My name is David Mathison, a KPFA listener/member from Marin. I would first like to address Riva’s comment regarding the resolution of the personnel issues at KPFA. My hope is that all announcements regarding the resolution be as aggressive and visible as the accusations – which as you know have been reported in the SF Chronicle and broadcast on KPFA. At minimum, the Board should create and distribute an official press release, post it on the KPFA site, announce it on the air, and distribute it to those same “news” organizations that jumped on the accusations – the Berkeley Daily Planet, SF Chronicle, etc. And KPFAWorker.org.
My background: I was Vice President with Reuters from
1994-1999, one of the world’s largest news agencies.
>From 1999-2001 I started and ran a publishing company
with customers that included the Financial Times, The
Economist, Yahoo, MSNBC, Reuters, Dow Jones, etc. The
company was acquired in 2002 by Stellent Inc, a
publicly traded content management company. I now run
a diversified media company, and I am about to publish
a book called BE THE MEDIA, with contributions from
the Fault Lines Collective (IndyBay IMC),
Media-Alliance, FreePress, Media Action Marin, CCTV,
Prometheus Radio Project, Sesame Workshop, National
Wildlife Federation, etc etc. I am a member of Media
Action Marin, and I serve as a Deacon at Westminster
Presbyterian Church, a position that is ordained for
life.
I have owned and managed both union and non-union shops, and am very familiar with the internal, rational process that SHOULD be followed for grievances:
1. Take it to the manager – usually verbal 2. Take it to the Union. Verbal/written. 3. There is usually a period for conciliation, sensitivity training, mediation, etc to correct the problem and prevent further occurrences. 4. Investigation, which could lead to termination
In this case, there WERE two investigations, and both found the case to be without merit. Roy has offered up mediation, and yet his offer has been ridiculed and belittled, even though this is the very path needed to resolve this and get people back on track.
The LSB showed a vote of confidence in Roy by backing him last week. Additionally, Roy went through a thorough vetting and interview process to get this position in the first place. Nowhere in his 35 year history has he ever been accused of something like this. On the contrary, Roy is a thoughtful, incisive manager, who believes that everyone deserves to be treated with respect.
To take it to the press and make it a media circus shows no respect for the integrity of the procedures in place here for grievances. If people have a problem with the process, or the results of the investigation, then they should attack the process, attack the investigation. But stop attacking Roy. To personalize this is completely disrespectful. This is character assassination, purely and simply trying to ruin someone’s life through the media.
The issue here is not Roy. It is about power, control and job security. I disagree with the gentleman’s assertion that we shouldn’t worry about the KPFA budget – the Board is considering taking out a loan right now. We will face a $281,000 shortfall in early 2006. During the transition to Roy’s tenure the staff ballooned up from 24 to 42 FTE’s. Those who thrive on dysfunction and chaos would love nothing more than to see Roy depart or have no power to make tough managerial and economic decisions. Roy’s departure would create another 18-24 month window where there would be minimal oversight, the perfect breeding ground for yet more chaos and power struggles.
In 2001, facing recession, I HAD NO CHOICE but to bring my company’s expenses in line with forecasted revenues. I let go of 70 out of 100 people, including good friends of mine and some great employees. This dropped the burn rate from $1.2 million/month to $300k/month. The company was acquired in April 2002 – in the midst of the Internet downturn, when companies were going bankrupt all around. My company ONLY survived because we actedbefore we burned through all our cash. You need to be realistic during tough times, and today’s “jobless recovery” is indeed a very tough time.
As a listener/member, my advice to the Board is to take the mediation route, back the implementation of Roy’s 6-Point plan, and put these personnel issues behind you. Then take a hard, realistic look at your REAL problem - the bloated head count and the out-of-control budget. Look at the comparables - it should not take 42 FTE to run this station.
Which begs the question: Who really runs KPFA right now – the Listeners, the Management/Board or the STAFF?
David Mathison
* * * * * * * * * David Mathison BE THE MEDIA Tel: 415 380-1912 Fax: 415 380-1913 Email: david at bethemedia.org Web: http://www.bethemedia.org Blog: http://bethemedia.typepad.com/bethemedia
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