WASHINGTON – Pacifica Radio has lost $5.5 million since 2005 and has drained its financial reserves, according to Arlene Engelhardt, Executive Director of the Pacifica Foundation. The network’s financial performance is unsustainable, according to Engelhardt, writing in a blog post on Friday.
“Pacifica’s overall listener support dropped 23%–from $13.8 million for fiscal year ending (FYE) September 30, 2006 to $10.6 million for FYE 2010,” she wrote. “KPFA’s listener support dropped 27%–from $4.0 million for FYE 2005 to $2.9 million FYE 2010.”
“KPFA, WBAI (in New York) and WPFW (in Washington, D.C.) have been running seriously in the red,” she continued. “KPFA lost $1.5 million in the four years from FYE 2007 through FYE 2010, while Pacifica as a whole lost $5.5 million.”
The most recent annual audit available on Pacifica’s web site reflects a one-year loss of $1.975 million. Additional detailed financial data are available on the foundation’s most recent federal tax form.
Engelhardt also called for “revitalized” programming at the Pacifica stations in Berkeley, California. But she saved most of her post for a call for relief from acrimonious labor relations and internal disputes at Pacifica stations.
One indicator of the intensity of Pacifica’s internal disputes: When Current magazine reported on Engelhardt’s comments, senior editor Karen Everhart added a note that over the weekend the magazine had received “anonymous comments…some of which included derogatory and personal attacks on Pacifica’s leadership and critics of its labor practices.”
“As with Current’s overarching editorial philosophy,” she continued, “we will not publish remarks that are uncivil, inflammatory or denigrating.”