Editorial: The ringing bells of justice

Saturday morning on KPFA, Kris Welch encourgaed listeners to look online at various premiums offered in KPFA's most recent pledge drive and, oh, here's the kicker, the pledge starts back up this week for at least another week as the Pacifica Radio station desperately attempts to raise money.

Well golly, jolly, gee, why would that be?



Friday afternoon, KPFA aired Free Speech Radio News. Ehren Watada, the first officer to publicly refuse to deploy to Iraq, was to be discharged on Friday. Friday afternoon, FSRN is telling listeners that . . . Ehren's scheduled to be discharged.

He'd already been discharged. But one phone call to Fort Lewis' Media Relations Department would have provided FSRN with that information.

FSRN didn't care and neither did Kris Welch who does her own 'headlines' on The Saturday Talkies -- she calls them "hot flashes." At 15 minute in, she still hadn't mentioned Ehren Watada. For a moment, we wondered if she even knew he was?

Some of her fan base will immediately insist, "She interviewed his mother!"

Well we know that, does Kris?

We have to ask that because Carolyn Ho was repeatedly referred to by Kris as "Carolyn Oh." That was before Ho joined the conversation and after. Carolyn Ho was kind and did not correct her on that (she kindly corrected Welch on many other things Kris was getting wrong). So, for all we know, Kris Welch thinks she interviewed Grey's Anatomy's Sandra Oh.

But KPFA is having trouble raising funds.

And that's supposed to be bad news.

To us, it sounds like justice.