Rifts widen, again, at KPFK in Los Angeles

What will become of Pacifica’s KPFK, wracked as it is by infighting over its programming, fundraising tactics and the process of selecting a new general manager? The Los Angeles Times reports that recent program changes have helped to bolster KPFK’s audience, yet the station’s latest funddrive was extreme “for its great length and its embrace of the conspiracy-addled fringe.” Critics of the format changes are targeting Ian Masters, a longtime host who brings a deep knowledge of foreign affairs to KPFK’s airwaves on weekday evenings. Meanwhile, meetings of its Local Station Board, which must appoint a committee to lead the search for a new general manager, dissolve into shouting matches. “It’s very frustrating, very frustrating,” an 80-year-old KPFK stalwart tells the Times. “We won’t ever make any progress until we stop this internecine fighting.”