Pacifica asks judge for TRO to remove Reese from its office

 

PRESS RELEASE

New Interim Executive Director, Bernard Duncan
Pacifica Foundation Radio has just appointed Bernard Duncan to serve as the network’s Interim Executive Director while a search is underway for a permanent replacement.

Duncan has managed Pacifica Station KPFK in Los Angeles for the past three years. Prior to that, he worked in radio and television broadcasting for 20 years in his native New Zealand, first as an on-air presenter and news anchor, then as a Program Director, then a Network Manager. He went on to spend 8 years in management positions at NZ On Air – the New Zealand funding agency that does similar work to the US’s Corporation for Public Broadcasting. For two years, he served as NZ On Air’s Acting Chief Executive, where he managed a budget of a more than $100 million.

“Bernard Duncan knows his way around this organization, cares about Pacifica’s Mission, and he’s worked everywhere from behind a microphone to inside the executive offices”, said Margy Wilkinson, Chair of the Pacifica National Board.”What Pacifica needs right now is a skilled manager who can hit the ground running, and I’m very pleased Bernard’s taken us on.”

From SaveKPFA: Moving forward: new executive director for Pacifica

 

Hi All,

WPFW will hold a Town Hall Meeting to get community in-put on hiring a Permanent General Manager and Permanent Program Director.  What skills and experience are required to fill those positions?  Well the Local Station Board (LSB) would like to hear from you.  The Town Hall will be held on Wednesday, April 9th at the Guildfield Baptist Church located at 1023 Otis Street, NE, DC 20017 (located near the Brookland Metro Station).  The Community is invited to begin speaking at 6:00 p.m.  Please come out to Save Our Station.

Now, I am currently reading Stokely: A Life by Peniel Joseph.  For someone who was not there, it appears to give the facts.  The part I am impressed with is the one that says, from 19 years old to 25 years old, Stokely spent every summer in Mississippi even though he knew there was a possibility of his being killed.  He knew Chaney, Goodman and Schwerner, Jon Daniels, Sammy Younge, Jr. and others who died.  But he kept going back.

Can we in Washington DC who do not face dogs and guns come out and unite to Save Our Station?  It is a worthy struggle and it would be good to see you at Guildfield on Wednesday.

Long-overdue changes at Pacifica give hope for network’s renewal

Late last week, the Pacifica National Board (PNB), the governing body of the nonprofit that owns KPFA, voted to end the employment of then-interim executive director Summer Reese.

Because the board did not immediately appoint a new interim executive director, the person in charge this week has been, per California law, the new PNB board chair, Margy Wilkinson. 

Margy served as KPFA’s Local Station Board chair before becoming a Pacifica board member. She has a long history as a labor, civil rights and anti-war activist, serving on the City of Berkeley’s Labor Commission, and as the chief rank-and-file bargainer for a union representing University of California employees. Wilkinson was elected to chair the Pacifica board last month, after new delegates took their seats and began setting a new direction for Pacifica.

Wilkinson reports that the managers of the five stations Pacifica owns are working with her to straighten out the network’s difficulty getting funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting — something that festered for over a year under Reese, delaying nearly $1 million in payments.

To Read More click here

PNB dismisses interim ED

In a short announcement posted March 13, the Pacifica National Board (PNB) reports that it has ended the employment of controversial interim executive director Summer Reese. New board chair Margy Wilkinson sent this longer message to the network’s general managers explaining the change, asking that it be forwarded to staff. She confirms that an new interim executive director will be in place soon.

Wilkinson was elected Pacifica chair last month after new delegates from each local station took their seats on the PNB, following annual elections from the five Pacifica local station boards. The memo also notes that the national board is turning its attention to urgent needs in the network’s infrastructure, and that a report Pacifica is required to make for continued funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) was submitted on time this year. Last year, the CPB withheld its funding to Pacifica due to “shortcomings in its accounting and operations,” according to the online magazine of public broadcasting, Current.

.  .  .  READ MORE at SaveKPFA Newsletter

For more news from Berkley go to the SaveKPFA website here.