Sleuth Uncovers Mighty Gems in KPBS Archives

Danny Shapiro has turned into the Indiana Jones of KPBS radio.

It was Shapiro, a producer at the public broadcasting station, who uncovered a recording of a speech Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. made in San Diego in 1964, which the station aired on King’s birthday this year.

On Friday, the station will broadcast another Shapiro discovery--a recording of the commencement speech President John F. Kennedy delivered to San Diego State students in the spring of 1963.

KPBS will air the speech as part of a graduation special that begins at 9 a.m. Friday.

Kennedy’s speech is surprisingly relevant, Shapiro said, especially in the wake of the budget cuts threatening many university programs. Although it was made in the context of the Cold War, Kennedy delivers an impassioned argument for spending money on education and its importance to a democratic society, he said.

Last year, KPBS, perennially strapped for space, was looking for ways to condense its archive storage area. Appalled at the thought that some of the tapes might be destroyed, Shapiro, a history graduate student at the University of San Diego, began sifting through the tapes. The chore invokes images of a Shapiro, flashlight in hand, working his way through a dark and cold basement, using a free hand to brush away huge cobwebs.

In fact, the 400 reel-to-reel tapes are stored in one of the station’s noticeably unglamorous trailers. Nevertheless, there was a sense of discovery as Shapiro slowly worked to catalogue the tapes.

“Finding the King speech was a surprise,” Shapiro said. “With the Kennedy speech, I knew he had been here, but I didn’t think it had been recorded.”

The King and Kennedy speeches were definitely the nuggets, but he also found other tidbits he found interesting, such as conversations with psychoanalyst Erich Fromm.

Although KPBS has no definite plans to air any more finds in the future, the discoveries have sparked an enthusiasm for preserving the bulk of the old tapes. The San Diego Historical Society has agreed to store them, Shapiro said.

Shapiro hopes the local commercial stations might take a similar interest in their own archives.

“They’re sitting on a lot of tapes they don’t even realize they have,” Shapiro said. “If anything comes out of this, it is to hold on to them. Don’t erase anything.”

The 18-month-old negotiations between KSDO-AM and AFTRA are in “recess” after a meeting last week with a federal mediator. “Recess” means exactly what it implies--they’re taking a break after relatively fruitless discussions.

Both sides speak diplomatically about reaching an agreement, but there are indications that things are starting to get tense. In fact, picket signs have been printed for a possible strike against the station, though AFTRA officials say a strike is not an immediate possibility.

“As long as we are willing to negotiate, there will be no threat of a strike,” said Bobbin Beam, the executive director of the local AFTRA chapter.

AFTRA represents 31 employees at KSDO, including Roger Hedgecock, the on-air news people and the off-air support personnel.

Besides typical pension and wage issues, KSDO is demanding the right to hire an unlimited number of part-time employees and wants news personnel to use their own cars, according to station sources. They say KSDO is refusing to offer any wage increases.

“They want to make this into the McDonald’s of radio news,” using part-time employees and paying minimum wages, one employee said.

KSDO general manager Mike Shields was out of town and couldn’t be reached for comment.

The ax came down at KFMB radio last week, and, following the recent trend, it fell on longtime employees. The cuts included 20-year veteran Clark Anthony and 17-year employee Jay Rogers, who served B100 in a variety of roles. Two other behind-the-scenes employees were also laid off. That’s all the personnel from the radio side expected to be cut, management says. Employees from KFMB-TV expect to learn this week who will be out of work. . . .

Channel 51 isn’t lying in its ads. It’s 10 p.m. program is the “fastest growing newscast” in town, which is akin to saying a lot more people know Rodney King now than two years ago. Last February, the Channel 51 newscast was only 2 months old. . . .

In sharp contrast to the San Diego Union-Tribune, which refused to send women to cover the L.A. riots, Channel 8, that bastion of feminism, sent no less than five women reporters to the scene. . . .

Mike West, who hosts a talk show on community access television, has taken out a newspaper ad showing himself dressed only in his underwear. “In brief, San Diego’s next great talk show host,” the copy reads. He acknowledges that San Diego broadcasting executives probably won’t be knocking down his door when they see the ad, but he plans to send it to Oprah, Phil and the other talk shows in hopes of snaring a little national publicity. . . .

Maybe there’s hope for local television’s coverage of politics. Channel 39’s series on current political ads was simple, informative and to the point, providing viewers with an idea of where the candidates stand on the issues beyond the rhetoric. . . .

Local promotions professionals chuckle at the billboards for KCBQ-AM, which show the frequency but don’t mention the call letters. Lesson No. 1 in Radio Promotions 101 is always emphasize the call letters. The big thinkers at KCBQ apparently have their own ideas.

CRITIC’S CHOICE

‘WHITE DOG’ GETS DUSTED OFF

Sam Fuller made “White Dog” in 1981, only to see it shelved by Paramount the next year. The studio pooh-bahs apparently decided it wasn’t their type of picture, after public response at a test screening was less than enthusiastic, in their estimation. It’s far more likely that they were simply scared to death of the subject matter.

“White Dog” is the story of a woman (Kristy McNichol) who adopts a dog, only to discover that his previous owners had trained the animal to attack black people. Paul Winfield portrays the professional handler hired to retrain the dog.

Fuller is known for his terse, violent melodramas, and “White Dog” has all the elements of a provocative winner. The film had a short life on cable television, but the Ken Cinema is presenting its official San Diego premiere through Wednesday.