Coinciding with the 40th anniversary of a certain Argentine’s death, KPFK, Pacifica Radio, So Cal’s radio station for the “people”, eh hmm, is having a pledge drive. A popular daytime show, appropriately named Uprising; Subverting the Airwaves, is offering the following thank you gifts to their loyal donating listeners:
For $85, they will send you the DVD, Che: Rise and Fall, a $100 donation will get you a book, Cuba by Korda, and for a pledge of $160, you will receive the 40th Anniversary Pack, which includes both the book and the DVD. Oh boy.
The programmers have blogs, posting on important surreal topics such as, The Various Meanings of Ortega’s Triumph; Pinochet is not Being Fully Discredited; and Cuban Hip Hop: By Any Means Necessary; featuring guest Sujatha Fernandes, Assistant Professor of Sociology at Queens College, City University of New York, and author of Cuba Represent: Cuban Arts, State Power and the making of New Revolutionary Cultures.
Honestly, I believe that radio programmers have the right to air what ever they want. What I object to is the use of public funds for such obviously biased anti-American propaganda. Also, I cannot help but wonder; if the demorats manage to re-instate the Fairness Doctrine, will future such programming include a list of che’s victims?
4 thoughts on “Public funds hard at work on the left coast”
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Before dismissing all contents of this program, Fernandes’ book is actually far from simplistic left-wing propaganda. It carefully examines Cuba’s artworld in the 90s, a scene that produced some fascinating but underreported instances of defiance and social commentary against the regime. While the government has of course been successful at co-opting many artists, others, especially rap musicians, were and continue to be impressively strident in their critiques of daily injustices on the island.
Or, just see East of Havana. Despite the controversy around producer Charlize Theron’s statements in the press about Cuba, the film tells an incredibly moving story of youthful defiance through rap. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting a few of the stars, two of whom are now in the U.S. They are wonderful examples of the unique individuality in each one of us that Cuba’s government can never fully repress and which Fernandes describes so well in her book.
Busta listen to the show, it´s a che love fest, totally overshadowing any negative words buried in the book.
oh, i’m sure it is. it’s just very sad because that one book is actually quite sophisticated and interesting…
Chispa- You are wrong, they do receive public funds. Both directly to KPFK, and you have to keep in mind that public radio stations share programs/cost.
Here are the figures for both KPFK and CA public radio CPB/Government funding from CPB’s Annual reports for the past two years.
2005
KPFK $397,154 CA $9,125,732
2006
373,204 KPFK CA $10,299,186
That totals $19,424,918.00 just for California stations which includes KPFK. The national number is huge, and KPFK gets their fair share of that pie through shared programs etc.
If you’d like to see for yourself, here’s the link:
http://www.cpb.org/