The Pacifica network of radio stations was once a beacon of left-wing new, views, discussion, with lots of good music too. Now it’s primarily conspiracy theory garbage, medical quacks, and the mentally unbalanced beaming in from Arcturus to bless listeners with their wisdom. Pacifica is also a petri dish of deranged, vicious, nasty internal politics. Outsiders might think this chaos is due to an outside right-wing plot. It’s not. It’s entirely homegrown. The lunatics took over the asylum and have destroyed it.
I volunteered for KPFK when living in L.A. and have listened to Ian Masters and Sonali Kolhatkar many times. They are among the few sane people left.
Ian Masters and Sonali Kolhatkar, hosts of the Los Angeles-based KPFK, said its parent network Pacifica Radio, the country’s oldest public radio network, was putting pressure on staff to reduce their hours and pay, leave or work for free, alienating listeners and approaching a point of no return.
“This is the end. They’re running out of road,” Masters told the Guardian. He accused managers and board members of promoting conspiracy theories – including those related to the “truth” about 9/11 and claims about cancer and HIV. “They’ve run this place into the ground.”
Consensus doesn’t work once a group in more than about 20 people and can easily be gamed by those wishing to control things.
Kolhatkar, who executive-produces and hosts her daily show, said the “fantasy” of utopian, democratic decision-making was killing the network. “We are reaching the point of death by democracy.”