KPFK
Little more than a month ago, the future of
KPFK (FM 90. 7), the nation's oldest listener-supported radio station,
looked bleak. Members of Congress were condemning Pacifica Radio,
KPFK's parent organization, prompting the House of Representatives
to reduce the Corporation for Public Broadcasting's funding. Print
commentators were attacking KPFK's programming, and conservative activist
David Horowitz was heightening his campaign against the station. Listenership
was declining, and the station was under intense financial, legal,
and political pressure.
At the center of the maelstrom were two provocative Afrocentric programs,
Family Tree and Freedom Now. For years, the shows had been criticized
for broadcasting inflammatory racial slurs targeted particularly at
Jews and generally at whites, yet they continued to air. But in July,
KPFK, besieged from all sides, finally pulled the plug on the controversial
programs, thus easing the crisis and signaling a marked departure
from the station's stubborn tolerance of racial confrontation.
The change in policy started last fall, when Clifford Roberts, a 30-year
veteran of public broadcasting, became the first minority general
manager of KPFK and was given a clear mandate to overhaul the troubled
station. Roberts, an African-American activist and award-winning journalist,
began his campaign with a memo on October 20 that emphasized the legal
need for "responsible language" and warned against "volatile
incendiary words [which] are loaded with connotations that are emotionally
destructive to all people. " Among the words he specified were
"racist, " "bigot, " and "sexist. "
The message, designed to defuse a ticking time bomb and reduce staff
tensions, apparently did not sink in. On January 6, 1994, an edition
of Family Tree included the statements that "organized Jewry
has targeted the black population" and "all two or three
hundred million Africans who died in the slave trade died because
of Jews. "
The civil war escalated within the station over these and other such
assertions made on the two programs. Then, on May 14, Pacifica's board
of directors passed a resolution stating that "Racist, homophobic,
sexist, anti-Semitic, and misogynistic programming has no place in
Pacifica and shall be grounds for the summary removal of a programmer.
"
Nevertheless, the hosts and producers of Family Tree and Freedom Now
continued their diatribes against other ethnic groups. What was perhaps
the critical moment came on June 28, when the House, noting KPFK's
"racist, " "anti-Semitic, " and "hateful"
programming, voted to slash a million dollars from the budget of the
Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Summing up the reasons behind his colleagues' decision, Rep. Joel
Hefley (R-Colo. ) said, "Taxpayer-subsidized Pacifica has shown
a Clearing The Air The Battle for KPFK's Soul
BY ERIC H. ROTH
"We are focusing on our original mission
of promoting cultural diversity, freedom of the press, and a forum
for often overlooked points of view"
- KPFK General Manager Clifford Roberts federal monies. KPFK, whose
audience is estimated at 180, 000 listeners, gets approximately 20
percent of its funds from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting;
the re–mainder comes from listeners.
The vote also threw a harsh media light on KPFK and the two disputed
programs. Originally founded in 1946 to "contribute to a lasting
understanding between nations and between the individuals of all nations,
races, creeds, and colors, " the station found itself in a
distinctly uncomfortable position. KPFK executives were not amused
by accusations of hateful programming against a progressive station
that defended the basic civil rights of minorities when schools were
segregated and lynchings were still occurring in the South.
Within two weeks, Roberts announced that both the programs were being
taken off the air and that four veteran volunteer producers who had
worked on the shows had been banned from the station. "KPFK will
not tolerate programming or programmers who violate our policy of
fairness, justice, and respect for others, " said Roberts. He
noted that the offensive programs posed a danger to the station's
operating license, while pledging to broadcast other African-American
programs aimed at encouraging dialogue rather than discord.
Still, station officials resist linking the funding cut with their
decision to terminate the programs. "This was the conclusion
of a long process, " says Roberts.
"consistent pattern of hate programming that I don't believe
any member can justify paying for with our tax dollars. "
The ramifications of this decision were
severe for the Pacifica Network (consisting of five radio stations
and some 100 affiliate stations), which receives approximately a
million dollars annually in "KPFK listeners would be opposed
to taxpayers supporting Pat Robertson and the religious right's
agenda. I'm opposed to taxpayers supporting KPFK and their liberal-left
agenda. "
—Conservative activist David Horowitz
"There was not any one incident or event.
My responsibility is to protect the station's interests. " Further,
KPFK officials believe that the charges of anti-Semitism are a cover
for conservatives who are opposed to the station's progressive programming
and want to limit the public debate on social conditions. A case in
point is Horowitz, a former '60s radical who now runs the conservative
Center for the Study of Popular Culture and hosts the radio show Second
Thoughts on KCRW. Horowitz's campaign against KPFK was triggered in
February 1992 by the station's
broadcast of "Afrikan Mental Liberation Weekend. " "I
was riding on
the 405 and tuned in to KPFK, [where] Louis Farrakhan [was] giving
a mesmerizing speech with the constant refrain 'Death is a horse with
a pale rider, " remembers Horowitz. "The whole weekend was
incredibly racist" In response, Horowitz and the Anti-Defamation
League filed complaints with the FCC and the Corporation for Public
Broadcasting. Horowitz acknowledges that his opposition to the station
goes beyond the canceled programs. "KPFK listeners would be opposed
to taxpayers supporting Pat Robertson and the religious right's! agenda,
" he notes.
"I'm opposed to taxpayers supporting KPFK and their liberal-left
agenda. " Horowitz claims that "the letter and the spirit"
of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting's guidelines prohibit partisan
viewpoints and mandate balance and fairness in all programs.
"We are totally independent, " responds Roberts. "We
don't have programs sponsored by Mobil, Sears, or Gulf. Nobody, not
even
the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, can control us. We don't
want to lose 20 percent of our funding. But if we have to do that
to continue our investigative journalism, we will. We were the only
network that provided complete coverage of the Iran-Contra scandal.
We are focusing on our original mission of promoting cultural diversity,
freedom of the press, and a forum for often overlooked points of view.
"
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