Let's try that again with better formatting...

A Critical Look at the KPFK Emergency Summer Fund Drive

Members of KPFK staff put together an analysis of the summer emergency fund drive that took place from 20th to 23rd August. The context of the fund drive was that Esther Manilla, KPFK staff member, coordinator of past two record-breaking fund drives, was put on a 2 week administrative leave days before the fund drive. Three people were brought in to coordinate the fund drive: Corey Dubin (current interim Program Director), Lynn Gehry, Fernando Velasquez. The importance of raising enough funds was emphasized in this emergency summer drive. With the exception of the drive time programming, most regular programming was pre-empted for new programming.

The purpose of the analysis is to learn constructive lessons for future fund drives because of KPFK and Pacifica’s financial fragility. Since the analysis was first presented at a staff meeting on August 28th, staff have not been allowed the opportunity to discuss results with the management. As a result, we are sharing them with the listening community.

The results of the analysis are as follows:

Total funds raised: $295,561

Funds raised during drive time (Democracy Now, Morning Show, Beneath the Surface, Daily Review): $154,179

Funds raised during non-drive time afternoons (10 am to 4 pm): $60,369

As mentioned above, most non-drive time programming was pre-empted for new programming. Hence, a break down of funds raised n these hours is instructive:

Between the hours of 10 am and 4 pm:

16 hours of new programming raised $29,609 (= $1850/hour)

8 hours of regular programming raised $30,760 (= $3845/hour).

Conclusion: new programming raised a little less than half the dollars per hour as regular programming.

Note: These numbers are based on an hour by hour log of funds raised during the fund drive available at KPFK. There may be slight numerical disparities due to record keeping errors. But we do not believe this significantly changes the results. Exact figures can be verified through KPFK Subscriptions Department.

Could you provide a list of "new" vs "regular" programs?

Thanks!

While i personally can't stand the extreme amount of nasal/whiney liberal voices on the station, the quality of programming shouldn't be directly related to numbers.

It's not a surprise that new shows wouldn't generate the same amount of $$ as regular shows precisely because they are new.

KPFK needs more anarchist points of views anyways, especially those with class politics. Is it a requirement to talk through your nose to get a show there? Or does it just require smug attitudes with red connections?

outsider

Yes but people were told that the new programming was supposed to be to raise more money because of the financial emergency. There is no doubt that the integrity of programming should not be measured by the amount of money raised. But if money was the issue here, and we were told it was, then they would have clearly done better if they had left regular programming alone.

>KPFK needs more anarchist points of views >anyways, especially those with class politics. Is it a >requirement to talk through your nose to get a show >there? Or does it just require smug attitudes with red >connections?

No - all you need is to be over the age of 50, have worked at KPFK at least 30 years ago, be able to talk about "the good old days" with conviction, and submit a proposal to the General Manager and Program Director.

Boring, boring, boring. Between crap like this and all that dirty laundry they now are on KPFK it's getting so I'm hearing less and less real news and real radio. Who cares this crappy accounting non-sense.

Could anyone elaborate on what programming was presented ? IWe need more detail than accountability. What public affairs lectures were presented ? The vast majority of KPFK's programming is total devoid avoid political content. This has driven most if not all of its core listenership away from the station. Altering program content for a fund drive will no longer yield the financial reward it once did.

There's lot's of great programming on kpfk, covering all kinds of different viewpoints.

The dirty laundry issues all came from an almost successful takeover of what is arguably the most valuable radio station permit in the world, as kpfk has the most powerful radio signal allowed by law in the nation, it is a ripe plum ready to be plucked by whatever corporation could manage it, and it almost was!

There are still a lot of issues to be resolved, and finally the station is allowed to mention them on air, they were being censored before, not now. Which is good.

The emergency was another aspect of the takeover attempt, another skirmish... all this info is available elsewhere.

If you don't hear hard news on kpfk, you aren't listening.

It used to be, you had to be a paid subscriber to know what's on, now you can find out on kpfk.org, as well as contact info on a myriad of issues.

Pacifica maintains the world's largest audio archive of progressive programs, dating back for decades, and it is all available to the public.

Programmers are not all over 50, but of course many are, since kpfk doesn't pimp to the idea that progressive politics only comes from the young.

There is music from every genre, prerecorded, live, old, new...

If you want a taste of my favorite shows:

Something's Happening midnight to 6 am Monday through Thursday... one of my favorites for decades, has been around so long only because of it's amazing following, as it presents points of view that some people consider to be dangerous, even pacifica 'insiders' , but it consistently draws contributions from listeners, and hey, if it didn't cost money to run a station, they wouldn't need to ask for it.

KPFK isn't owned by AOL/Time/Warner... if it was, I doubt that I would have ever heard of indymedia.org.

Like hip-hop music? No, gangsta rap, not corporate pap, not what you'll hear on commercial stations, but real live, issue-driven music with heart? Try Divine Forces Radio (formerly Seditious Beats).

Are you gay - or better yet, are you opposed to repression based on sexuality? Try IMRU.

If you have an issue with KPFK or their programming or anything else, call them at 818-985-5735... a real person will give you real answers, or tell you where to get them.

If you don't like to listen to KPFK, then just twist the knob, you can easily find dozens of other stations that aren't like kpfk at all....

The complaints leveled at KPFK. Turning the argument against those raising the grievance was a tactice used by several administrations to dismiss very real complaints.

I know from whence I speak. I was a volunteer at KPFK for 5 years. I have listened to 3 Pacifica Stations for 25 years and have answered phones during fund drives fro 3 Pacifica Stations (KPFK, KPFA and WBAI)

The changes at KPFK over the last15 years is stark. Both the quality and qunatity of News and Public Affairs coverage has dropped to almost nonexistant. The volunteer staff were given the bums rush. Radical Programming and Programmers were completely purged. That's completely as in 100%. Trust between the stations and most of the communities it serves broken.

I am aware of the precarious situation Pacifica is in right now. But we are coming up on the 1 year anniversary of the Berry board resignation and the new board has made only cursory attempts at mending faces with programmers and communities that were treated with contempt.

Corey Dubin is an excellent PD with solid credentials but the fact remains that he is only an interim PD that has virtually no resources to work with. He has been asked to sweep out the stables without some much as a broom.

is KFI the only sumwhat balanced talk format?

many listeners to NPR and KPFK state they appreciate the balanced or objective reporting/discussion on these stations...

has either station ever been balanced?objective?rarely ,but balanced come on, about as balanced to left as you can stomach...in their eyes the U.S. can do NOTHING right.

you have to wonder are they really listening?

The article accurately describes LAST YEAR'S summer fund drive.

All of these people were there last year, not this year.

This year's summer mini-drive grossed $254,413, lower than last year's $295,561quoted in the article.

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