Bernard White – Candidate statement and questionnaire answers

Bernard White – Short statement

I’ve worked at WBAI in virtually every capacity since 1980. I have been an integral part of our most successful history and bring a deep understanding of the issues at WBAI and Pacifica. My unique point of view will enrich discussions of WBAI’s future and evaluations of the present. (www.justiceunity.org)

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Bernard White – Candidate Statement

bernard@justiceunity.org * (212) 591-2111

I am proudly seeking a seat on the WBAI Local Station Board with the Justice and Unity slate (www.justiceunity.org).

I’ve been involved with WBAI—as a listener, volunteer, guest, staff member, or manager—for 29 years, and was an integral part of its most successful history. From 1981 to 1989, I hosted and co-produced the well-received weekly public-affairs program “Emanations.” In 1992, I began co-hosting (with Amy Goodman) “Wakeup Call,” which became WBAI’s most successful show programmatically and monetarily—and a key place for oppressed people to tell their stories. I was intimately involved with executing WBAI’s first of several million-dollar fundraisers, and as Program Director from 1999 to 2009 added shows covering diverse communities and issues.

Before working at WBAI, I produced a weekly program on WWRL on behalf of the National Black Human Rights Coalition. I’ve also worked at two Richmond, Virginia, commercial stations, was co-chair of the National Alliance of Third World Journalists, and have received numerous awards for broadcasting excellence. I thus have a unique understanding of commercial and noncommercial radio.

I’m also a former NYC high-school social-studies teacher and a stained-glass artist.

The WBAI Local Station Board majority orchestrated my termination on May 18, 2009, shortly after my return to work from major surgery. Without due process, I was told to leave and never return, and was banned from the air. This is symptomatic of the callous treatment given many staff around the Pacifica network (mostly people of color) since then. At WBAI, the imposed management applied a gag rule against critics, purged progressive staff, abrogated the unpaid staff’s union contract, and adopted a commercial model, abandoning WBAI’s community focus—slashing Wakeup Call by a third—in search of a richer, “wider,” whiter audience (see Tim Wise’s analysis at www.takebackwbai.org). They’ve used the financial crisis as justification, but Pacifica’s outside auditor recently reported that:

•    WBAI lost over $1 million in listener-generated revenue last year, and
•    Pacifica’s “internal controls were atrocious.”

Today, I’m working with the Take Back WBAI Coalition to reverse all this. If elected, I’ll work with Justice and Unity to return WBAI to community control, increase airtime for local issues, and end the gag rule. As Program Director, I obtained an initial $30,000 contribution for a building fund. I’ll work to re-establish the building search committee I started to find a new home, so WBAI can reduce its annual $350,000 in office rent, which dwarfs what other Pacifica stations pay combined. I’ll also demand that management treat staff and listeners with dignity and respect, and honor union contracts.

Please vote for me and my Justice and Unity colleagues—endorsed by Charles and Inez Barron and Tim Wise, among others—with these rankings:

1. Bernard White
2. Suzanne Adely
3. John Brinkley
4. Father Lawrence Lucas
5. Ray Laforest
6. Wellington Echegaray
7. Sharonne Salaam
8. Linda Bergnes
9. Myriam Decime
10. Carlos Canales
11. Sarah Klepner
12. Henry Hagins
13. Eugene Hamond

Stay strong and pay close attention!

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Bernard White – Candidate Questionnaire

bernard@justiceunity.org * (212) 591-2111

1. Why do you want to be on the Local Station Board (LSB)?

I want to be on the LSB because I believe that I have media expertise and experience that are very much needed. I firmly believe in the vision of Lew Hill and the role that WBAI can play in highlighting community struggles and issues.

2. How do you envision the LSB working with the Pacifica Foundation, WBAI staff and listener members?

I envision the LSB and the Pacifica Foundation working in a cooperative, supportive, and respectful manner with WBAI’s staff and listener members. Developing clear, two-way lines of communication and authority is extremely important if Pacifica and WBAI are going to survive.

3. How can WBAI better serve the community? Please define community.

The WBAI community is all of those people who support the station. It is all of the communities in which they live and it is any area that receives the signal. WBAI can better serve this community by becoming organically linked to it.

4. Describe some actions you would take to increase the influence of the station in underrepresented communities and to increase the diversity of the listening audience.

WBAI was at its greatest strength when its programming was the most diverse and covered important community issues, individuals, and concerns. I would encourage the LSB Programming Committee to meet with the program director to discuss plans to restore and expand diversity.

5. What sources of funding, other than listener donations, do you feel WBAI should solicit? Do you have any ideas with respect to improving the current funding mechanisms?

WBAI has operated without a functioning development department for years. Funds must be utilized to hire a full-time, experienced development director. WBAI should develop a building fund project that would generate some excitement and encourage wealthy individuals to contribute. These are hard economic, times and WBAI must not allow itself to be victimized by hucksters and marketers trying to make a profit from our listener base.

6. Please state briefly the skills, experience, educational background, work history, organizational affiliations, areas of community service, areas of interest and expertise that you would bring to the Pacifica network as a member of the Local Station Board.

Skills and Experience:
Over the past 32 years, I have been an award-winning radio host, producer, reporter, editor, commentator, and audio-documentarian. I have worked in both commercial and noncommercial radio in various capacities. I am the host of a weekly cable-access program, “Radio Vision,” which has broadcast on Manhattan Neighborhood Network for the past 10 years. I am a frequent guest on Like It Is, WABC-TV’s Black public-affairs program.

Educational Background:
I am a product of the New York City public-school system. I graduated from Queens college with a B.A. in Urban Studies and a minor in Administration. I was involved in a National Public Radio weeklong training program for noncommercial radio program directors.

Work History:
In addition to my radio background, I have been a high-school social-studies teacher, an urban consultant, a self-employed stained-glass artist, an administrator for one of the city’s largest C.E.T.A. programs in the area of housing, and an administrator and counselor at a New York City child protection organization.

Organizational Affiliations and Areas of Community Service:
I am the former co-chair of the National Alliance of Third World Journalists, Media Consultant for the newly formed Freedom Party (an independent Black political party), member of the Patrice Lumumba Coalition, lecture/film series curator, founding member of the Sound Gatherers (teaching community people to create video and audio documentaries), contributor to People United for Children, the December 12th Movement, and the Committee to Eliminate Media Offensive to African People (CEMOTAP).

I am a frequent speaker at a wide variety of community organizations on issues of historical and contemporary importance.

Areas of Interest and Expertise:
I bring to WBAI a diverse experiential background and expertise in various aspects of media. I have a long history of successful media endeavors involving community members as well as professional journalists. I am willing to share my expertise with WBAI.

7. On which Local Station Board committees are you interested in actively serving? If you are a current Local Station Board member, on which committees do you currently serve?

I am interested in actively serving on the Programming Committee. My history and background reflect both strength and unique understanding in this area. Pacifica needs to evaluate and pay close attention to its programming philosophy. I see a growing tendency to program for dollars and not for people. If this tendency continues, Pacifica and WBAI will not survive.

8. If you are currently on the Board and wish to be re-elected please describe your 3 year experience on the LSB. What did you accomplish? What were the obstacles you faced? Do you envision any change in the next three years if you are re-elected?

Not applicable.