Nicole Sawaya (14 June 1952 [1] – 11 October 2018 [1] ) was a Lebanese-American radio journalist who was the Executive Director of the Pacifica Radio Network.
Sawaya started her career as a news reporter before moving into radio management.
Moving from San Francisco to Anderson Valley in Mendocino County, Nicole was also for a period in the 1990s Program Director at community radio station KZYX-KZYZ, Philo, CA.
In July 1999 she was controversially fired as general manager of KPFA-FM, the first public radio station in the US and the flagship station of the Pacifica Network. [2] This led to what has been called the Pacifica Crisis, which involved the largest demonstrations seen in Berkeley, California, since the end of the Vietnam War, more than 10,000 people marching to demand community control of KPFA. [3] She was hired by Pacifica as Executive Director of the network on September 30, 2007, commencing work in November. [2] She resigned in early December 2007 due to the "level of internecine dysfunction.". [4] She resumed the Executive Director position on March 5, 2008, taking over from interim ED Dan Siegel. [5] Nicole died on October 11, 2018 from complications due to cancer. [1]
Pacifica Foundation is an American non-profit organization that owns five independently operated, non-commercial, listener-supported radio stations known for their progressive/liberal political orientation. Its national headquarters adjoins station KPFK in Los Angeles, California.
KPFA is an American listener-funded talk radio and music radio station located in Berkeley, California, broadcasting to the San Francisco Bay Area. KPFA airs public news, public affairs, talk, and music programming. The station signed on the air April 15, 1949, as the first Pacifica Radio station and remains the flagship station of the Pacifica Radio Network.
WBAI, is a non-commercial, listener-supported radio station licensed to New York, New York. Its programming is a mixture of political news, talk and opinion from a left-leaning, liberal or progressive viewpoint, and eclectic music. The station is owned by the Pacifica Foundation with studios located in Brooklyn and transmitter located at 4 Times Square.
Mary Frances Berry is an American historian, writer, lawyer, activist and professor who focuses on U.S. constitutional and legal, African-American history. Berry is the Geraldine R. Segal Professor of American Social Thought where she teaches American legal history at the Department of History, School of Arts & Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania. She is the former chairwoman of the United States Commission on Civil Rights. Previously, Berry was provost of the College of Behavioral and Social Science at University of Maryland, College Park, and was the first African American chancellor of the University of Colorado at Boulder.
KPFK is a listener-sponsored radio station based in North Hollywood, California, United States, which serves Southern California, and also streams 24 hours a day via the Internet. It was the second of five stations in the non-commercial, listener-sponsored Pacifica Foundation network.
WPFW is a talk and jazz music community radio station serving the greater Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. It is owned by the Pacifica Foundation, and its studios are located on K Street Northwest.
Lyn Duff is an American journalist. Her career began in eighth grade with an underground school newspaper and has continued in various written and audio mediums. She has done extensive reporting in Israel and Haiti. After being forced into anti-gay conversion therapy as a child, she escaped, survived, and was emancipated from her parents. She speaks out for youth rights and criticizes the mental health systems. Having a BA in international affairs and labor law and an MA in Theology, she is affiliated with the Pacific News Service and KPFA radio's Flashpoints, an evening drive-time public affairs show heard daily on Pacifica Radio.
William Marx Mandel was an American broadcast journalist, left-wing political activist, and author, best known as a Soviet affairs analyst. He was born in New York City.
The year 1949 saw a number of significant events in radio broadcasting history.
Larry Bensky is a literary and political journalist with experience in both print and broadcast media, as well as a teacher and political activist. He is known for his work with Pacifica Radio station KPFA-FM in Berkeley, California, and for the nationally-broadcast hearings he anchored for the Pacifica network.
Adi Gevins is a San Francisco Bay Area-based radio documentarian, producer, educator, archivist, and creative consultant who has been referred to as the "fairy godmother of community radio".
Elsa Knight Thompson, née Elsie Eloise Knight, was an American radio documentary maker and broadcaster.
Aimee Allison is the Founder of She the People, a national network elevating the political power of women of color.
Grace Cavalieri is an American poet, playwright, and radio host of the Library of Congress program The Poet and the Poem. In 2019, she was appointed the tenth Poet Laureate of Maryland.
Flashpoints is a daily, politically progressive investigative news and public affairs program broadcast weekdays at 5 p.m. PST on Pacifica Radio station KPFA-FM (94.1) in Berkeley, California. The program is broadcast on Pacifica's national feed.
Sasha Lilley born 1975 is an English-born radio host, writer and journalist based in Oakland, California.
Richard O. Moore was an American poet associated with Kenneth Rexroth and the San Francisco Renaissance.
Robin Gianattassio-Malle is an American journalist and producer specializing in the use of aural and visual media and is Founder and Executive Director of Blue Egg Media, established in 2008.
Barry Olivier is a retired professional guitar teacher, and creator/producer of the Berkeley Folk Music Festivals from 1958 to 1970.
Cat Brooks is an American activist, playwright, poet and theater artist. She was a mayoral candidate in Oakland's 2018 election.