In May the District announced the upcoming sale of KSCM-TV, the noncommercial TV station it has owned and operated for 48 years. Their action was part of an epidemic of higher education institutions nationwide ridding themselves of educational TV and radio licenses. At that time, Media Alliance, a Bay Area public interest group that advocates for press freedom and media access and accountability, filed a public information request to make the list of bidders public.

The District has held out on Media Alliance’s public records request for 5+ months now. The District claims negotiations are still in progress with the two identified bidders, Public Media Company, a division of Public Radio Capitol which most recently sold KUSF to KDFC in a 3-way signal swap with Entercom broadcasting and Independent Public Media, a Denver-based nonprofit. Trustees claim neither bidder has satisfactorily met the District’s financial requirements nor FCC license-holder requirements to date.