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Pacifica Radio Ousts 2nd General Manager

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[video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIrbeRgvxqw]

Bernard White, left, fired as program director of WBAI-FM in New York, charges that the national Pacifica board did not like some of the opinions expressed on the station.

Near-Silence Follows Removal of D.C.’s Ron Pinchback

For the second time since April, the national board of the progressive, feisty and sometimes unruly Pacifica radio chain has fired the general manager of one of its stations. But unlike the outcry that followed the ouster of the management at New York’s WBAI-FM, the departure of Ron Pinchback at Washington’s WPFW-FM has been accompanied by a deafening near-silence.

"Thanks for your interest but I can not offer any comments at this time," Pinchback told Journal-isms via e-mail on Tuesday.

Messages to Grace Aaron, the interim executive director of the parent Pacifica Foundation, were unreturned, as were those to Washington-based members of the national board and Pacifica’s director of human resources. One director promised to have a conversation about the events, but failed to follow up at the appointed time.

By contrast, those ousted at New York’s WBAI have been happy to put forth their point of view, keeping up a steady drumbeat of criticism and imputing racial and ideological motives to the national board.

"The gag rule imposed by Interim Executive Director Grace Aaron has allowed for only a one-sided discussion of developing events at WBAI without any discussion at all about what is occurring across the network," Bernard White, former program director at WBAI, wrote on his group’s Facebook page.

"I spoke to Ron Pinchback former General Manager of WPFW who is still in [shock] over the treatment he received. Grace’s roving hitman, Ahmad Anderson, the Director of Human Resources, gave Mr. Pinchback a letter telling him he was terminated and that he had to leave the building immediately. He then marched him out of the building. Ron Said that he felt like he was being treated like he was a common criminal."

The Pacifica chain, supported by listeners’ contributions and founded¬†by conscientious objectors, just celebrated its 60th anniversary. Its five stations are in New York, Washington, Berkeley, Calif., Los Angeles and Houston.

It is best known for "Democracy Now!" a daily New York-based newsmagazine hosted by Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez, local talk shows and cultural and ethnic programming tailored to various communities. Admirers view it as the antithesis of National Public Radio, which they see as slick and almost corporate.

But the local stations have not always been healthy financially. On April 2, the national board said in a statement: "We have received complaints about programming that may be threatening the financial and legal health of the Pacifica Foundation. Therefore, following legal advice, we are taking preparatory measures to secure our broadcast signals should we need to prevent legal liability as a last resort. These precautionary measures will be taken at all five stations under advice of Counsel."

Soon afterward, White, the WBAI program director, and his station manager, Anthony Riddle, were gone. From the sidelines, they warned that Pinchback might be next.

Then, on June 24, Anderson, of human resources, visited Washington and Pinchback did indeed exit. Listeners to the "Community Comment" call-in show that Pinchback hosted Friday mornings told his replacement they were sorry to see Pinchback go.

He had been general manager since 2006 and was in the job on an interim basis for 18 months before that. "During his tenure, the station posted record fund-drives and its highest audience, breaking into the Top 30 public radio stations in the country," an announcement said at the time.

A Pacifica news release from Aaron dated June 18 announced "the appointment of Grigsby Hubbard as interim General Manager of WPFW effective immediately." Aaron thanked Pinchback "for his years of service and commitment to WPFW and Pacifica."

"Did you know that since the Steve Brown/Grace Aaron faction took control of the network, Armando Gudino, Program Director at the Los Angeles station KPFK, Jerry Quickley the host of ‘Beneath The Surface,’ Fernando Velasquez the host of ‘Informativo,’ Lonnie Hicks, the Chief Financial Officer of the Pacifica National Foundation, WBAI Station Manager Anthony Riddle and WBAI Program Director Bernard White, and Ron Pinchback, WPFW Station Manager were all fired? Of the seven people who were terminated, all were either Black or Latino," reads a "Fact Sheet" on the Web site takebackwbai.org.

"The body count is mounting," White wrote. "I believe that the General Manager of KPFA, Lem Lem, will be the next on the casualty list. Needless to say she is a black woman. Is the picture getting clearer now or is Bernard just ‘playing the race card’ or can you see the clear pattern that is emerging from their practice. This cabal has been able to obfuscate their bigotry by temporarily, in violation of established hiring procedures, hiring people of color as replacements. How high does the body count have to get before you react? Is this want you want to support?"

On Facebook, Richard Phelps, who identified himself as former chair of the local station board at KPFA, disagreed, "A couple of elections ago when the sign up period" to run for the local station board "was over at WPFW they had very few candidates," Phelps asserted. "WHY? Because the GM, Ron Pinchback, didn’t put anything on the air to encourage people to become candidates. He has always done his best to undermine the democratic process, just like the previous GMs at WBAI and the current one at KPFA.

"If we want a healthy and progressive Pacifica we must not allow the colluders back into power." Another reader said Phelps had it wrong.

Meanwhile, John Tarleton wrote¬†June 5 in the Indypendent, publication of the New York Independent Media Center that, "When LaVarn Williams was installed as WBAI-99.5 FM’s acting general manager May 7, she took over a community radio station reeling from more than $1.1 million in debt and seemingly exhausted by years of mismanagement and factional infighting. Four weeks later, Williams was ebullient after the station’s spring fund drive surpassed all expectations."

Gannett to Cut 1,400 Jobs, Mostly by Next Week

“Newspaper publisher Gannett Co. plans to cut 1,400 jobs in the next few weeks, about 3 percent of the work force, as it faces a prolonged slump in advertising revenue,” Andrew Vanacore reported Wednesday for the Associated Press.

“Bob Dickey, head of the company’s U.S. community publishing division, informed staff of the layoffs in a letter Wednesday. He told employees that “there have been some promising signs of a recovery, but the reality is the improvements are not broad-based and the economy continues to be fragile.”

“The majority of layoffs will come by July 9, he said.

“The move follows a 10 percent cut at Gannett in 2008, which left the company with about 41,500 employees.

“Gannett publishes USA Today, the largest newspaper by circulation in the U.S., along with dozens of other newspapers.” USA Today is not in the community publishing division.

Coup in Honduras Said to Bode Ill for Media

“Reporters Without Borders fears that the hostility of those who staged the coup against President Manuel Zelaya on 28 June and Zelaya‚Äôs announced return could further aggravate the press freedom situation,” the press advocacy organization said on Wednesday.

“The military‚Äôs already significant level of censorship of the international media and national media that oppose the coup has been compounded by the excesses of the media that back it.

‚Äú’We fear more news blackouts will be imposed on part of the press for the sole reason that it used the term ‚Äòcoup d‚Äô?©tat‚Äô in the first few hours after President Zelaya‚Äôs removal,’ Reporters Without Borders said. ‘The de facto government‚Äôs promise to arrest Zelaya on his return could also trap those media that plan to cover his return.’

“Deposed by the army on 28 June and flown to Costa Rica, Honduras‚Äô democratically-elected president had originally planned to return to Honduras tomorrow accompanied by other Latin American presidents such as Cristina Fern?°ndez of Argentina and Rafael Correa of Ecuador.

“But Zelaya postponed his return after the new Honduran authorities threatened to arrest him and the Organisation of American States today gave them 72 hours to restore Zelaya to office. The de facto government has meanwhile extended the curfew by a week, which severely limits the media‚Äôs ability to cover developments.”

For $74.99, the Philadelphia Daily News is offering a limited edition signed print of this tribute to Michael Jackson by its editorial cartoonist Signe Wilkinson.

Too Much Jackson Coverage? Whites, Blacks Disagree

Blacks followed the death last week of pop superstar Michael Jackson ‚Äî who had been on the national stage for four decades ‚Äî more closely than the population as a whole, the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press said on Wednesday.

“Eight-in-ten African Americans say they followed news about Jackson‚Äôs death very closely, compared with 22% of whites. Women followed the story more closely than men (35% very closely compared with 26%). Close to four-in-ten (38%) of those under 40 say they followed the music icon‚Äôs death very closely, compared with 27% of those between 40 and 64 and 20% of those 65 and older.

“Nearly two-in-three Americans say news organizations gave too much coverage to the story. At the same time, half say the media struck the right balance between reporting on Jackson‚Äôs musical legacy and the problems in his personal life.

“When asked about the content of the coverage, 26% say the media focused too much on the scandals and personal problems in the life of the self-proclaimed ‘King of Pop’; 11% say the coverage focused too much on Jackson‚Äôs successful musical career.

“More than half of African Americans (54%) say the amount of coverage has been about right, compared with 25% of whites. Seven-in-ten whites say there has been too much coverage, compared with 36% of blacks.

“About half of African Americans (47%) also say that the coverage has focused too much on the scandals and personal problems in Jackson‚Äôs life, compared with 22% of whites.”

Meanwhile, “Entertainment industry bible Entertainment Weekly is honoring Jackson with four separate covers featuring Jackson at home in 1972, on the set of the Thriller video, in a portrait taken in 1983 and performing in NYC on Sept. 10, 2001,” Amanda Ernst of MediaBistro’s Fishbowl NY reported. “People magazine also has Jackson on the cover of its latest issue ‚Äî a special double issue. If you flip the issue over, the back cover also features Jackson and opens to a 27-page tribute section. The magazine is putting out two versions of the back cover and has increased its print run to meet anticipated demand for the special issue.

“People magazine’s editors are also producing a hardcover tribute book about Jackson and his life, due out July 10. You can preorder on Amazon.com now, though.”

BET Awards Show Was Cable’s Most Watched of Year

“The BET Awards, which turned into a tribute to Michael Jackson on Sunday night, drew 10.7 million viewers to rank as the most-watched program on a cable network this year,” David Bauder reported Wednesday for the Associated Press.

“It narrowly beat out last week’s divorce episode of TLC’s ‘Jon & Kate Plus 8,’ which had 10.6 million viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research.

“Perhaps more starkly than ever before, last week’s Nielsen ratings show how the distinction between broadcast and cable TV is crumbling. The BET Awards and ‘Jon & Kate Plus 8’ each had larger audiences than all but two primetime programs on broadcast television last week.

“The audience for the BET Awards was easily the biggest in the history of the event, which began in 2001. It has reached as many as 6.6 million viewers in 2006.”

While Sunday’s show was a ratings success, bloggers, tweeters and e-mailing members of the Sports Task Force of the National Association of Black Journalists blasted the show, which had been quickly retooled after Jackson’s death on Thursday, as uneven and embarrassing.

Detroit talk-show host Angelo Henderson, a candidate for president of NABJ, wrote this on his Facebook page: “This post came from Alicia Nails in Detroit from the Jack & Jill Politics Blog: ‘I wish that BET had died and Michael Jackson was doing a tribute to them instead’. I second that!”

Blacks See Race Relations as Same Under Obama

"African-Americans really like President Obama, but more and more feel that race relations have not gotten better since he took office, a new national poll found," CNN reported last week.

"Ninety-six percent of African-Americans approve of how Obama is handling his presidency, according to a CNN/Essence Magazine/Opinion Research Corp. poll released Thursday.

During the 2008 election, 38 percent of blacks surveyed thought racial discrimination was a serious problem. In the new survey, 55 percent of blacks surveyed believed it was a serious problem, which is about the same level as it was in 2000.

The poll was conducted May 16-18, in telephone interviews with 505 African-Americans and 501 whites. The network is promoting "’Black in America 2’" to air July 22 and 23.

Veteran pollsters Ron Lester and Frank Luntz discussed¬†the findings Wednesday on National Public Radio’s "Tell Me More."

Meanwhile, CNN announced two additions to its "Black in America 2" Web site.

challenging issues facing African-Americans with "Black in America 2."

"The first is a community section where members can weigh-in on questions posed by CNN anchor and special correspondent Soledad O‚ÄôBrien, such as, ‘What was Michael Jackson‚Äôs biggest contribution to pop culture?’ among others pertaining to culture, politics and the economy. . . . These topics can be found at www.cnn.com/blackinamerica/community.¬†

"The second is an interactive map, ‘Black in America: Journeys,’ which traces the migrations of African-Americans from 1790 through 2007 in the United States . The map uses population and migration numbers, leading scholar research and iReports to piece together personal family journeys by tracing their roots in words and pictures. This feature is available at www.CNN.com/blackinamerica/journeys"

Sandinistas Consider Press "Children of Goebbels"

Nicaragua’s President Daniel Ortega and his wife, Rosario Murillo, a virtual prime minister who serves as Nicaragua‚Äôs communications czar, "have defined private news media as direct political challengers and have sought to marginalize their influence," Carlos Laur??a and Joel Simon reported Wednesday for the Committee to Protect Journalists.

"The first rule is to ignore the private media, which Ortega and Murillo have variously described as CIA-funded and controlled by an elite class derisively termed the oligarchy. To ensure that the Ortega administration‚Äôs views reach the public ‘uncontaminated’ by critical media, government officials maintain contact with only a handful of pro-government outlets controlled by the president‚Äôs family or party. Even with those outlets, Ortega does not grant interviews, relying instead on sympathetic journalists to publish his prepared statements and cover his public events.

"Critical journalists, on the other hand, face legal harassment and attacks on their character; Ortega has described them as ‘children of Goebbels,’" a reference to Hitler aide Paul Joseph Goebbels, "and enemies of the Nicaraguan people. The official media has followed up with smear campaigns intended to discredit independent reporters.

"Latin American leaders across the political spectrum, from Venezuela‚Äôs Hugo Ch?°vez to Colombia‚Äôs Alvaro Uribe, have pursued similar media strategies. But the degree to which Ortega has sought to insulate himself from public scrutiny is unusual in the region. His policies have threatened institutions that serve as a check on power and have jeopardized foreign aid important to the country‚Äôs economic well-being."

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