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A Dialogue Between Two Listeners on Where the Money is Going at KPFT
DJ: We gotta do something….KPFT is out-of-control; censoring Democracy Now!, refusing to air quality community programming and every day moving towards a commercial radio format. We gotta organize a listener boycott! No more contributions until there is a change in local and national management and a change in programming direction. That’s what I say.
AL: I am also upset by the censorship and management misconduct at Pacifica now. I would like to send KPFT a letter stating that they are not getting any more money from me - no more contributions. But I worry if that is a good idea. I don’t want to jeopardize the few good programs left
.DJ: A boycott is definitely the right thing to do. KPFT manager Ganter is under constant pressure right now. If Garland eliminates the few community shows left, he will be history. One idea is to put your donation in a personal "escrow" account and send KPFT a letter saying under what conditions you would send it to them. Besides 17% of every listener dollar now goes to support Pacifica’s national office. National uses much of this money now to pay Pacifica staffers who track and thwart listener-reform, public relations firms to ghost-write deceitful editorials and an endless string of lawyers to protect their personal interests.
AL: How do you know so much about how Pacifica is misspending listener donations, anyway?
DJ: Pacifica is legally required to release information, you can request their tax forms, too. In 1999-2000, Pacifica admits spending $440,089 on public relations and security guards for just 1 month of the KPFA/SF crackdown on listeners. A careful reading of the 990 forms from last year suggests that Pacifica’s tiny cadre of managers have spent at least 2 million more on unnecessary national office expenses and fighting reform (out of only 11.5 million in total revenues). The amount of listener money wasted this year is likely much higher given the debacle at WBAI/NYC.
AL: OK, but hasn’t our local station KPFT done a good job managing its finances?
DJ: Not in my opinion. Rather than hold its Local Advisory Board (LAB) meetings in a free community space (such as a Houston Public Library), the KPFT LAB pays a hotel for meeting fees and a rent-a-cop to guard them. Also, by replacing volunteer programmers with full-time paid staffers, the personnel costs for KPFT keep going up. Volunteers are creative and sometimes unpredictable but they sure are cheap.
AL: How can I find out more about how KPFT is spending my contributions?
DJ: It is not easy. Ganter and Pacifica Executive Director Bessie Wash routinely refuse all requests for information on expenditures, in violation of both the spirit and letter of non-profit corporation regulations. Ganter often claims this is ‘proprietary’ information, which is incorrect. Even the Pacifica National Board members, themselves, are routinely denied access to information on how money is spent.
AL: What should I ask them?
DJ: Up to you. But I want to know why Ganter and other Pacifica managers fly to monthly "strategy" meetings hosted at expensive hotels rather than meeting by teleconference. And why Ganter does not run high-quality free programming, like the daily newscast Free Speech Radio News (
www.fsrn.org) rather than pay for expensive nationally syndicated news programming, like the World.
AL: I must admit that I am bothered by KPFTs announcements that they are "listener supported", followed by a listing of their business supporters. I think Pacifica has compromised its integrity and forced itself to seek out audiences who will be more likely to patronize these commercial sponsors. And that audience may not include listeners with an intense interest in dissident causes
DJ: That is the National Public Radio model of funding. Accept any paying customer whether it is the local muffler shop, an international agribusiness or even a foreign country (as in Morning Edition’s famous sponsorship by "the country of Kuwait"). Except always remember to call such on-air plugs "corporate underwriting credits" and not advertisements. On some NPR affiliates, the number of such credits approaches the time spent by commercial radio on ads. And the influence of such sponsorships on program content and programming choices is a real danger. For me, Ganter’s blasé attitude towards such corporate underwriting, now airing on KPFT’s The World, is extremely troubling. This despite the fact that such commercial funding is explicitly forbidden by Pacifica’s founding charter.
AL: OK, OK, I see your point. But if the corporate emphasis changes at the station isn’t it going to be just like the old days when KPFT couldn’t pay its utility bills. If all the litigants against Pacifica were to win in court and policy were to change - the support problem would again raise its ugly head. Especially, since thanks to Newt G. and company the station has lost most of its federal funding
DJ: True enough. Federal support of KPFT was only $87,000 last year, which is less than10% of budget. So I think we oughta just forget about the government, drop CPB funding entirely and go our own way. And there are resources out there. The reform movement within Pacifica is currently supporting several lawsuits, a daily news program (i.e, FSRN), several monthly newspapers and a broad-based direct action organization (Pacifica Campaign). I would bet that the reform community is more committed to supporting Pacifica than the remaining supporters of the watered-down, censored current stations.
AL: Well, but it is hard to get a lot of financial support from the "disenfranchised" that Pacifica is supposed to be representing.
DJ: Sure, but a connected community-based station would find all types of support among Houston folk of all income levels. And a new reformed Pacifica could use all the assets in the organization. Like Amy Goodman, whose tremendous popularity is a great fundraising asset that Pacifica managers have lost because of their censorship of DN!
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