Pacifica: Comedy Gold

The left eats its own once again as CounterPunch goes after Pacifica and Grace Aron hits back.

It started with Iain Boal's piece in CounterPunch asserting that

On September 17 the Governance Committee of the Pacifica National Board passed a resolution expressly designed to find out whether Amy Goodman’s Democracy Now! program is getting CIA funding through covert channels like the Ford Foundation for suppressing the “truth” about the 9/11 “over-up” The author of the resolution, Chris Condon, made it clear that he wrote a motion on funding disclosure specifically to find out "where the hell Amy Goodman's money is coming from".

After his opening salvo, Boal changes the subject to discuss how the current situation at Pacifica resembles their problems in 1999.

Under Aaron’s tenure, the stations have been under serious pressure to increase listenership and fundraising by offering miracle cures and 9/11 conspiracist DVDs as donor “thank you gifts”. Pacifica station WBAI in New York made tens of thousands of dollars on gifts promising protection from fungus-causing aerosols that the government is supposedly spraying on its population. It is also symptomatic that at the same time that Aaron favors depoliticized self-help shows, she is reported to fulminate against “pro-Palestinian, pro-immigrant” public affairs programming on the network.

Pacifica National Board chair Grace Aron fought back with a letter demanding a retraction. After correcting some of Boal's assertions, she defends her anti-Israel bone fides:

The statement that "she is reported to fulminate against “pro-Palestinian, pro-immigrant” public affairs programming on the network" is untrue. I have a long track record as a peace activist on those issues and I consider this an unfounded smear on my reputation.

It's comforting to know that Pacifica has its priorities straight.

For a trip into the fever swamp, read this story on the NYC Indymedia site. The comments are hilarious.
"New Pacifica's" frontal attack on Democracy Now!
After rejecting Cynthia McKinney for ED, Aaron's Pacifica now turns on Amy Goodman

Pacifica recently rejected the application of perhaps the nation's best-known 9/11 Truth activist - former Rep. Cynthia McKinney - for the position of Executive Director. Meanwhile, PNB Governance Committee member Christopher Condon revealed one goal of his resolution - to reduce funding of Democracy Now!, the network's most popular program, in future contract negotiations.

You just can't write better comedy.

Technorati tags: WBAI, Pacifica, Democracy Now!, radio, Democracy Now!, moonbats

Fortunately, things are slightly more sane at WPKN

WBAI's Mimi Rosenberg and the Pacifica National Board. They sure know how to bring the crazy.



Bonus video: we don't get any cowbell at WPKN staff meetings.



UPDATE 8/4/09: More cowbell!



Technorati tags: WBAI, Pacifica, Mimi Rosenberg, radio, cowbell

WBAI continues melting down

Pacifica's Interim Executive Director Grace Aaron replaced Tony Riddle, WBAI's General Manager, on May 4th by kicking him upstairs to a no-show position with Pacifica's national office. Pacifica's Interim Chief Financial Officer, LaVarn Williams, takes over. The NYC IMC published the leaked letter from Grace Aaron. The comments, as usual for Indymedia, speak for themselves. 

* You will be reassigned from your current position as station manager of WBAI to the national office as
Development Director.
* Your salary and benefits will remain the same.
* You will work out of your home until further notice, and will report to me as your immediate supervisor.

That's not a bad job offer for someone who nearly ran WBAI into the ground, including allegedly 4 months rent not paid on the studio and 2 months not paid for the antenna.

Speaking of Pacifica, former CFO Lonnie Hicks is suing the Pacifica Foundation. The wrongful termination suit alleges that

Pacifica Radio governance factions use guerrilla warfare to coerce those who are different from themselves along racial and political lines, and "acts in an intolerant, capricious, discriminatory, retaliatory, prejudicial and coercive manner" and "believe that the ends ... justify the means."

Technorati tags: WBAI, Tony Riddle, Pacifica, radio

KPFA meltdown and the opportunists

A few weeks ago KPFA management called the police to remove somebody from the studio. The ongoing drama from this incident has made for amusing reading, if only because it makes WPKN look like paradise.

Much to my surprise, a group from KPFA wrote a letter to the Berkeley Daily Planet that isn't completely crazy. In fact, it almost sounds sane.

They have used KPFA’s airwaves to launch sensationalized reports that are both false (reporting a sprained arm as a broken one, and a pregnancy that did not exist), mistargeted (calling for the resignation of two managers who had nothing to do with the decision to call the police), and self-serving (concluding one on-air segment with a demand for a regular show).

What a surprise--Nadra Foster and her supporters lied. 

Technorati tags: KPFA, radio