Urban Unrest

30 September 2007 | Business, Pacifica | Ernesto Aguilar

On Saturday, the Pacifica National Board announced the hire of longtime public radio broadcaster Nicole Sawaya as Executive Director of Pacifica. Sawaya, whose firing as KPFA General Manager in 1999 shocked KPFA staff and listeners and led to a crisis which rocked Pacifica, will start her tenure in mid-November.

The Pacifica Foundation is the parent organization of KPFA Radio.

“I am honored to be brought back into the Pacifica network,” says Sawaya. “Pacifica is a significant force in broadcasting, and we will continue to build upon the fine tradition of independent journalism and radio programming, unfettered by corporate ownership pressures so rampant in our media today, that Pacifica can and does exemplify.”

Nicole Sawaya has been in noncommercial media – primarily public radio – for over thirteen years. She started as a news reporter, then segued into management. Since then, she has been general manager at KZYX, KPFA, and KALW. She also worked at NPR in Washington DC.

Sawaya, who is Lebanese-American, has received numerous awards throughout her career, including the Milestone Award from American Women in Radio and TV, Golden Gate Chapter; several Silver Reel Awards from the National Federation of Community Broadcasters; and the 2005 Journalist of the Year Award from the Society of Professional Journalists, Northern California Chapter, for her work in building news and public affairs programs at KALW in San Francisco.

“This is an historic moment for KPFA and Pacifica,” says KPFA interim General Manager Lemlem Rijio. “Nicole is a radio visionary and her return to Pacifica is cause for rejoicing for those who care about groundbreaking, progressive noncommercial radio in this country.”

Sawaya replaces the outgoing Greg Guma. She will be based out of the Pacifica National office in Berkeley.

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