Month: November 2018

Daniel Borgstrom, current LSB member for the past 2 1/2 years; before that, for over a decade, attended numerous LSB meetings & wrote articles about KPFA, was active with Occupy Oakland, Lake Merritt Peace Walk, & Veterans for Peace

Candidate Statement: Asked why I joined the Marine Corps (1959 to 1963) I say “Where I grew up, there was no KPFA or Pacifica Radio affiliate.” There was a constant corporate drumbeat of anti-Communism, always pretending to advocate for democracy while backing dictators.

During the McCarthy Era, KPFA bravely exposed lies of Cold War propaganda. KPFA opposed the Vietnam war. Recently however, while some programs steadfastly question the never-questioned, others increasingly echo corporate media’s support for imperial policies abroad. Establishment groupthink is replacing KPFA’s anti war voice.

I oppose the financially reckless New Day bylaws. ND’ers kept the old bylaws’ worst parts and excised provisions for progressive oversight. Rescue Pacifica allies on Pacifica’s National Board finally caught audits up and are on track to staunch Pacifica’s longtime bleeding which KPFA “Protectors” for years exacerbated during their dominance as the national majority faction. As U.S. voters demand equal access, Pacifica needs to pass ironclad policies encouraging members to steward their network and restore financial health. Rescue Pacifica has for years urged KPFA to get better integration with web-based media as a major component of financial sustainability, and KPFA management is FINALLY starting to go along with that.

Pacifica includes five sister stations and over 200 affiliates. While corporate media reportage remains limited to views of the two-party system, the need to keep our network together is greater than ever. It would not be cozy to have our own separate station here in the Bay Area, as though separate from finance-driven demands of global capital. With climate change and multiple ongoing wars, our progressive and antiwar voice must go everywhere.

This means defending our network against Pacifica-bashers. We must work amicably with all the stations in the network, and, most importantly, we must oversee our own local station. An LSB duty is to evaluate the General Manager every year — this has not been done for about five years.

We must resurrect the Program Council, whose task it is to evaluate programs, both new and old to ensure that programming is relevant and robust.

Transparency and accountability is our objective. Our job includes asking even unwelcome questions. Fellow board member James McFadden was “censured” by the majority faction at KPFA for writing an article which apparently caused some discomfort. It’s at
https://www.counterpunch.org/2021/06/11/a-rebuttal-to-the-kooky-protecting-pacifica-article-by-kaldveer-and-gendelman/

When the New Day faction voted to censure James, I reminded them that I also write articles, and they told me, “You will be next!”

As a board member I ask questions, represent and report back to listeners. My articles are at several websites, including my own at http://danielborgstrom.blogspot.com/

The most important goals of Rescue Pacifica are to preserve our Pacifica radio network and return KPFA to it’s traditional antiwar voice.

Daniel Borgström

http://RescuePacifica.net
http://PacificaInExile.org
http://PacificaFightback.org
http://PacificaDemocracyProject.org
http://danielborgstrom.blogspot.com/

DISCLAIMER: This is not an official Pacifica Foundation website nor an official website of any of the five Pacifica Radio Stations (KPFA Radio, KPFK Radio, KPFT Radio, WBAI Radio, WPFW Radio). Opinions and facts alleged on this site belong to the author(s) of the website only and should NOT be assumed to be true or to reflect the editorial stance or policy of the Pacifica Foundation, or any of the five Pacifica Radio Stations (KPFA Radio, KPFK Radio, KPFT Radio, WBAI Radio, WPFW Radio), or the opinions of its management, Pacifica National Board, station staff or other listener members.

James McFadden, current LSB member and research physicist at UC Berkeley who is involved in a half-dozen local to national political groups fighting oppression and corporate power

Candidate Statement: I am a research physicist at UC Berkeley and a current member of the KPFA LSB. I am also a member of an affinity group called Rescue Pacifica whose vision for Pacifica is outlined on their website (https://rescuepacifica.net/). I believe that volunteer work, showing up for civic meetings, is critical to the health of the community. I’m involved in a half-dozen local to national political groups fighting oppression and corporate power. As an avid listener, I feel KPFA is one of the Bay Area gems, especially with shows such as Flashpoint, Hard Knock, and Project Censored. However, I also see room for improvement as a community radio station evolving in a changing media environment that needs to serve a younger, more diverse demographic to remain viable. My primary interests are keeping KPFA corporate free, improving programming, and bringing some sanity to the LSB.

Over the last two years on the LSB I have witnessed a number of actions by other board members that have disheartened me. Some of these actions are described in my Counterpunch https://www.counterpunch.org/2021/06/11/a-rebuttal-to-the-kooky-protecting-pacifica-article-by-kaldveer-and-gendelman/

This faction (which goes by various names – UIR, New Day Pacifica, Pacifica Protectors) has done a great disservice to Pacifica, to KPFA, and to its listener members. When I joined the LSB, I envisioned a progressive environment of cooperation and respectful dialogue by LSB members, but instead found myself in the minority on a dysfunctional LSB controlled by those behind numerous shenanigans and power grabs. Their actions include: 1) the installation of an Executive Director (ED) who shut down the New York station (WBAI) in the middle of its fund drive and without notifying the Pacifica National Board – PNB); 2) the subsequent attempt to retroactively validate this action by shutting off microphones of PNB members; 3) the misallocation of $80,000 in KPFA funds as retainer fees for a lawsuit against Pacifica by the suspended ED (policy require PNB approval for large fund transfers); 4) several attempted lawsuits by UIR members (Goldmacher, Turner, Huggins) to wrench control of Pacifica away from PNB; 5) two costly bylaws elections that would solidify their control; and 6) the failure to notify the LSB that KPFA had not paid property taxes for 7 years – an action that nearly resulted in the loss of our building.

As a board member who was silenced by the UIR faction, I remained a witness to their actions. The dysfunction described above is not structural. It is the result of a faction who doesn’t believe in the vision of community radio and instead wants to transform Pacifica into a top-down corporate structure. Therefore, I ask you to vote for those endorsed by Rescue Pacifica so we can bring some sensible dialogue and functional operations to the KPFA LSB. I pledge to work to make KPFA not only more responsive as a community radio station, but also to make it a beacon of anti-war, anti-oppression reporting where voices can be heard that do not appear in main stream corporate media.

DISCLAIMER: This is not an official Pacifica Foundation website nor an official website of any of the five Pacifica Radio Stations (KPFA Radio, KPFK Radio, KPFT Radio, WBAI Radio, WPFW Radio). Opinions and facts alleged on this site belong to the author(s) of the website only and should NOT be assumed to be true or to reflect the editorial stance or policy of the Pacifica Foundation, or any of the five Pacifica Radio Stations (KPFA Radio, KPFK Radio, KPFT Radio, WBAI Radio, WPFW Radio), or the opinions of its management, Pacifica National Board, station staff or other listener members.