For those of you following the censorship of Community Business on Flashpoints by KPFA and the finances of KPFA and Pacifica Foundation including their tax-exempt status, federal government funding, banking and endowment investments, I thought I would post recent developments.
The person who wrote a letter accusing me of of self-dealing has written a letter retracting his statement and apologizing for — among other things — not knowing my name. See his letter posted near the bottom of comments at Censored.
KPFA management has not returned my calls, so I have not spoken with them. However, I have been informed by Flashpoints staff that KPFA still will not let me return to the show.
My understanding is that Flashpoints may only have academics and not-for-profits to discuss economic issues. Small business people are not permitted to discuss economic matters on the show.
Stay tuned….
Quote: My understanding is that Flashpoints may only have academics and not-for-profits to discuss economic issues
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It appears to me that this ban applies only to Flashpoints and not to KPFA as a whole? If so, then this appears to be a power grab, and an internal power struggle — a google search on Lemlem Rijio — will clearly show her to be a nexus for a great deal of dissension within and without KPFA ranks.
I think this little debacle illustrates an important trend: the radical evolution of our culture away from centralization and greed towards cooperation and sustainability IS NOT taking place in the normal context of left vs. right or business vs. government…it is taking place outside of those arbitrary categories and is being spearheaded by business ventures like Solari along side NGO’s like the the Center For Holistic Ecology. Solid design and models for sustainability like Permaculture and Solari circles are the lowest common denominators as we work towards creating freedom and sustainability. Empowering individuals to take back the reins of their finances is the first step in this evolution from centralized control to decentralize empowerment. This is the function media needs to take if this message is going to spread to a critical mass of people. Perhaps its time to abandon the old public stations in favor of the burgeoning blogosphere and world of dynamic, democratically created content available online in forums like this one.
Sent this message to KPFA today.
Dear KPFA friends,
Today I was shocked to hear that Catherine Austin Fitts was banned from speaking on the KPFA show Flashpoints due to a message from a misguided “listener”.
I’ve been a fan of KPFA for a number of years, and have been interviewed for several of your programs myself. In fact, I’ve met some of you (including Lemlem) as part of a fundraising effort we collaborated on (9/24/06), and consider the station a great resource for our entire nation. That’s why I was so concerned to hear that someone who has inspired me and so many others was treated this way by KPFA.
Please reconsider your decision. One of the biggest problems that we have today is the inability to understand money, and how it works. At one time I was employed for a “not-for-profit” (UL) and I can tell you they are anything but that. And my own efforts at lasting, positive change have led me to understand just how fully dependent on corporate funding our academic communities have become. In contrast, Catherine is one of the few people I’ve heard who might be able to show us how to turn a fundamentally corrupt financial system into a vitally needed community-based wealth system. We really can’t afford to lose her in this effort.
Sincerely, Kevin Ryan
Sent this message to KPFA on July 28th
Hi Dennis,
I first started supporting KPFA after your past spring fund drive. One of the highlights of my listening to your station is the “Community Business” segment with Catherine. In fact, even though money’s tight, I again donated again last Wednesday during the Flashpoints segment, while I was waiting for Catherine’s appearance. I agreed with Dennis that Flashpoints is worth preserving.
I like to think that your temporary exclusion of “Community Business” was due to bad judgment by upper management rather than a Pacifica monetary conflict (i.e., pressure to censor information).
I contribute to KPFA and Flashpoints because I assume it to be one of the last bastions of truly free speech. Now that Peter Byrne has rescinded his allegations, I will be forced to conclude that, unless Catherine is promptly reinstated as a guest and this matter aired publicly, that there is something shady going on in the upper management/funds of KPFA/Pacifica.
Regards
–Darcy Menard
I MUST play devil’s advocate here.
I’m a long term KPFA and Flashpoints listener, but I have never really liked the station’s use of so-called ‘premiums’ to attract listener support.
These premiums come from somewhere. Maybe from the very coporations that KPFA rightly tries to fight the good fight against.
Music CDs, for example, although the immediate donor might be the artist, are still produced (at least some are) by huge corporations; books similarly originate somewhere in corporate-land.
KPFA has also recently taken to thanking volunteers from local businesses who supply food, coffee or whatever. But some of those businesses, thanked by NAME on the air, are chain outlets for major corporations.
I don’t know what Catherine’s ‘premium’ was going to be, but I’m always suspicious of ‘financial advisors, no matter what kind of progressive cap they may be wearing, and I was, quite frankly, very surprised that Dennis, whose anti-corporate credentials are unimpeachable, was featuring such a person on a regular basis on his show.
Nothing personal Catherine, I found your comments enlightening. But I agree with KPFA for being wary.
Rex Flatbush
Rex, I appreciate you speaking up — I think it’s a valid viewpoint that’s worth exploring further.
Here’s why I disagree: Why the reaction against anyone with the title who is “financial advisor” or concern about Catherine’s premium when you don’t even know what it is? Isn’t what Catherine actually says on the air far more relevant than the fact that she calls herself, among other identities, a financial advisor?
If Catherine has said things on the air that have been problematic, by all means, let’s discuss them. She’s been on Flashpoints dozens of times, and not a single complaint has been raised in this discussion/blog about what she says on the air. So what does KPFA have to be wary of?
Ironically, Rex, I think you’re illustrating exactly the point Catherine makes: that we’ve got to start talking honestly and openly about money in this country, if communities are going to take back their power from major corporations. Historically, the political left has gotten squimish about money — that somehow talking about money or thinking about money, or god forbid, making money is inherently bad. So because Catherine talks about money, and once made money on Wall Street, people are uncomfortable with that. They don’t even know why, necessarily, it’s just part of the culture.
Well, I’d say let’s examine that discomfort and listen to what Catherine is actually saying. We — especially those of us on the political left who don’t spend a lot of time hanging out with former Wall Street and Bush-the-father administration types — might learning something from her. Dennis, whose “anti-corporate credentials are impeccable” has clearly done his homework and already figured out that she’s worth listening to. It’s time for Peter Byrne and the management of KPFA to do the same.
Rex:
I agree in the importance of care– all of which I believe can be taken care of with full disclosure, transparency and making sure that alternative views are provided, particularly on sensitive or controversial issues.
Open disclosure and open discussion are healthy. Censorship is not, particularly when KPFA and all of its listeners are being economically devastated by a falling dollar.
NOT TALKING ABOUT IT…and only allowing people who are typically funded by large corporations, defense contractors and the federal government — institutions which benefit from the subsidies received from the drain imposed by a falling dollar as describes most academics and many non-for-profits — is fascism.
Small farms, small business and small investors are the very source of the economic health that creates community and is the bedrock of democratic process. Read the founding fathers. They understood this.
All the best,
Catherine