Following former Pacifica National board member Carol Spooner’s commentary on what’s going on at KPFA, station programmer Brian Edwards-Tiekert contacted me, asking that I publish his perspective on the station. Edwards-Tiekert is a former staff representative to the KPFA Local Station Board, and was the co-host of KPFA’s Morning Show until Pacifica Executive Director Arlene […]
Archive | Noncommercial Radio
Harold Camping Explains that Judgment Day was Spiritual
When Harold Camping concluded his call-in talk show “Open Forum” on Thursday, May 19, 2011, he said goodbye to his listeners as he anticipated that he would be whisked away in the Rapture on Saturday, May 21. On the program he said that he planned to spend Friday and Saturday with his family as he […]
Harold Camping to Issue Statement Today on Non-Rapture
I’ve been listening to Family Radio pretty much non-stop since I first heard Harold Camping emanating from my car’s speakers a few weeks back. Although I personally didn’t buy into his May 21 Rapture prediction, I’ve become obsessed with it, especially after visiting Family Radio HQ on May 12. As it drew closer to May […]
What’s the problem at KPFA? by Carol Spooner
At the request of KPFA programmer Peter Phillips, I am posting this public statement by Carol Spooner, former Pacifica National Board member. It offers Spooner’s assessment of why layoffs were necessary at KPFA. I am not sure whether Spooner will approve of this posting. In a separate statement, she has accused me of “Glenbeckian” distortions […]
Chicago’s Latino community radio station Radio Arte up for sale
In a scenario that’s becoming too familiar to Radio Survivor readers, the Chicago-based Latino community radio station Radio Arte is now up for sale by its parent organization, the National Museum of Mexican Art. In fiscal year 2009 the museum reported a deficit of $677,121, and according to President Carlos Tortolero the museum has been […]
WTF? Marc Maron’s podcast coming to public radio
You know public radio is truly keeping with the times when a podcast named What the F*ck gets repurposed for a 10-episode run syndicated by the Public Radio Exchange. I wrote about WTF, as it is more commonly known, back in March because it’s become my favorite podcasts, in part because host/creator Marc Maron is […]
Behind the Scenes at Family Radio as May 21st Judgment Day Approaches
When I visited Family Radio’s headquarters last Thursday, May 12, 2011, I was not only interested in President and General Manager Harold Camping’s thoughts about Judgment Day; but I also had a lot of questions about the inner-workings of the Christian radio network. Obviously Family Radio has attracted worldwide attention and media interest for Camping’s […]
Family Radio Counts Down to Judgment Day on May 21
A few weekends ago while on a road trip to Santa Barbara, I scanned the left side of the radio dial for interesting college radio stations. After I lost all trace of college radio, somewhere around Santa Maria, I happened upon the show “Open Forum” on Family Radio. Pretty quickly I became riveted by the […]
Did NPR go off the deep end over Yellowstone Park’s bears?
NPR is wondering out loud about an interview suggesting that climate change may be depleting the natural food supply for bears at Yellowstone National Park, causing them to attack and kill people. Global warming is reducing the production of fish and pine nuts, thus prompting hungry bears to assault several campers last year. That was […]
Prometheus Radio Spreads the Word about LPFM with Radio Summer
This summer there will be plenty of opportunities to not only learn about how to build your own radio station (see Paul’s post about Free Radio Berkeley’s “Build Your Own Radio Station” summer camp), but there will also be events focused on spreading the word about low power FM (LPFM) and upcoming opportunities for those […]