Bonnie Simmons (photo David Gans)
Bay Area Radio Hall of Famer Bonnie Simmons and other KPFA staff took some time on Thursday to protest the big layoffs KPFA’s owner, the Pacifica Foundation, has planned for the station.
The Berkleyside news service has a summary of the event and the issues, but basically Pacifica’s plan appears to be to pretty much let volunteers do the broadcasting. Long time KPFA literature host Richard Wolinsky thinks that’s a terrible idea, particularly a volunteer Morning Show.
The program “would be inconsistent and would often be unlistenable because of that inconsistency,” Wolinsky warns.
One or two hosts will find audiences; the rest won’t. A so-called unpaid collective handling an hour or more each morning would be an organizational nightmare; a competent individual would have to dedicate not only one early morning a week, but also time for coordination meetings with other hosts and many hours for preparation. How can that be handled with another full-time job? Thus, a live program would be limited to people with flexible hours or trust funds, or retirement income. A recorded program would sound stale. Listeners will be clamoring for their favorite hosts to be aired every day, which couldn’t happen without salaries.
Read the rest of Richard’s article here.
Supporters Join KPFA’s Union Workers and Unpaid Staff in a Rally Against Cuts from John Hamilton on Vimeo.
