Pacifica Executive Director Report
to the Interim Pacifica National Board
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> ED Report to iPNB
Houston, Texas
Sept. 21, 2002
I would like to thank Houston Pacifica National Board members
Theresa Allen and George Barnstone, the General Manager and
staff of Pacifica station KPFT 90.1 FM in Houston, and KPFT
Local Advisory Board chair Deb Shafto for all their hard work
in putting this board meeting together.
As you all know, our No. 1 focus at the National Office has
been dealing with Pacifica¹s financial crisis and restoring
some level of financial stability to the network. It¹s
been a very difficult, stressful, and exhausting period for
staff and the wider community. But I am very pleased to report
to you today that the network is slowly but surely emerging
from the crisis period.
First and foremost, the last eight months has seen the most
successful and sustained fundraising period in Pacifica¹s
53-year history. In a stunning testament to the loyalty and
support of Pacifica listeners, and to the hard work and dedication
of Pacifica staffers, the network raised nearly eight million
dollars in on-air pledges this calendar year alone. It is
all the more remarkable that this record-breaking fundraising
has occurred in the midst of a recession and a sharp economic
crisis.
Pacifica station WBAI in New York led the way with $2.8 million
in on-air pledges this year. KPFA in Berkeley posted $1.75
million, KPFK in Los Angeles $1.64 million, WPFW in Washington,
DC, $770,000, and KPFT in Houston posted -- in just two short
fund drives instead of three -- some $580,000 in pledges.
In addition, three special days of national on-air fundraising
generated about $300,000 in pledges.
But raising revenue, and cutting costs, have just been part
of the financial picture. Just as critical and difficult --
has been re-establishing basic financial procedures and practices,
from budgeting to financial reporting.
I am pleased to report to the entire Pacifica community that
for the first time in some two years, the Pacifica Board last
month passed a budget -- in this case the Fiscal Year 2002
4th quarter budget. This was a small step but a very significant
one. More importantly, it¹s been followed by a series
of other crucial developments.
The audit for the Fiscal Year 2001, a document vital to our
day-to-day financial operations, was completed last month
and published on Pacifica¹s web site at www.pacifica.org.
We also submitted a preliminary Fiscal Year 2003 balanced
budget and we will be ready to begin our Fiscal Year 2002
audit on schedule in November. Once available and approved,
those documents will be posted to the web site. I am especially
pleased to inform the board that financial reports detailing
the network's revenue and expenses over the last 10 months
will be made available on October 1. This is the last -- and
perhaps most important milestone -- in restoring the basic
components of normal financial operations to the network.
And following October 1, the board will be receiving a complete
set of monthly internal financial reports from the National
Finance Office.
I appreciate the concerns raised by the KPFA Local Advisory
Board in wanting to know where and how shortfall funds from
KPFA were used during the last eight months. Let me say, the
National Office is committed to ensuring that this public,
listener-supported radio network is completely transparent
and above reproach in its financial dealings. The National
Office will recommend to the interim Board that financial
reports be made available to each Local Advisory Board.
These will include all data entry and account reconciliations;
information on all bank and payroll accounts, accounts payable,
and budget vs. actual comparisons, central service assessments,
and interdivision balances.
Pulling the network back from the brink of bankruptcy, and
into some level of normal financial operations, has been a
Herculean task. Many thanks and congratulations to the paid
and unpaid staff, the local boards, the national board, and
Pacifica¹s legions of loyal listeners for rallying in
defense of the network at this critical time in world history.
If you recall, at the beginning of this year, the network
faced a working capital deficit of $4.8 million and a $1.5
million budget gap. That¹s been reduced to a $1.5 million
debt.
I would especially like to acknowledge the hard work of the
station managers and business managers as well as the national
staff Verna Avery-Brown, Joyce Snowden and Brian Gibbons.
In particular, Comptroller Yhasmine Bryan has done an extraordinary
job in pulling the network¹s finances together. Treasurer
Jabari Zakiya has been very supportive and provided much needed
hands-on oversight and constructive criticism. WBAI¹s
Valerie Van Isler, Bernard White, and Indra Hardat faced a
daunting task at the beginning of the year -- a $350,000 deficit
the largest in the network and they’ve done a remarkable
job in saving the station. I would also especially like to
acknowledge KPFA's Jim Bennett, Aileen Carr, and Phil Osegueda
as well as the entire KPFA staff and community for their unconditional
financial support during these difficult times. On many occasions,
the KPFA community without hesitation rallied to provide life-saving
funding to the network, whether helping to meet payroll at
other stations or ensuring the smooth functioning of the Ku
satellite. Without that support, the network would not have
made it through the past seven months. KPFA also supported
Free Speech Radio News, making that remarkable newscast available
to all five Pacifica stations and some 55 community radio
stations nationwide.
One important factor in our financial success has been that
right from the beginning of the year we clearly set our objective,
adopted a strategy, and stayed focused on the task at hand.
We understand the other pressing needs in the network and
thank the wider Pacifica community for the patience and support.
And we look forward to starting to address many of those other
needs.
However, let me warn everyone now. Pacifica still face serious
financial challenges and we must work hard to consolidate
our financial gains. We still have approximately this $1.5
million in debt that has to be managed. And fiscal discipline
will and must remain our primary institutional goal over the
next year. As the Haitian proverb says, Deye moun, li moun.
Behind mountains, lie more mountains. Accordingly, I have
submitted a frugal Fiscal Year 2003 budget, one that proposes
a two percent increase in expenses.
Also in the proposed FY 2003 budget are two scenarios for
how much local stations contribute to the National Office
to cover the shared costs of the entire network -- costs like
insurance coverage, satellite and programming expenses, as
well as payroll, accounting, legal and administrative services.
One scenario suggests 20 percent of local station on-air fundraising
be earmarked for national expenses. Another scenario proposes
15 percent. Recognizing the on-going financial constraints,
the five station managers and the national office staff unanimously
recommend to the interim Pacifica National Board that the
central services levy remain at 20 percent for the next six
months of the 2003 Fiscal Year. We also recommend that upon
a mid-year review of our financial status, and following the
publication of the FY02 audit slated for January next year,
the Board considers lowering the central services levy to
18 percent or perhaps less.
As the fiscal situation improves, and new bylaws are approved,
the network can and must look forward to the future and begin
the Pacifica-wide discussion on our longer term goals.
This task is no more urgent than at any time in Pacifica¹s
history. The country -- and the world -- are at a critical
juncture. And if Pacifica is to survive and remain relevant
in the years ahead, we must rededicate ourselves to the mission
for which it was founded. From reparations and globalization
to the war arcing from the Middle East through South Asia,
Pacifica must actively engage the world in our day-to-day
programming and, most importantly, help shape -- with peace
and social justice perspectives -- the national and international
discourse. The times demand it.
So how do we get there? How de we rebuild the network and
improve the quality of our shows, increase audience, and raise
funds?
I believe we need to focus on six areas:
1) Local and national news programming;
2) Training and apprenticeship programs;
3) New media technologies;
4) The Pacifica Radio Archives;
5) The network's physical plant and technical infrastructure;
6) Affiliate relations.
As a first step towards rebuilding the network, we are strengthening
our local news and public affairs departments -- or, as the
case may be creating local news departments such as here in
Houston. The Fiscal Year 2003 budget before the board proposes
developing news departments at KPFT and WPFW as well as strengthening
existing news staff at KPFA, KPFK, and WBAI.
The most significant financial initiative in the budget involves
strengthening Pacifica¹s news programming by expanding
station-based funding of Free Speech Radio News (FSRN), the
daily half-hour newscast co-produced by KPFA and WBAI in conjunction
with KBOO in Portland, Oregon, and WMNF in Tampa, Florida.
With some 200 contributors on six continents, and airing on
more than 55 community stations around the country and the
world, Free Speech Radio News has established itself as the
largest and most important non-commercial, corporate-free
news source in this country. The funding of Free Speech Radio
News by the five Pacifica stations again establishes a serious
daily news presence at the network and lays the groundwork
for the development of future national programming. FSRN is
a rich and dynamic news program, with a wealth of journalistic
talent and technical ability. Their accomplishments and enthusiasm
for news and public affairs reporting are infectious and I
know that they will continue to enrich our listeners with
the kind of stories and information that are only available
on Pacifica.
Alongside Pacifica¹s local news departments, and with
Democracy Now! and Free Speech Radio News, we will be maintaining
a vigorous and robust national programming presence out of
Washington, DC. This need has become even more apparent in
light of the growing national and international crisis. Thanks
to the leadership of Verna Avery-Brown, we have been able
to provide signature Pacifica programming specials this past
year, including the stunning Juneteenth production as well
as on-going coverage of key national events, from the April
20th peace march to the August 20th reparations rally to the
day-long 9-11 programming. And as the international crisis
deepens, Pacifica Radio will respond, with special daily programming
covering the war and with live-event broadcasts and public
forums nationwide.
In the year ahead, there are a number of important programming
events to look forward to. We will be covering the 30th anniversary
of WBAI's famous Seven Dirty Words legal case which marked
a critical moment in the history of First Amendment. We will
also be launching a special day of programming on the 100th
anniversary of the publication of W.E.B. DuBois' The Souls
of Black Folk, one of the seminal texts of the 20th century.
Indeed, the books’ publication marked the beginning
of the modern civil rights movement.
As Pacifica historian Matthew Lasar reminds us, up until
the mid-1970s, Pacifica stations often offered entire days
dedicated to special programming, including day-long readings
of James Joyces' Ulysses. Today's special programming events
-- like Juneteenth and the upcoming Souls of Black Folk --
encourage a revival of Pacifica's intellectual roots under
new circumstances. It will also put Pacifica back on the map
as a pioneer in cultural and intellectual radio and help the
organization reach out to new audiences.
But ultimately, the strength of Pacifica¹s special national
programming will rely on the strength of our local stations.
And Pacifica¹s ability to report, engage and influence
the wider world will depend upon our journalistic capacity
at the local level. That¹s why it¹s so important
to rebuild the network with a strong base. We need to strengthen
the local to strengthen the national. National programming
will not just fall out of the sky.
Each Pacifica station needs a robust news and public affairs
department with active training and apprenticeship programs
that provide access to the airwaves for the diverse -- and
increasingly heterogeneous -- communities that our stations
serve. Training and apprenticeship models can be the engines
for our local stations, nurturing new and talented staff in
everything from news and public affairs to arts, drama and
culture. And training and apprenticeship programs -- especially
those that link up with schools, youth groups, and community
organizations like the Independent Media Centers -- are the
key to Pacifica¹s future. And certainly in combination
with other initiatives, like reintroducing folios, both in
print and electronic form, and strengthening our web sites,
we can deepen those organic relations with our communities
in order to sustain and grow the network.
Another key component of rebuilding the network is to build
production and distribution capacities through the Internet
and new media technologies. Free Speech Radio News (FSRN)
built their half hour daily news cast literally from scratch
off the Internet through file sharing.. We can do this with
our five stations, and indeed the wider community radio network,
producing and sharing programming across the country. Pacifica,
providing original content 24/7 at five stations and with
the nation¹s oldest public radio archives, can and should
have the country¹s most important source of news and
progressive information on the web. As a start, we are revamping
Pacifica¹s national web sites at www.pacifica.org and
www.pacificaarchives.org. As part of that, we will be launching
a pilot audio stream on the pacifica.org site featuring the
Best of Pacifica and Community Radio, a new Internet radio
station that will stream Pacifica¹s Ku satellite.
Critical to this project is the Pacifica Radio Archives,
an incredible national treasure that we must catalogue, preserve,
develop, and make digitally accessible to community radio
producers nationwide. The Fiscal Year 2003 budget proposes
the sharp expansion and development of the Pacifica Radio
Archives. Recognizing the concerns of the entire Pacifica
community, we have slated for the archives to grow more than
25 percent, largely through devoting a day of national on-air
fundraising in November to the archives. We believe that one
key realizable objective for this fiscal year is to create
and launch a strategic fundraising campaign aimed at developing
the archives as well as building an independent funding base
for this unique international treasure.
Another urgent component to rebuilding the network is to
ensure that we focus on our physical plant and capital requirements.
The technical issues of the network -- and the revolution
in new media technologies -- have not been given enough attention.
We cannot wait any longer. Pacifica must make a major institutional
commitment to technical development as soon as possible. As
such, the National Office will be launching a ground up review
of our fixed assets as part of the process of developing a
capital budget -- and, if necessary, a capital campaign --
to upgrade and improve our stations¹ technical and technological
infrastructures.
As part of this process, there has to be a more coordinated
approach to technical/engineering issues on a national level.
As such, I have proposed in the Fiscal Year 03 budget a national
technical and engineering position to address and manage these
issues. But as an immediate first step, the National Office
will be launching a complete physical inventory of the network
as soon as possible. This is an overdue requirement.
Other critical developments have highlighted this need. First,
of course, was the crisis with the KPFK transmitter. I am
pleased to report that thanks to the generous support and
hard work of the engineering staff, the transmitter is broadcasting
at 112,000 watts from the top of Mount Wilson. But elsewhere,
the news is not good. We have been stymied in expanding KPFT¹s
signal to a Galveston translator. And in Washington, DC, the
WPFW transmitter has suffered a number of disasters -- most
of them natural and all of them out of the station¹s
immediate control.
And in Southern California, Pacifica is still in dispute
with a station out of Northern Mexico -- XLNC -- whose signal
has been interfering with KPFK¹s Southern California
signal. In recent weeks, XLNC has entered into a programming
agreement with the Southern California classical music station
KUSC that allows KUSC to be broadcast over XLNC transmitter.
In short, KUSC via Northern Mexico will now be interfering
with KPFK¹s signal.
Pacifica will aggressively defend any attack upon the integrity
of our broadcast operations. We will use all measures at our
disposal and mobilize the entire resources of the network
-- legal and political -- to ensure that the big media giants
don¹t trample diversity and free speech.
This example and others underscore the urgent need for the
network to proactively deal with technical and engineering
issues. And not just those aimed at our transmitters but also
the equipment needs in Pacifica¹s five stations. As KPFT
engineer Steve Brightwell points out, a replacement motor
for a cart machine costs more than a new computer. While some
of our stations have made or begun making the transition to
digital audio, most have not.
The Pacifica Archives stand as the biggest potential project
facing this conversion. And, as Steve Brightwell notes, this
process is not as simple as buying a CD burner and plugging
in a tape recorder. The cost of purchasing and maintaining
these computers, as well as the resulting quality of the material
intended to outlive all of us, depends on the proper coordination
of this effort.
As we imagine and articulate the future direction of Pacifica,
there a host of priorities and needs that may seem difficult
to tackle. However, I am convinced -- as many of you are on
the board -- that we can only succeed in the mission of Pacifica
by developing and strengthening our capacity to provide the
best programming to the widest possible audience. That process
starts by rebuilding our local news and public affairs programming,
by launching training and apprenticeship programs, by using
new media technologies, by examining our capital needs, by
strengthening Pacifica relations with the community radio
movement, and by maintaining a robust national programming
presence.
The National Office will prepare in the next several months
a detailed Vision Statement, including cost estimates and
analyses, addressing how the network might practically implement
our programming, technical, and training goals. I look forward
to working the iPNB on this process of strategic development.
In the meantime, we must remain disciplined and vigilant to
protect and consolidate the hard won gains of the last eight
months while remaining true to the principle of accountability,
transparency and due process that have propelled the Pacifica
reform movement over the last years. |
