Fwd: Pacifica radio Feb. board mtg. in D.C.

[Doug Henwood]

>Subject: Pacifica radio Feb. board mtg. in D.C.
>Date: Fri, 11 Feb 00 14:10:34 -0800
>x-sender: ma at pop.igc.org
>From: Andrea Buffa <ma at igc.org>
>To: <ma at igc.org>
>
>We can't afford to lose the only progressive radio network in the U.S.!
>
>February 3, 2000
>
>Dear friend,
>
>I am writing about the upcoming Pacifica Foundation board of directors
>meeting that will be held in Washington, DC the last weekend of February
>2000. Media Alliance, a San Francisco-based media advocacy nonprofit,
>helped organize delegations of media activists to attend the last two
>board meetings. The presence of these delegations sent an important message
>to Pacifica board members that listeners, staff, local advisory board
>members, and community organizers throughout the network are going to
>hold them accountable for acts of censorship, misuse of funds, anti-
>democratic structural changes to the organization, and acts that signal
>the Pacifica leadership's willingness to abandon grassroots reporting
>and progressive politics.
>
>I ENCOURAGE YOU OR YOUR ORGANIZATION TO ATTEND OR SEND A REPRESENTATIVE
>TO THE UPCOMING BOARD MEETING FEBRUARY 25-27 TO COMMUNICATE TO THE
>PACIFICA BOARD YOUR CONCERNS ABOUT THE DIRECTION OF THE NETWORK. The
>board members need to know what you think about their recent actions-
>which range from spending half a million dollars on armed guards and
>P.R. to close down KPFA radio this past summer to conducting a campaign
>of censorship against staff who report on the Pacifica radio crisis
>(most recently Dan Coughlin and Verna Avery Brown of the Pacifica Network
>News). The board meeting also presents an opportunity for reformers
>within the network to talk to and strategize with each other-something
>that is incredibly important considering that Pacifica has spent so
>many years trying to divide station from station, union staff from
>non-union staff, and staff from listeners.
>
>The contact organization for activities related to the February 2000
>board meeting will be the Alliance for Progressive Radio, based in D.C.
>You can reach them c/o Sam Husseini at (202) 347-0020. Some events for
>that weekend are in the works, including a Friday night panel discussion
>being planned by the Unitarian Universalists for a Just Economic
>Community. The tentative location for the event will be at the Universalist
>Church, 1810 16th Street, NW. That space should also be available for
>meetings during the day and evening on Saturday. When the dates and
>times of these and other events are determined, they will be posted
>at www.freewpfw.org. Within the next few weeks, the official Pacifica
>board meeting schedule should be posted at www.pacifica.org.
>
>The communication among organizations and individuals who are fighting
>for democratic structural changes and radical programming at Pacifica
>has been far from perfect. We don't all agree on the changes that need
>to be made and the methods by which to achieve those changes. But we
>can probably agree that most of the board members have made little
>effort to seek out our perspective on the issues and need to hear
>it loud and clear.
>
>In addition to attending the board meeting, I encourage you to meet
>with the national board members from your area and to get them to
>propose resolutions that reflect the needs and interests of your
>signal area-for example, resolutions regarding censorship, financial
>transparency, and democracy at Pacifica. Or, if you think as I do
>that most of these board members should resign, please show up to
>the meeting and tell them so.
>
>Here's hoping that we can transform Pacifica from the bottom up into
>a relevant, politically radical, diverse, independent radio network.
>
>Sincerely,
>
>
>Andrea Buffa
>Executive Director
>Media Alliance