Written on: Tuesday, March 13th, 2018
Posted on: Wednesday, March 28th, 2018
Dear Community Members,
We truly appreciate the level of community input we have received following our decision to cancel Kevin Barrett’s appearance on The Beloved Community program produced by John Shuck last Friday. We stand with the decision we made.
It is a decision that was made by KBOO’s program staff in accordance with KBOO policy# 6 and after consulting with KBOO’s management. It is extremely rare for KBOO staff to intervene in volunteer programming in this way. The role of KBOO’s program staff is not only to develop overall standards for broadcast and podcast, but it is first and foremost to ensure KBOO’s programming is aligned with our mission and programming charter. KBOO’s staff evaluated that Kevin Barrett’s speeches, writing, and other publicly available material are diametrically opposed to KBOO’s values.
To be clear, KBOO is independent and this decision was made by staff who have ethical integrity and not as a response to any type of pressure. At this point, we would like for the folks who are questioning KBOO’s decision making process, policies and leadership to explore their identities and that of the people who are entrusted by KBOO’s current policies and members to make these decisions.
KBOO values community input and we heard the arguments all of you brought forward. Thank you for your feedback. We stand with the decision we made on March 9th.
Thank you
Best,
Delphine Criscenzo
Station Manager