. The gag order was eliminated.(Spokane's own Marianne Torres of the TAKE BACK KPFA coordinating committee at Berkeley arraignment of 52 arrested 7/13/1999)Is there cause for celebration, now that KPFA is back and running? Not according to Mary Moore, long-time activist and founder of the Sonoma County Free Press. Moore, who has appeared on various KPFA shows throughout the years and is well-acquainted with several of the programmers, told me that the return to the air of KPFA "creates the dangerous perception that all is resolved when it is not." She told me that problems didn't suddenly arise out of a vacuum this February. At least as far back as 1992, there was "tension between the paid and unpaid staff" with the latter willing to take more risks against management. In 1995, this tension came to a head when Pacifica "purged" many of the people who had been more outspoken.
Coinciding with the firings was a mandate from Pacifica to diversify the station. But, diversify how? In a letter to Berry written in May 1999 and signed by 13 African American programmers, the writers affirmed that "KPFA staff remains one of the most diverse in public radio." "KPFA has maintained its commitment to diversity," stated Robin Birdfeather, a KPFA volunteer with roots in the Feminist Radio Network of the early 1970's. Since 1985, through the station's Apprenticeship Program, women and people of color have been taught radio production and engineering in an effort to remedy past discrimination and under-representation in media.
Did Pacifica want a more diverse listener base? "Yes," Moore agreed, "the listeners are mostly white and middle class; when you rely on listener donations, you are less likely to have working class supporters. But, she stated that Pacifica is not interested in diversity. "They played the race card as an excuse to keep control. And they did it in a horrible, mean-spirited way. The return of KPFA is not a victory. Pacifica allowed the station back for six months because of the public outcry, but there is no local advisory board and KPFA has no control. The takeover can happen again."
Birdfeather, who is currently involved with media affinity groups which watch the media portrayal of KPFA, concurs that the situation is not resolved. "Pacifica is ruthless, evil, power-mongering. They will do anything they want." Marler agrees that the station is still in crisis and that Berry is "spin-doctoring, telling lies, manipulating, to further undermine KPFA. Pacifica is from a corporate governmental culture, not from our culture. They have no idea what the value of listener sponsored radio is for people and for our times. They don't know and they don't care. The people who were supposed to safeguard free speech want to control and close it off; they refer to KPFA as a 'unit.'" She sees the return as a limited victory. To her, the loss of KPFA represents the "loss of the extent to which we have free speech and democracy. But even in its present state, there is depth, richness, preciousness."
It was while working as a KPFA programmer that Marler met and began to work with foremost archeologist Marija Gimbutas, renowned for her discovery of the existence of pre-patriarchal, Goddess-worshipping peoples. From the seventh to the third millennium B.C.E. and through 1450 B.C.E. in Crete, the people inhabiting what she refers to as "Old Europe" were peaceful, matrifocal,matrilineal and egalitarian. In her book, Civilization of The Goddess, Gimbutas states that they had "a rich and sophisticated artistic expression and a complex symbolic system formulated around the worship of the Goddess... as well as a balance of powers between the sexes. " These Goddess-oriented civilizations began to decline when they were invaded by alien peoples, the Indo-Europeans, who were warlike, hierarchical and patriarchal.
Gimbutas believed that our awareness of this prehistory might "affect our vision of the past as well as our sense of potential for the present and future. We must refocus our collective memory. The necessity for this has never been greater as we discover that the path of 'progress' is extinguishing the very conditions for life on earth."
During my conversation with Marler, I saw certain parallels between the KPFA crisis and the fate of Goddess-worshipping peoples. KPFA (like the Old Europeans) began with the clear intention of being cooperative and nonhierarchical. Women have played an important range of roles at KPFA. Birdfeather believes that the women have a "deep sense of community and communication with each other." According to Marler, there has been an attempt to have a balance between female and male contributions at least since the Second Wave of feminism. She mentioned that KPFA was the only place where she could have openly explored the discoveries of Gimbutas.
In contrast, the Pacifica Foundation is clearly operating in a hierarchical, topdown, patriarchal, warlike mode, motivated by greed and the desire to control. Interestingly enough, no one I spoke to seems to know what went wrong. How did this entity come to have the power to destroy KPFA? In a similar vein, no one really understands why exactly there were warlike invaders at a time when people practiced peaceful worship of the Goddess. We presume that the peaceful people fell easily because, unaware of war, they had no weapons and experience with defending themselves. But what caused the Indo-Europeans to become patriarchal and warlike? We can only guess.
Nevertheless, there is much we can learn from our ancestors. Gimbutas's work is so threatening that many people want to bury it. Yet many of us believe that it was our ignorance of the Goddess and those who had a good quality of life worshipping her, that has led us to our current, destructive era.
Knowledge of the Goddess has been suppressed for millennia. It is crucial that we examine these patterns of dismissal and cover-up so we can begin to transform ourselves and our world. Beginning with the crisis at KPFA.
What lessons have been learned? Marler stressed the continued need for solidarity. "All of the programmers remained in solidarity, refused to be censored and didn't break to the powers that be." The latest crisis has resulted in a tremendous awakening of activism. Birdfeather stated that veterans of the Free Speech Movement and an explosion of other activists have all come out of the woodwork. People have been organizing within the local community and with the 65 other affiliates of Pacifica. Media affinity groups report on KPFA and work toward freeing all of the U.S. media.
Perhaps the most important lesson is awareness and prevention. When someone acts in an objectionable manner, respond quickly. Moore's newspaper has critiqued Pacifica since 1992. She wonders why the revolt is happening so late. I echo this sentiment. Unlike the Old Europeans, the creators of KPFA and their successors were not strangers to a world of greed and evil. It would have been far simpler to control Pacifica if KPFA had reacted immediately to any signs of danger and disrespect. Like the 1995 firings of outspoken staff. Instead, signs were ignored and Pacifica got stronger.
Fortunately, people are awakened now. KPFA is alive and kicking because of the thousands who took to the streets. I hope it is not too late.
