Are Pacifica Stations for Sale?
Explosive Pacifica Radio Memo Raises Storm
Here at CounterPunch (http://www.counterpunch.org) we have always predicted that the end game of Pacifica's national board would the sale of some or all of the 5-station network's assets, worth some $300 million. Such a sale would finally destroy the listener-subscriber basis of this once progressive radio network.
Latest evidence of the Board's bad faith comes in the form of an email, purportedly from Micheal Palmer, a real estate broker in Houston who is treasurer-elect on the governing board. The text of the memo follows. Palmer's email to Pacifica national board chair Mary Frances Berry puts forward a plan to destroy grassroots opposition and raise money to pay for the voracious cash needs of the national superstructure by selling either KPFA, the network's flagship station in the Bay Area, valued at around $70 million, or WBAI in New York, probably worth even more. Thus far Palmer has not responded to CounterPunch's phone messages left at his office, home and cell phone, explaining clearly the reason for our calls.
There are a couple puzzling features in the address panel of the email. Berry's name middle name is incorrectly spelled, though Micheal is the proper spelling of Palmer's first name. How can such an explosive memo be seeing the light of day instead of remaining locked in Mary Frances Berry's safe? The truth is ironic and extraordinary. The IGC internet service provider did a trace and confirms that the email originated at Micheal Palmer's email account. (Click here to read the IGC trace of the email's origins.) But it was sent to the email address of Andrea Buffa, director of the San Francisco Media Alliance and one of the protesters on whom Pacifica manager Lynn Chadwick had conducted a citizen's arrest for demonstrating outside the Pacifica national offices in Berkeley. Buffa was arraigned on July 13 directing the attention of the press to the text of the letter on CounterPunch's website. (Click here to read press release from the Media Alliance.) It seems that Palmer in one of the most momentous Freudian slips in recent memory managed to direct his email to an active opponent of all the schemes being hatched by him and Berry.
The memo shows that a small clique on the national board has been planning all along a strategy which even many people disapproving of the Berry strategy had regarded as inconceivable. Here at CounterPunch we are not in the least surprised. A year ago we were told by an entirely reliable source that the notion of selling one of Pacifica's frequencies has long been debated inside the high command. Four years ago, then Pacifica national director Pat Scott and others were actively lobbying for the sale of WBAI's prized frequency on the New York FM dial, arguing that the proceeds would in part purchase a less valuable frequency and be otherwise invested in projects dear to the board's heart. In sum, the content of Palmer's damning email is well within the bounds of credibility. Its inadvertent release promises to raise the Pacifica battle to a new level and draw in many previous fence sitters in the struggle against Berry and her clique.
Could W just put an end to this charade by disbanding the Commission with an Executive Order? Would that just make things worse?
OK, two questions.