<nettime> Pacifica Radio update (fwd)

[Doug Henwood <dhenwood@panix.com> (by way of t byfield)]

<...> For years, the leadership of the national Pacifica board has
been itching to turn the network into a slightly to the left of
NPR [National Public Radio] clone. They've been cutting back local
programming, weakening the control of the local boards, and trying
to introduce "professionalism" to what has largely been an
amateur, volunteer operation. This past weekend in Berkeley, the
national board voted to weaken the local boards' authority and
turn themselves into a self-perpetuating entity answerable to no
one. They could theoretically sell all the licenses for scores of
millions and do god knows what with the money.

Programmers have been forbidden to discuss these events on the
air, though there's been outright disobedience of this directive
on WBAI (the New York Pacifica outlet) for the last week or so. At
the LA station, KPFK, programmers literally had the plug pulled on
them mid-broadcast if they mentioned the controversy and
threatened with arrest if they ever set foot in the studio again.
For more, see <http://www.radio4all.org/freepacifica/> and
<http://www.counterpunch.org>.

Doug
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