From: Edward Taylor

In the wake of the changes in Pacifica both now and earlier the problem of making fair and impartial decisions on contending program ideas and philosophies has become crucial. Thus I believe a formal appeals proceedure must be written into Pacifica bylaws so that everyone knows the rules and has the right of appeal. Thus I propose the below listed plan.

Edward Taylor Jan 28, 2002

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A PROGRAMMING APPEALS SYSTEM FOR PACIFICA

Since KPFK management and Pacifica Radio will be called on to make many qualitative decisions on which points of view to air among the many points of view that reside in the Progressive and Radical Left Communities there needs to be a clearly delineated tiered review system in place to process and review appeals of local management's and Local Advisory Board's decisions on program quality, relevance, content and slant. This system will only be used to decide content matters, not personnel matters.

I propose that a tiered appeals system on Program Selection be set up to resolve conflicts between programming proposals that are in competition for scarce airtime on Pacifica stations. This tiered appeals system will start with the decision of the station manager.

If a contending party is not satisfied with the manager's decision he/she can appeal to the next level, the Local Advisory Board. To do that the contender must get one supporter (champion) on the Local Advisory Board to requst that the board sit in hearing on the matter. After that is done the LAB calls for a hearing where all contending parties and the station manager present written statements on the subject. The board as a whole hears arguements and votes on the matter. It shall take a two-thirds majority of the board to override a station manager's decision. If the manager made no decision only a simple majority is necessary.

If a contending party is still not satisfied he/she has the right to call for a Pacifica Manager's/LAB Rep's review. Now the contender must get either one of the 4 Non-Local Pacifica Station Managers or one member of the Pacifica National Board to support (champion) his/her cause. Then 4 Managers (the local manager not voting) and 5 LAB national reps sit together to read the written staments, hear the case and render their decision. A two-thirds vote will then override the decision of the LAB.

Finally, a contender has the right to call for a National Board Review of the matter. Then the full National Board takes up the matter and votes. Here a three-fourth's vote is needed for override.

PUBLIC INPUT

At each stage of the review process either of the contenders or one of the review committee can call for public input on the matter. For shows that the public has already had some exposure to and presumably has a position on this public input shall be mandatory. The public shall be given input by mail, by E-Mail, and by voice on the date of the hearing. Each contender shall have a position paper available for public reading and the station shall provide air time for public notice upon request by either contender.

If this review proceedure is placed in the national bylaws all persons proposing and conduction shows on Pacifica will see a formal, defined proceedure for adjudicating programming conflicts.

Edward Taylor
Jan 26, 2002