Candidate Statement:
I’m Anthony Fest, and I’m running for a staff seat on KPFA’s Local Station Board (LSB).
My involvement with KPFA began when I took the News Training Class in 1994.
From 1996 to 2016, I hosted Sunday-evening newscasts. I’ve been producing the Project Censored Show since its beginning (now it airs on dozens of stations around the country). I also edit and mix the Poor News segment on Hard Knock Radio.
I’ve been on the LSB before. I’m running again because I’m concerned that KPFA has ceased to innovate. This would be unwise at any time, but in 2021, when broadcast radio itself is threatened by new kinds of media, standing pat is practically asking to become irrelevant. KPFA’s subscribership has already been dropping over the years – once in the twenty-thousands, it’s now about half that.
How low does it have to fall before we insist on a different course of action?
Although most of the power in the network rests with the National Board, the Local Station Board does have important responsibilities, some of which it’s not been fulfilling in recent years. One of these duties is perform annual evaluations of the General Manager and the Program Director. At a minimum, the LSB needs to carry out the duties it’s assigned under the Bylaws.
Besides its official duties, the LSB can and should be a place where subscribers and staff are made welcome (not merely tolerated) at every LSB meeting to share their ideas about what KPFA is doing, and how it can improve.
There are three staff seats to be filled in this election. I’m requesting your vote for my running mates (Frank Sterling and Ann Garrison) and me. Frank is the long-time co-director of KPFA’s vital Apprenticeship Program, and Ann is the most outstanding KPFA reporter I’ve ever met. Your “STV” ballot enables you to rank the candidates, in the order you prefer. Please use the 1, 2 and 3 rankings for the three of us, in any order you like.
On the listener side of this election, I support and endorse the Rescue Pacifica (RP) team of LSB candidates; read the RP platform at www.rescuepacifica.net.
Thank you!
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.
