FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 19, 2013

Contact: María de Jesús Gómez, chuyag@radiobilingue.org, 559-455-5782

Ruben Tapia, 310-713-0106

Radio Bilingüe and Pacifica’s KPFK to broadcast town hall meeting on immigration reform

Radio Bilingüe and KPFK join forces for a live town hall broadcast from one of the “hot spot” congressional districts in the current immigration reform debate this Monday, March 25^th from 12 noon to 2 PM PT. Radio Bilingüe’s Línea Abierta and KPFK’s Enfoque Latino will broadcast the special from the district of Rep. Gary Miller (R, San Bernardino, CA) as part of a series to illuminate divergent views on this critical matter and engage Spanish-speaking audiences in the civic discourse.

The forum in Spanish is open to the public and will take place at the SEIU – United Long Term Care Workers Regional Office, at 195 North Arrowhead Avenue in San Bernardino. It will be aired live in the Greater Los Angeles Area through KPFK, Pacifica Radio, and in the rest of the state and the nation through the public radio network Radio Bilingüe.

Rep. Miller has been invited to the forum, where moderators will explore Rep. Miller’s opinions on the immigration-reform principles now on the table in the Senate and the House in Washington, including the proposed legalization plan with a path to citizenship. Congressional District 31 is a newly created district that encompasses areas of San Bernardino and Rancho Cucamonga and is heavily Latino with a Latino and Asian-American majority. While Rep. Miller has in the past spearheaded restrictive and punitive legislation, such as ending birthright citizenship to exclude undocumented immigrants, he is now reportedly in an “information-gathering stage” on current immigration reform proposals.

The forum is the first in a radio series to scrutinize California’s congressional delegation views on immigration reform and facilitate a direct dialogue between elected officials and their constituents. The March 25 special broadcast also marks a milestone for KPFK in Los Angeles. On this day, the FM station will broadcast for a full 24 hours in Spanish, a first ever for any public station in the Los Angeles area. This coincides with the anniversary of the Los Angeles pro-immigrant mega-rally of 2006, the largest single demonstration in the nation during the historic season that brought millions to the streets in the largest Latino and pro-immigrant marches in the nation’s history.

Hosting the town hall meeting will be seasoned producers Ruben Tapia, of Enfoque Latino, and Línea Abierta’s Samuel Orozco.

Enfoque Latino, is an established Spanish-language weekly radio program. For more than 26 years, this public-affairs program has been serving Latino audiences in the Greater Los Angeles area, including the Inland Empire, Santa Barbara, and southern California, through KPFK-FM, a listener-sponsored station of the Pacifica Radio Network.

Línea Abierta, the first and only Spanish-language news show broadcast nationally over the public radio satellite system, is a service of Radio Bilingüe a national network based in California that distributes programming to more than 100 affiliate stations nationwide. Radio Bilingüe has a decades-long tradition of providing in-depth coverage to special events involving Latino civic participation.

Key community partners in this town hall meeting include Mi Familia Vota, a non-profit organization that promotes Latino civic participation, and SEIU – United Long Term Care Workers, a healthcare workers union from San Bernardino.

Funding for national distribution has been provided in part by The Walter and Evelyn Haas Jr Fund, The Ford Foundation, The James Irvine Foundation, and the Open Society Foundation.

The local radio service is possible thanks to the contribution of listener supporters.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Pacifica Radio KPFK 90.7 FM Los Angeles
www.KPFK.org

KPFK 90.7 FM Goes All Spanish for 24 Hours

Monday’s Special Day of Programming Commemorates the Immigrant

Rights Demonstration of March 25, 2006

March 22, 2013 – North Hollywood, CA. Pacifica Radio KPFK 90.7 Los Angeles will change its format for 24 hours on Monday, March 25, 2013 to mark the 7th anniversary of the massive immigrants rights march which took place on March 25, 2006, and to highlight the station’s progressive Spanish-language programming.

KPFK is one of the few public radio stations in any major U.S. metropolitan area in the U.S. that transmits alternative and independent radio content in Spanish – and the only public station to do so in Southern California. It is also the only radio broadcast outlet (commercial or public) which broadcasts in both English and Spanish and some indigenous languages.

Monday’s special Spanish-language broadcast will begin at 12am and will run for 24 hours. The primary theme across the day will be the subject of immigration.

Among the day’s offerings will be a live remote broadcast co-produced by KPFK 90.7 FM and Radio Bilingüe. The live town hall forum will cover the current immigration reform debate from the congressional district of Rep. Gary Miller (R, San Bernardino, CA) as part of a series to highlight divergent views on this critical matter and encourage discussion by Spanish-speaking audiences. Other programming highlights include interviews with Aviva Chomsky and Devra Weber on immigration and Latin America; two hours anchored by veteran television host Ruben Luengas; a focus on the Latino LGBT community; cultural and music segments; and the role of public media in engaging public discourse on all topics.

The mobilization of March 25, 2006 was organized in response to the Sensenbrenner Immigration Bill, known as H.R. 4437, which had mobilized 100,000 people in Chicago only weeks earlier. Many Spanish-language commercial radio DJs helped promote the march in Los Angeles, which resulted in at least  500,000 and as many as 1 million according to some estimates marching along the streets of Downtown.

“Seven years ago the people of Southern California came out to support the rights of immigrants; and today the issue of immigrant rights is once again at the top of the national discourse with President Obama responding to the need for meaningful immigration reform,” says KPFK Program Director Alan Minsky.

“Public radio, and community radio, provide distinct services to English language audiences,” Minsky continued, “and we at KPFK strongly believe that the type of serious political dialogue facilitated by public radio is something that the huge Spanish-speaking population of Southern California will embrace.  On Monday we have an opportunity to introduce KPFK’s Spanish-language programming to a wider audience as we commemorate this historic day and discuss the continuing struggle for immigrant rights.”

The regular schedule of programming in English and Spanish will resume the following day, Tuesday, March 26, 2013. KPFK is 90.7 FM Los Angeles, 98.7 FM Santa Barbara, 93.7 FM San Diego, 99.5 Ridgecrest/China Lake, and streaming at www.KPFK.org.

INQUIRIES:

Alan Minksy
Program Director
KPFK Radio 90.7 FM
aminsky@kpfk.org
Cell (818) 749-9497

Jennifer Kiser
Development Director
KPFK Radio 90.7 FM
3729 Cahuenga Blvd. West
North Hollywood, CA 91604
Tel.: 818.985.2711 x 204
Cell: 310.415.5270

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Once upon a time in 1959, the Pacifica Foundation was granted a license to broadcast on 90.7 fm to all of Southern California. At 110K watts, it was to be the strongest signal west of the Mississippi. In the 53 years since, we’ve experienced a lot of wear and tear from the elements: ice, wind, snow, fires, electrical outages… You name it, we’ve had it! The new transmitter has arrived from Bangor, Maine. When it is installed, together with the other NV20 transmitter we acquired last year, we will once again transmit at our original 110K watts - a very exciting prospect for the New Year!	We haven't covered the entire cost of the improvement yet, so please spread the word to friends and family who believe that the independent voice found in the programming of KPFK is essential for a vibrant democracy.
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