Tag: Program Council

For the second week in a row, one of the largest audiences for any show on KPFA was disappointed not to hear the People’s Minister of Information JR Valrey and his Block Report on the air Wednesday at 8 a.m. Instead we heard an announcement by interim general manager Andrew Phillips that JR has been suspended. Getting punished for doing “too well” happens to Black folks much too often. Sign the two petitions to end the suspension of JR Valrey from KPFA and attend the Town Hall Meeting, Thursday, April 11, 6 p.m. at Laney College. This story is constantly being updated with new signatures and comments.

Since 1949, KPFA has been bringing incisive political analysis, vital cultural perspectives, and an amazing variety of music to the Bay Area and beyond. To keep KPFA responsive to community needs, the station needs community participation, and one of the ways to participate is to vote in the board elections.

There’s more mischief underway at community radio station KPFA. KPFA subscribers will soon be receiving ballots in the mail asking them to vote on whether media activist Tracy Rosenberg should be recalled from her seat on the KPFA board. This swiftboat-style attack on the station’s hardest working board member must be defeated!

I want us to do good radio. I want people to listen to us because we are doing dynamic programming. I want communities to feel that they can tune into the station and hear someone addressing the issues that are important to them.

I was raised by several generations of labor organizers, and in every labor dispute my side is easily chosen. I don’t cross picket lines, and I always stand with the workers against their bosses. With the recent layoffs at KPFA, it’s terrible to see people losing their jobs, but this is not union busting by any stretch of the imagination.

Your guest, Mr. Krasny, Larry Bensky, broad brushed all but a few us who work at KPFA as “clowns” and “conspiracy nuts,” as opposed to the real journalists on the Morning Show and KPFA News.

KPFA is one of the few community stations with an elected board. For example, KQED, where I also served two terms, got rid of elections in 2006. Our mission is to generate and support local, hard-hitting, radical journalism and prioritize coverage of and collaboration with underrepresented Bay Area communities that have little access to other media.

KPFA's election season has begun, with ballots and postcards arriving on our doorsteps. What should members do? There’s a really short answer. Don’t vote for the Save KPFA – Concerned Listeners – candidates. Any of them. No matter what.

Important communities such as African-Americans still do not have dedicated programs. By engaging with the communities that merit more attention and by adding fresh programs, KPFA could help alleviate its financial crunch - by attracting more listeners and more subscribers without expanding the payroll.