“New troubles emerge and information is still secretly hidden from the subscribers-members-sponsors of this non-profit but failing corporation. The last begging drive with repeated recordings SELLING products over and over and over lasted 27 days in February 2014.

Many of those who previously listened tuned out and away and found their education/ news/ revelations elsewhere instead. How easy was that ? too easy, unfortunately.

Because KPFK before was a great source of unusual, stimulating INFORMATION - not sales, prejudices, slants or rants mostly, we miss the older version. It was...and on a rarer occasion can still be a unique source for voices unheard elsewhere nor found easily in major media sites.

The 'spirituality' or metaphysical lectures that played on KPFK regularly have gone stale, tho sometimes a revelation is heard spoken and played there, on RADIO, vs. having to search online on the net.

To be able to LISTEN TO RADIO vs. having to search or hear voices on-line is a big difference when multi-tasking, being able to keep eyes and hands busy on other tasks. The occasional dissident, whistle-blower, or educated thoughtful academic, or an author interviewed, still is a good surprise- when it does happen, rarely now - and is stimulating.

That was more what KPFK *was* and could be, if only.....'they' could get their financial act cohesively together and make $ sense of their business.

But the constant pleas, the repetitious exhortations of dubious products [including promoting fake gurus with media that may or not be as promoted-advertised-publicized] and their ongoing need to claim a 'matching pledge we will lose if you dont send us your money right now !" ...those are not what listeners respond to and stay for nor remain loyal to open their pocket books or wallets either.

So maybe if things get bad enough and scary enough that KPFK and it's parent Pacifica Fdtn is actually [and it again seems to be there ] failing, falling, breaking apart or going down financially, then someone there may take organization-Charge ! and reduce the dysfunctional infighting and fractionalization.

What is clearly needed is logically planned and diligent CHANGE into a more viable Radio Station business....for Radio is a business by any other name, the same.

The ultra-left-so-called-liberals [ aka KPFK followers ] love to claim they are oh so altruistic and Righteous too... and they do not never ever engage in business, business being dirty business only of course. But these angelic ones are only are there to INFORM everyone of their own selected Right Views and Opinions - that they prefer to brand as 'Programs'.

But non-profits are as prone to slants, biases, secrets and collusions as any other entity.....and KPFK is still keeping it's secrets in shame - and to prevent it's payers from fleeing at the nearest exit.

But opacity and pretense will never get the station stable nor pay it's bills. And Change means stop repeating the same dysfunctional patterns of pretense-"democracy" or even claims of being valuable for being odd, different, hard-to-find-elsewhere. Change may mean reality checks on how money is spent, misused, unregulated, and if reductions are necessary, to just do so... sensibly.

Can this radio station ever be fixed so it stops crumbling? huh ? all hope so, but most are not sure.

Just recently a new site went up that allows no comments but is intended to take a side in the national malicious arguments on line about who runs the Pacifica PNB [nat’l board] and petitions are included therein.

see http://2014.supportkpfa.org

and also maybe tour thru facebook

https://www.facebook.com/notes/tracy-rosenberg/turning-off-the-water-and-firing-the-lawyer/10201760444914193

to learn a bit more about what is dramatically occurring in Pacifica’s Berkley offices. To search out what may be factual or actual from what are marketing-promotional or negative-attack-ads blurbs takes hours of time and reading and is uncompensated ‘work’ just to know where even our KPFK dollars are being spent or set up to be wasted.

And other than a midnight interview that was not heard by the great majority of KPFK listeners gave a hint of what is happening to Pacific, about it’s Executive Director, and the future of the whole set of radio stations affiliated and dependent on some structure that is stable and honest…if possible.

sorry for the whole article to have been condensed without the written paragraphs for reading more easily. The Indy system somehow glitched it all into one glump, but skim it for words that interest you, a reader, and maybe find some info and interest in commentary included in that mass.

Easy to skip but then some info may be lost.

my version reads much easier with spaces in between thoughts . sorry.

Take away the pledge drives, the branding, the promotions, the infighting, the internal conflicts, the moneyed interests attempting to commodify and profit, the bloated board of directors and their salaries, the corruption, the vested and conflicts of interests and the core problems still remain.

The decline of terrestrial radio is a symptom not a problem.

When things get bad enough that internet and even cellular service becomes unreliable, THEN terrestrial radio will experience a rebirth.



not before

sorry, attempted to correct the way the article appears, carefully looked

before clicking "published" 3x to insure, but then the result comes out

as it does, for it's own technoglitchy reasons, unknown to writers here.

hard to read means essence of article is ensconced into a heavy mass of words. sorry.

New troubles emerge and information is still secretly hidden from the subscribers-members-sponsors of this non-profit but failing corporation.

The last begging drive with repeated recordings SELLING products over and over and over lasted 27 days in February 2014.

Many of those who previously listened tuned out and away and found their education/ news/ revelations elsewhere instead. How easy was that ? too easy, unfortunately.

Because KPFK before was a great source of unusual, stimulating INFORMATION - not sales, prejudices, slants or rants mostly, we miss the older version.

It was...and on a rarer occasion can still be a unique source for voices unheard elsewhere nor found easily in major media sites. The 'spirituality' or metaphysical lectures that played on KPFK regularly have gone stale, tho sometimes a revelation is heard spoken and played there, on RADIO, vs. having to search online on the net.

To be able to LISTEN TO RADIO vs. having to search or hear voices on-line is a big difference when multi-tasking, being able to keep eyes and hands busy on other tasks.

The occasional dissident, whistle-blower, or educated thoughtful academic, or an author interviewed, still is a good surprise- when it does happen, rarely now - and is stimulating.

That was more what KPFK *was* and could be, if only.....'they' could get their financial act cohesively together and make $ sense of their business.

But the constant pleas, the repetitious exhortations of dubious products [including promoting fake gurus with media that may or not be as promoted-advertised-publicized] and their ongoing need to claim a 'matching pledge we will lose if you dont send us your money right now !" ...those are not what listeners respond to and stay for nor remain loyal to open their pocket books or wallets either.

So maybe if things get bad enough and scary enough that KPFK and it's parent Pacifica Fdtn is actually [and it again seems to be there ] failing, falling, breaking apart or going down financially, then someone there may take organization-Charge ! and reduce the dysfunctional infighting and fractionalization.

What is clearly needed is logically planned and diligent CHANGE into a more viable Radio Station business....for Radio is a business by any other name, the same. The ultra-left-so-called-liberals [ aka KPFK followers ] love to claim they are oh so altruistic and Righteous too... and they do not never ever engage in business, business being dirty business only of course.

But these angelic ones are only are there to INFORM everyone of their own selected Right Views and Opinions - that they prefer to brand as 'Programs'. But non-profits are as prone to slants, biases, secrets and collusions as any other entity.....and KPFK is still keeping it's secrets in shame - and to prevent it's payers from fleeing at the nearest exit.

But opacity and pretense will never get the station stable nor pay it's bills. And Change means stop repeating the same dysfunctional patterns of pretense-"democracy" or even claims of being valuable for being odd, different, hard-to-find-elsewhere.

Change may mean reality checks on how money is spent, misused, unregulated, and if reductions are necessary, to just do so... sensibly. Can this radio station ever be fixed so it stops crumbling? huh ? We all hope so, but are not sure. Just recently a new site went up that allows no comments but is intended to take a side in the national malicious arguments on line about who runs the Pacifica PNB [nat’l board] and petitions are included therein. see http://2014.supportkpfa.org and also maybe tour thru facebook https://www.facebook.com/notes/tracy-rosenberg/turning-off-the-water-and-firing-the-lawyer/10201760444914193 http://KPFKcommentators.blogspot.com to learn a bit more about what is dramatically occurring in Pacifica’s Berkley offices.

To search out what may be factual or actual from what are marketing-promotional or negative-attack-ads blurbs takes hours of time and reading and is uncompensated ‘work’ just to know where even our KPFK dollars are being spent or set up to be wasted.

And other than a midnight interview that was not heard by the great majority of KPFK listeners gave a hint of what is happening to Pacific, about it’s Executive Director, and the future of the whole set of radio stations affiliated and dependent on some structure that is stable and honest…if possible.

thanks for reposting article with spacing, apparently not possible by every computer or writer.

No, radio is not dead, and the internet tho claimed to supersede all other media, is as fragile as any other medium, with commercial deals and takeovers and NSA with their commercial-like-partners interferences too.

The internet is not in competition with radio, as both mediums differ significantly, in cost, in convenience, in how the world is available or presented. Radio still thrives in many forms, some more commercialized, some more conservative-biased, and a few on the more fairly-balanced side.

But the nay-doom-declarers are wrong in their fear of apocalypse of the radio or even TV media.

Maybe profits is not the only measure of viability.

Maybe even total audience share is not an honest measure either.

Size is not the criteria for survival or sustainability.

Vitality, relevance, inclusiveness, educational value and expression, communications and variety may also be vital factors that listeners, viewers, linkers need and want, and will pay a moderate amount to maintain...

for a long long time.

The threats are always out there, then repeated by those who fear that the 'badder' guys will win and obliterate the 'gooder' guys, just like in comics, video games, horror thrill movies and such glop.

the black OR white only wins in these autocratic hero-worshipping images and stories.

but not so in real life, as we know it still.

radio continues to be different enough and cheap enough and available [especially in less techno developed nations, open lands, and non-urban places maybe].

radio has and will continue, and internet is a different beast trying to take over everything humans do, but cannnnot.

internet goes down with electrical scarcity or shut downs, and auto batteries dont last long to recharge whatever tecky devices everyone is sold on having ....being even forced to BUY with their own meager money.

i.e. IRS and CA tax forms, instructions are no longer sent out when a payer already sent in thousands a year before - because IRS & CA claim they are 'e' friendly and going to 'save money' on The American People's wallets. Who logically assumes everyone - who is required to pay taxes - has a computer, a local friendly library, a printer, or can pay for the services when they dont want to pay taxes anyhow.

A good excuse now is "I dont have a form, I dont know instructions, so why is our USA failing to encourage tax payments ? "

Or banks and all utilities continually advertise that bills should be paid 'on line' as if everyone is safer and more confident with internet security than with old humanized postal services. Huh ?

the same internet which requires servers, sites, and has targets that are regularly busted, hacked, intruded into, and deniably unsafe and untrustworthy often enough.

So radio does not have those limitations of the net, the so-called-ONLY-thing to-own-BUY-update: fancy expensive updated computers and those who service the consumers who need them - to be able to do anything online. Radio gives, provides, true or falsified info and commercials.

Internet is a virtual fake life, that many find preferable and easier than human messiness. While Radios produce sounds - that speak and tell stories and play music.

Not comparable. Not replaced one for the other. Not as valuable as claimed either. Sort of like a dessert, not the essential protein meal needed.

As a broadcaster myself, with NONE of the problems cited above and complete freedom to play anything and say anything, after celebrating my 15'th year of broadcasting here, last year, then this year surveying people, asking them what they listen to, checking their presets and copying their music collections, then adding to and comparing to the stations library consisting of over 12,000 tracks, along with over 10.GB of programming (talk) it could be perceived that I know a thing or two about the issue.



Terrestrial radio isn't 'dead' however it is in continued decline with shrinking audiences and ever more tenuous relevance to the people most interested in listening to it.

A major part of this fading relevance is it's failing to address the actual concerns of the working poor and homeless - not by paying lip service but by actually challenging the business-as-usual status quo mentality that is the very cause of these people's predicament.

We see this dynamic in play everywhere in the media, from the corporate behemoths down to the smallest duly licensed 'community' stations.

Then the little potential audience that exists from not toeing the corporate line, across it's spectrum, is swallowed by the internet.

Once a critical mass, a tipping point is reached, where both enough people are effected by the state of our society and the traditional terrestrial broadcast model of high power 'flame thrower' stations due to lack of reliable electricity which also eliminates the internet, comes to pass, will terrestrial broadcasting be reborn to truly serve local communities.

New Orleans during and just after hurricane Katrina provided an early template of the future terrestrial broadcasting..

Receivers can be solar powered or hand cranked dynamo powered while low Wattage transmitters likewise be solar panel and other modest forms of sustainable energy powered.

I happen to be stockpiling such equipment..

My train of thought being "say a natural disaster hits right now. What equipment do I need to continue broadcasting, and what sort of radios do listeners need to tune in?"

There's a drop down that reads "text/plain". That's the default setting. Make sure it's text/plain and not text/html.

I agree about relevance. At least as far as public talk radio goes, the relevance has been declining a lot. NPR is nice to listen to, but I feel like a poor person while listening to it (which I really shouldn't, because I'm not poor). KPFK is sometimes better, sometimes just kind of depressing.

Some years back, there was an idea of using the online aspect of KPFK (.org) as a kind of farm team system to train hosts and producers. It didn't happen. The impression I got was that people were in the power struggle to attain power, and access to the broadcast schedule was perceived to be power.

The channels themselves have been commodified mainly due to the saturation of available channels by translators and relays.

This puts pressure on non-underwritten non-profits to give up their channel and leads to takeovers and other pressures, including listener ratings, to 'dumbing down' the programming for broader appeal, to cutting out programming and subjects judged as 'controversial' (the poor and homeless don't respond to pledge drives)..

But as I said even without any of those factors (my stations are self-supporting) there is still a continued decline in overall audience as terrestrial radio is trying to compete with podcasts, instant access to thousands of media both music and talk, and lately, such access over smartphones.

No one does surveys of the poor and homeless because with the commodification of the airwaves, these listeners are completely marginalised. People trying to find their next meal aren't interested in talk, but music can sometimes be a comfort to them.

Sometimes just playing such music is the best way to help people - not indy label or world music but the music they grew up with.

I've set up to tell what stations various people listen to and found they prefer the music they're familiar with sans commercials, jingles/branding and other interruptions .

No station non-profit or otherwise offers this because they all want to at least drive their brand into people's heads. All stations have ulterior motives..

The best stations can do is just stay on the air until the time comes when the big boys and the internet are gone.

Having backup power is key to this happening.



PS. I keep seeing less vehicular traffic and more homeless walking the streets here, so the 'greatest depression' is spreading here too now.

some idylic idealic or distorted realities of what many homeless do with their 'free' time is not just 'scratching around for food' like chickens but they do often listen on cheapie tiny radios, and enjoy talk radio because they are not stupid, uneducated [sometimes], or uninterested in what is occurring in the world.

Talk to homeless who sit around and ask. They dont just listen to music and act angelic or innocent, like a noble savage illusion that some prefer to depict.

The radio is small enough to carry, cheap with batteries, found or given or shared, and easy to transport wherever the less than homed go. Many do not form strong friendships easily for their own reasons and talk radio becomes a 'friend' of sorts. Music is there too, but not the main or only interest.

Many only can get AM radio, some get FM or dont have an antennae.

But to claim the homeless are homogeneous and all the same and one person's selected version is the ONLY actuality is plain misleading or misinformation or wrong.

get a radio, walk around, see who will listen in with you, walking the fringes of any city or when dark night comes. Loud talk on radios is often heard, along with other sounds outdoors.

The selection of content here on AM isn't the same as there. Here we have *nothing but right-wing hate talk* for hundreds of miles, so AM is definitely out. What we do have are 'oldies' stations, which are fairly popular. Along with 'classic Rock', but what people most enjoy are Jazz which has been systematicly destroyed nationwide.

The hungry have told me explicitly they don't want to hear talk because they feel victimized and left out of the narratives and frames the non-homeless and non-hungry radio hosts present. I've also done actual surveys of various groups by various means including determining what stations they're listening to by technical means such as detecting the local oscillator frequency of their radios (10.7 MHz higher than the tuned station) and simply listening to what they're playing by watching them go by (I live right on the 'main drag' in town, basicly main street) so I get a eyewitness and EARwitness sampling of what people are actually playing.

As a broadcaster with three (3) stations it's a bit important for me to determine this information - at least more important than a mere 'radio listener' since I have a direct stake in knowing accurately what people want to hear, which has a direct and major bearing on the programming I air.

The social situation there is different and the radio environment is more relaxed there than here. There is bound to be some difference in the desires of the listeners however I'm specifically targeting the poor and homeless exclusively, while underwritten corporate owned commidified stations are under duress to server a much wider audience, along with the pressures and restrictions mentioned above.

It costs money to play the artists people grew up with due to performance royalties ASCAP/BMI while I have no such concerns.

It also costs money to purchase and maintain the mandated EBS equipment, again which doesn't concern me. Then there's rent, staff, salaries, utilities and other expenses..

All of this subtracts from playing what the poor and homeless actually want to hear. Radio people are experts at pretending the audience wants to hear just what they choose to provide for the reasons they choose or are constrained to provide it - this is the same excuse I get every day from the commercial broadcasters *when I cuss them out on-air* yet listener share belies their deception.

When I talk to people not letting them know who I am/what I do and ask them what stations they like and what they like listening to I get the real story, and the info I get condemns ALL the stations both commercial and non-commercial. In fact they make fun of the non-commercial stations (NPR in particular) for catering to the lowest denominator that the commercial stations have degraded to.

A few college stations try to stand apart but they still are restricted from playing the artists people really want to hear and so resort to indy and world music which other than a tiny minority (generally connected TO the station in question) doesn't interest the listeners.

They want to hear the same music the commercial stations play minus the bullshit, minus the branding, minus the stations jingles between every damn song, minus the promotions, and with non-commercial stations minus the pledge drives.

Only true community stations which are self-supporting can really give them this. Competition for audience share is fierce and the field is full of 'program directors' that think they know what people want WHO REALLY DON'T which is the single largest reason listenership is in decline - because of the disconnect between what radio people operating under agenda THINK listeners want and what they really want.

The fatal mistake radio people make is *they only consider the opinions of people still listening* while ignoring the people who have given up on terrestrial radio entirely and went to portable players and their own music collections. This problem is so acute that terrestrial radio is chasing such people on-line and attempting to acquire these lost listeners by buying on-line services that cater to such listeners, such as spotify, pandora and so on.

MY experience and surveys are completely outside such folly starting with what drove ME to create my own station, then 2 then 3, and starting with these very people with their own personal libraries, not in competition with them but as a complement to their own self-created musical environments. This means free 'cloud' services and unrestricted P2P, where as many people as possible's collections are collected and placed on-line for free access to all. The local internet (wi-fi) version of true community radio, along with access over hidden services which are unencumbered by DMCA and copywrong restrictions and concerns.

Myself the entire library is lossless for perfect sound quality *including streaming on demand* but due to popular pressure I'm now offering MP3 and AAC formats, because almost everyone else's collections are in those formats.

This brings the selection to 36,416 tracks.

THIS is the future of radio.

My model of community commons 'cloud' access is diametrically opposite of them..

free & anonymous - while theirs is pay & spying

what can average folks do to constrain Skynet ???

Our own broadcasts, our own internet, neighbourhood mesh nets. Our own 'cloud' storage. (servers with external large hard drives in the network) Many people do this already for their own personal home entertainment systems - they rip all discs to HD so they're all on-line and ready to play.

Share those libraries, read-only for security if you don't have backups (I have at least 2 copies of everything)