NEWS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: CONTACT: July 28, 1999 Andrea Buffa 415-546-6334 x.309
mobile: 415-309-6334
Aileen Alfandery 510-644-3971
SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE EXPOSES PACIFICA PLANS TO SELL KPFA PRESS CONFERENCE ON IMPENDING SALE AT NOON IN BERKELEY Bad news from Pacifica national board of directors comes on heels of victory at Berkeley City Council meeting.
BERKELEY, CA - The San Francisco Chronicle reported today that the executive committee of the Pacifica Foundation's national board of directors will meet this morning to vote on the sale of KPFA, the oldest listener-sponsored radio station in the United States. KPFA supporters will hold an emergency press conference on the impending vote at noon today at Berkeley's Old City Hall, 2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way.
The Chronicle reported that Pacifica's seven-member executive committee will meet by phone today to vote on the station sale. "Three sources said a majority of the committee appear inclined to support a sale," wrote reporter Charles Burress.
Pacifica spokesperson Michael Fineman of Fineman Associates told the Chronicle that Mary Frances Berry denies that the sale is "an option being seriously considered."
But Bay Area community leaders are not inclined to trust Berry's word. Last week Pacifica denied it would use a high speed internet connection to broadcast out-of-state programming; Pacifica has been using the line for at least 24 hours.
"KPFA is a priceless community and national asset," said Andrea Buffa, executive director of Media Alliance. "For the Pacifica board to sell the station rather than face the music of a spreading national outcry demonstrates how incredibly removed this board is from the people who support progressive community radio. Our diverse community paid for this station, our energy has sustained it, and we will continue to fight to keep it."
When news of the possible sale broke last night, Berkeley's City Council had just come out strongly in support of the station. In front of a crowd of hundreds of free speech supporters, the Council unanimously approved Mayor Shirley Dean's resolution condemning Pacifica's lockout and urging an end to the crisis. Council members went further, strengthening Dean's resolution by asking Pacifica's executive director, Lynn Chadwick, to resign, directing the city to file an amicus brief in the lawsuit against Pacifica's by-law changes, asking Pacifica to stop remote broadcasting, and calling for the city manager to authorize a contribution of up to $10,000 for the lawsuit.
Oakland's City Council approved a similar resolution last night. San Francisco Supervisors will vote on one next Monday. Protests have also spread across the country to Washington D.C., Houston, Los Angeles and New York -- cities home to Pacifica's other listener-sponsored stations.
Bay Area station supporters are now mobilizing for a Saturday July 31 mass march and rally at U.C. Berkeley's Sproul Plaza.
For background information, see www.radio4all.org/freepacifica or www.savepacifica.net.
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