In an effort to save and restore more than 47,000 historic tapes that span half a century of radio programming, the five-station Pacifica Radio network will broadcast a national on-air fundraising benefit on Tuesday, November 19, featuring rare recordings from the endangered archives.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
November 8, 2002
PACIFICA RADIO MOVES TO SAVE NATION'S OLDEST PUBLIC
RADIO ARCHIVE
SPECIAL FUNDRAISING DAY AIMS TO STEM DETERIORATION OF
RARE RECORDINGS, INCLUDING THE VOICES OF MALCOLM X,
MARGARET MEAD, LENNY BRUCE, BERTOLT BRECHT, AND OTHERS
LOS ANGELES, CA -- In an effort to save and restore more
than 47,000 historic tapes that span half a century of
radio programming, the five-station Pacifica Radio
network will broadcast a national on-air fundraising
benefit on Tuesday, November 19, featuring rare
recordings from the endangered archives.
Considered by many historians and scholars to be one
of the most important audio collections in the world,
thousands of tapes in the Los Angeles-based Pacifica
Radio Archives are in danger of permanent damage
caused by aging. Internationally recognized sound
preservation experts have advised Pacifica to conduct
an immediate review of the endangered tapes and to
transfer them to new mediums, such as digital audio.
"This archive is a national and international
treasure," said J. Brian DeShazor, Director of
the Pacifica Radio Archives. "And we must act now as
custodians of these rare and historic recordings
before it's too late."
Founded in 1949 by World War II conscientious objector
Lewis Hill, Pacifica Radio was created as the first
non-commercial, listener-sponsored radio station in
the United States. The Pacifica Radio Archives was
established in 1971 to house the audio tape collection
gathered from Pacifica Radio stations KPFA-94.1 FM in
Berkeley, KPFK-90.7 FM in Los Angeles, WBAI-99.5 FM in
New York, KPFT-90.1 FM in Houston, and WPFW-89.3 FM in
Washington D.C.
Starting with 10,000 tapes the archive has grown to
over 47,000 recordings covering more than 53 years of
public radio programming. As the fifty-three-year
leader in open access, First Amendment radio Pacifica
has broadcast programs of singular historical and
educational value, programs of people and events
commercial media did not document well, if at all. The
Pacifica programs have won distinguished citations
including many Armstrong, Peabody, and Ohio State
awards.
The November 19 marathon broadcast will include rare
recordings of internationally known writers, political
activists, religious leaders and entertainers such as
Ann Sexton, Archbishop Oscar Romero, Patty Hearst,
Fannie Lou Hamer, Paul Robeson, Pablo Neruda, Langston
Hughes, Allen Ginsberg, Yoko Ono, Bette Davis, Simone
de Beauvoir, Jack Kerouac, Rachel Carson, the Dalai
Lama, Lenny Bruce and many others. The broadcast will
be presented in an educational format, focusing each
hour on a specific theme: Native American History,
Women’s Herstory, Literature and Drama, Latino/Chicano
History, Eastern Philosophy, the Civil Rights
Movement, Civil Liberties, The Legacy of Malcolm X,
and so on.
In order to preserve the Pacifica Radio Archives and
continue to enable public access to the recordings,
Pacifica needs to take immediate steps to prevent any
further deterioration of the collection. According to
preservation experts, Pacifica should conduct a detailed
assessment of how many tapes are in immediate need of
reformatting, and then hire an experienced preservation
transfer engineer to transfer the tapes to a new medium,
such as digital audio.
To support the Pacifica Radio Archives or access the
Pacifica Radio Archives Listening Salon go to:
http://www.pacificaarchives.org
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Original: Pacifica Radio Moves to Save Nation's Oldest Public Radio Archives