MEDIA : KPBS Faces Questions Over Commitment to Minorities

It has been two weeks, and, thus far, KPBS management has not adequately explained why its budget ax fell directly on minority programming.

In the wake of the recent KPBS layoffs and restructuring, charges of racism continue to be leveled against station management, attracting media attention last week.

In an effort to cut its budget, KPBS at the end of June laid off all seven of its staff television producers but also gave them the opportunity to apply for five newly created positions.

There are many forms of racism, all equally as ugly as the overt forms practiced by the Ku Klux Klan and other hate-filled groups. Unfortunately, charges of racism are thrown about so liberally that they sometimes obscure real issues, or at least raise the discussion to an emotional level that can blur very real social problems.

To label the management of KPBS, San Diego’s public broadcasting outlet, as racist speaks directly to their motivations for making the changes, and seems an awfully harsh judgment. Charges of racism imply conscious prejudice and hatred. There is little evidence to support such a serious accusation against station management.

On the other hand, to say that the result of the changes is, in effect, racist, since they eliminate two positions specializing in ethnic programming, is a charge worthy of debate.

General Manager Paul Steen has repeatedly said that the changes in no way alter the station’s commitment to its minority programs. But how could they not?

Sure, all seven of the station’s producers were laid off, not just the minority producers. And several non-production positions were eliminated as well. But the positions of two producers were clearly eliminated: Hispanic affairs and black ethnic affairs. They were consolidated with a newly created public affairs office.

Current Hispanic Affairs Director Paul Espinosa is nationally known for his long history of producing programs on Hispanic issues. It is hard to imagine him fitting in--or wanting to fit in--to a public affairs position.

No matter how the shuffle is viewed, it is difficult to rationalize how turning two positions into one position, and adding duties, won’t affect productivity. For Steen to simply say that the station is still committed to minority programs sounds good, but it’s not enough.

In the eyes of many, the whole concept of public broadcasting is to provide programming unavailable elsewhere, to give the community at least one broadcasting entity unfettered by commercial considerations.

The television station does several local programs, but minority programming has been the one area for which it has consistently drawn praise. Perhaps the managers feel that too much emphasis was placed on minority programming. That’s not what Steen says, of course. The only motivation for the reorganization was to streamline the production operation, he says.

“We are not anticipating severely reducing the programming by and for the minority community,” he said. Producers within the new public affairs office will be assigned to focus on specific ethnic communities, he said.

“I hope people will wait patiently and see how all this falls out,” Steen said. Clearly, though, actions speak better than promises. It will be up to the station’s supporters--the members who supply a large percentage of the station’s funding--to decide if the station is really upholding its commitment to minorities. Only time will tell.

Now Andrew Dice Clay has one more thing to cry about. Two San Diego radio stations are refusing to run an ad produced by his tour company, promoting the embattled comedian’s upcoming concert in San Diego.

Last week, Clay broke into tears during an appearance on the “Arsenio Hall Show,” saying he has been misunderstood. But the management of radio stations KIFM (98.1) and KGB-FM (101.5) clearly understood the innuendo of several parts of the commercial, which included some of Clay’s trademark ribald nursery rhymes.

In most cases the nasty words were bleeped, but not enough for the local stations.

“We found the sound bites offensive,” said Bruce Walton, KIFM’s general manager.

Bill Silva, who is producing the Aug. 17 concert in San Diego, chose not to buy time on KIFM, but KGB replaced the spot with a tamer ad produced at the station.

“For people who like Andrew Dice Clay, all you have to do is tell them he’s going to be there,” said KGB’s general manager, Tom Baker.

A spokeswoman for Tour Design, the Indianapolis company that produced the spot, said it has been aired by radio stations throughout the country since Clay’s tour started in September, although a few stations have rejected it.

Walton and Baker believe Silva is using the incident to “manipulate the media,” to get a little free press about the upcoming concert.

Guilty as charged, said Silva publicist John Brice.

“It gave me fodder for public relations,” Brice said, noting that channels 10 and 39 picked up the story. “We would have preferred to just run the spot, but this fell in our lap.”

In Stephen Clark and Kimberly Hunt, KGTV (Channel 10) has found a pair to rival the inane banter of Channel 8’s Susan Roesgen and Stan Miller. Also, someone at Channel 8 should pull Miller aside and politely explain to him that it is not a good idea to pound his fist on the table during newscasts. He does it all the time, gently tapping it on the set in an annoying aw-shucks gesture, making a resounding thump similar to that made by hitting an empty cardboard box. . . .

KKYY (Y95) disc jockey and production director Doug Ingold has left to take a job as program director with a station in Santa Barbara. . . .

“Third Thursday” producers have arranged a live interview with Dr. Jack Kevorkian, inventor of the so-called “death machine,” for this month’s edition of the town hall show, scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Thursday.