Dear Brothers and Sisters,
I have been serving on the LSB for the past couple of years. I have fought for more transparency and also a collaboration between the staff and management. We as board members have the responsibility to evaluate the management and I have serious concerns about the direction of our station and the Pacifica network.
We are below 40th in listeners in Northern California although we have one of the strongest signals. Also, our listeners are mostly in their 60’s and 70’s. This has to change. A major downturn in the economy which is likely coming could have a devastating impact on our present fundraising.
I and other members of the board have sought to develop a multi-media platform for KPFA and Pacifica and we streamed the Climate march and May Day events in Oakland with the support of the apprentices, paid and unpaid staff. We need to put cameras in our studios so our hosts if they want can stream their shows as well as the audio. This is done at not only many commercial stations but community stations.
I also support a live streaming channel that could include community and labor rallies , strikes and events live. We need to provide a platform for the communities that we represent and fight for. I also am for working with programmers around the country at Pacifica and our affiliates to do national days of programming on a Pacifica channel for Indiginous Peoples Day, May Day, Women’s Day and Juneteenth on a streaming channel and for use by the Pacifica stations.
This could help build a national broadcast vehicle that will build our audience in order to build our listenership and support.
Presently, Pacifica has a debt owned of around $4 million. In my view, the way to pay this debt off is by covering the real struggles and battles that working people, minorities and the communities face from the danger of world war, climate and the and attacks on immigrants, public education and public services. If we do this in collaboration with the organizations and groups who are working on these issues, we will be seen as an invaluable resource and can quickly wipe out our present debt.
I also support developing two additional digital channels as KPFT has done so we can expand our programming with new shows to increase our listeners and viewers. There are many shows that could be on KPFA and Pacifica and these would strengthen our broadcast platform and also if they are video more young people would be viewing us on their mobile devises.
I support the manager and program director meeting staff at least 4 times a year so there can be a discussion on their views and issues and concerns of the staff. We have not had a staff meeting for over a year and this is unacceptable in my view.
In Solidarity,
Steve Zeltzer
WorkWeek Radio Producer