WSJ - Radio Broadcaster Pacifica Teeters on Edge of Bankruptcy

[Algernon Moncrieff]

Radio Broadcaster Pacifica Teeters on Edge of Bankruptcy

Pacifica Foundation Inc. might be edging toward bankruptcy as the nonprofit radio broadcaster struggles to pay a $1.8 million judgment over missed lease payments for its Empire State Building antenna.

Bill Crosier, Pacifica’s interim executive director, is urging the foundation’s board to act immediately to protect the foundation’s assets from creditors through a voluntary chapter 11 filing. A “small majority” of Pacifica directors, however, are holding out hope that the foundation can arrange a loan outside of bankruptcy court to pay the judgment, he said Monday. Mr. Crosier told the board in an email last Wednesday that chapter 11 is the best way to protect the foundation’s assets from creditors and allow it to continue to operate.

Pacifica owns five radio stations: WBAI in New York; KPFA in Berkeley, Calif.; KPFK in Los Angeles; KPFT in Houston; and WPFW in Washington, D.C. Nearly 300 affiliates carry some Pacifica programming, Mr. Crosier said Friday.

Pacifica’s finances have been mismanaged for years, according to a resolution that Mr. Crosier sent to the board last week with the email encouraging it to approve a bankruptcy filing. Since 2015, Pacifica has failed to fund its employee retirement plan, to which it now owes $750,000, the resolution said. The Wall Street Journal reviewed the email and the resolution.

There are few progressive voices left in traditional broadcast media.

[Kilgore]

1. Progressive yes, business management not so much.