by democratic end
Thursday, May. 24, 2001 at 6:17 AM
boycottkpfk.org 323-878-5680
A spirited demonstration of nearly 100 activists greeted KPFK's spring fund drive on May
16. The Pacifica Accountability Committee and others organized the effort, which was
endorsed by several grassroots organizations and individuals.
errorA spirited demonstration of nearly 100 activists greeted KPFK's spring fund drive on May
16. The Pacifica Accountability Committee and others organized the effort, which was
endorsed by several grassroots organizations and individuals.
There was a banner of a corporate vulture, demonstrators in vulture masks and signs
calling for an end to the gag rule and supporting the boycott of Pacifica Radio stations.
A new web site www.boycottKPFK.org was announced, and there were bumper stickers to help
spread the word.
Veteran activist (and former KPFK programmer) Blase Bonpane told the crowd that Pacifica
was off course. "The course of the network is the Mission Statement, which comes from the
peace movement. And this station and the network are part, and have been part and parcel,
of the peace movement."
"We can't have a station dedicated to peace, justice and humankind behave in an inhuman
manner," Bonpane said. "We can't allow a monetarist spirit to enter this particular kind
of broadcasting. It wasn't set up to be a money maker."
Pacifica Campaign organizer (and former KPFK programmer) John Martinez described their
strategy. "It is a call for a boycott against the pledge drive," Martinez said. "It is not
an attack to kill or to damage Pacifica, but it is a way to get it back." Martinez told
the group that the diversity which was once the guiding philosophy of KPFK programming was
being lost, and that has to be turned around.
Activist Karen Pomer read a statement from Amy Goodman which exposed a bold lie broadcast
on KPFK. It had been announced that Goodman had refused to cooperate with KPFK and provide
fund drive programming. The statement read: "Wherever a General Manager of a Pacifica
station wants me to fund raise, I fund raise. Pacifica management informed me last week,
KPFK General Manager Mark Schubb did not want me to fund raise live on the air."
"So it is an outright lie," Pomer said, "what they said today on KPFK, and we need to let
as many people know about that as we can." Pomer told the cheering crowd that "turning up
the heat" on the Pacifica Board of Directors had just resulted in the resignation of Board
Treasurer Michael Palmer, an advocate of selling WBAI (New York).
The other speakers included Preston Wood (International Action Center), former KPFK
programmer Arturo Lemas, Lloyd Karch (Industrial Workers of the World), Casey Peters
(Californians for Proportional Representation, a group which helped with the recent KPFA
Board elections), Nancy Lawrence (Peace and Freedom Party) and Tom Camarella (Pacifica
Accountability Committee).
The Pacifica Campaign has since announced that there will be an informational picket
outside KPFK every weekday afternoon during the fund drive, from 4:00 - 6:00. There will
also be a national demonstration in support of Amy Goodman and Democracy Now! on
Thursday, May 24, from 3:30 - 6:30. For more information call (323) 878-5680.
Co-sponsors:
ACTION RESOURCE CENTER
Box 2104
Venice, California 90294
(310) 396-3254 (voice) (310) 392-9965 (fax)
www.arcweb.org
PACIFICA ACCOUNTABILTY COMMITTEE
P. O. Box 207
San Pedro, California 90733-0207
(323) 957-4659
www.pacfolio.org
KPFK LISTENER-LAB ALLIANCE WORKGROUP
lark2@mindspring.com
INDUSTRIAL WORKERS of the WORLD/LA-GMB
P.O. Box 207
San Pedro, California 90733-0207
(310) 831-6023 (voice)
www.iwwla.org
Endorsers:
SAN PEDRO CATHOLIC WORKER
San Pedro, California 90731
(310) 831-3460
HARBOR GREENS
P. O. Box 1858
San Pedro, California 90733
(310) 833-2633
www.greens.org/cal/harborgreens
INTERNATIONAL ACTION CENTER/ LA
422 So. Western Ave. #114
Los Angeles, California 90020
(213) 487-2368 (voice) (213) 487-2368 (fax)
www.iacenter.org
AZTLAN MEDIA COLLECTIVE
323 No. Soto St. #68,
East Los Angeles, California 90033
(323) 261-4513
LOS ANGELES CATHOLIC WORKER
632 North Brittania St.
Los Angeles, California 90033
(323) 267-8789
PEACE & FREEDOM PARTY
L. A. County Chapter
P. O. Box 741270
Los Angeles, California 90004
(323) 759- 9737
www.peaceandfreedomparty.org
PEOPLE AGAINST RACIST TERROR
Turning the Tide / Michael Novick, Publisher
P. O. Box 1055
Culver City, California 90232
(310) 495-0299
www.antiracist.org
PACIFICA CAMPAIGN
51 MacDougal St. #80
New York, New York 10012
National: (800) 797-6229 (voice),
(646) 230-9588 (voice), (646) 230-9582 (fax)
Local (L. A.): (323) 878-5680
www.pacificacampaign.org
Michael C. Ruppert
FROM THE WILDERNESS PUBLICATIONS
P. O. Box 6061-350
Sherman Oaks, California 91413
(818) 788-8791 (voice) (818) 981-2847 (fax)
www.copvcia.com
L.A./ S.M. CITIZENS for SAFE DRINKING WATER
P. O. Box 55335
Sherman Oaks, California 91413
(888) 909-8176
www.nofluoride.com www.fluoridealert.org
ALLIANCE for CHILD PROTECTION from TOXIC ABUSE
P. O. Box 55335
Sherman Oaks, California 91413
(818) 990-3810
COALITION AGAINST POLICE ABUSE
2824 So. Western Ave.
Los Angeles, California 90018
(323) 733-2107 (voice) (323) 733-2757 (fax)
FREEDOM SOCIALIST PARTY
2170 W. Washington Blvd.
Los Angeles, California 90018
(323) 732-6416 (voice) (323) 732-6410 (fax)
www.socialism.com
RADICAL WOMEN
2170 W. Washington Blvd.
Los Angeles, California 90018
(323) 732-6416 (voice) (323) 732-6416 (fax)
www.socialism.com
VALLEY GREENS
(818) 752-9538
THERESA & BLASE BONPANE
(323) 852-9808
LOS ANGELES WAGES for HOUSEWORK COMMITTEE
P. O. Box 86681
Los Angeles, California 90086
(323) 292-7405
Cliff Tasner, Composer of BILLIONAIRES FOR BUSH (OR GORE)
(818) 766-5509
PROFESSOR DENNIS BRUTUS
Poet in Residence
Worcester State College, Worcester, MA
Patron Jubilee South Africa
Professor Emeritus, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh Pennsylvania
dbrutus@worcester.edu