We hope your holidays were wonderful. At Justice & Unity, we ask your continued engagement and support as we help protect WBAI in the coming year.
Updates in this newsletter:
- Leasing the station (including an online petition you can sign)
- Programming
- Laid-off Staff Severance
- Antenna and Station Finances
- Management
- Governance
What’s At Stake, Where Things Stand
We disagree with those who say Pacifica can’t afford to help WBAI. Pacifica needs to continue in the tri-state area for all the obvious political reasons. We believe Pacifica as a network will be infinitely poorer if WBAI is lost.
Immediate Step:
Come to the WBAI Local Station Board Meeting & Delegates Assembly
Wednesday, January 8, 7:00 p.m.
Alwan for the Arts, 16 Beaver Street, 4th floor, downtown Manhattan (east of the bull). Trains: 4,5 to Bowling Green (wheelchair accessible); 2,3 to Wall Street; 1 to Rector, J to Broad Street, R to Whitehall Street. (R not running uptown from Brooklyn).
You will have a chance to make public comment. Now more than ever, your participation is critical. Come and make your voice heard. Let management know you’re listening, watching, and paying attention.
LEASING THE STATION
The Pacifica National Board (PNB) is moving ahead with consideration of a multi-year lease of WBAI’s signal. They have said they will exclude offers from commercial entities, but that gives no hint of what they will ultimately decide.
The Interim Executive Director (IED), Summer Reese, refused to identify any of the organizations when she met with the Local Station Board (LSB) in November of 2013. We were promised a synopsis of actual offers within 2 weeks. It has not arrived. Your elected local board knows nothing about the entities that could end up deciding the bulk of WBAI’s programming.
In November the LSB passed (with "no"votes by listener national-board rep Carolyn Birden and staff national-board rep Janet Coleman, and an abstention by listener board rep Manijeh Saba) a motion from the Finance Committee calling for:
—First exhausting all reasonable untried off-air fundraising strategies before deciding on leasing, and
—Not making any decisions about leasing without local, public involvement of Local Station Board, staff, and listeners (including on-air discussion).
Action Step
Sign the petition to the IED and PNB (there’s space to add personal comments). Demand genuine attempts to raise money and transparent discussion of a proposed Lease Management Agreement (LMA) or Public Service Operating Agreement (PSOA) here:
https://www.change.org/petitions/keep-wbai-in-control-of-its-programming
There you can also read very troubling information about the programming at bidder Auricle, parent of WFMU Radio in Jersey City. That station's manager says he was solicited by Ms. Reese to submit a proposal.
PROGRAMMING
Before the mass layoffs in August of 2013, Talkback’s Hugh Hamilton and other now-removed veteran hosts provided listeners with vital information and analysis from across the region and the world. In their stead, national management has installed a series of canned programs created elsewhere. Are BAI listeners well served by invitations to West-coast events, or recordings with stale information? More urgently, what is the process for determining which programs are heard nationally? What process has been followed for any shows—local or otherwise—that’s been removed in the past few years? Finally, how do new shows contribute financially to the station, especially in key drive-time hours?
LAID-OFF STAFF SEVERANCE
Approximately 75% of paid staff was laid-off on August 9, 2013. But those 19 former workers have not received required severance payments. An agreement reached in arbitration now requires payment of the roughly $225,000 by March of 2014, but we are asking for donations specifically marked “Severance” to begin to reduce the hardship faced by former station employees.
ANTENNA AND STATION FINANCES
Whether WBAI’s broadcast studio stays in Harlem or moves to Brooklyn, our $50,000 antenna atop the Empire State Building remains a primary and demanding monthly expense. We must provide programming relevant to our listening area so contributions flow and expenses are paid..
Action Step
Our expenses are another important reason to become a WBAI member. You’ll be granted voting rights in the next election for the LSB, and for any ballot referendums on the station’s future. You qualify for membership by donating $25 or volunteering at least three hours. (We are also working to obtain a system of hardship waivers.) If it feels right, include a note that you are donating under protest and have signed the online petition. You can donate online at give2wbai.org (and use the “Order Comments” box to make your statement). Or send a check or money order to: Pacifica Foundation-WBAI Radio, General Post Office, P.O. Box 30540, New York, NY 10117-2112 (and enclose a note).
MANAGEMENT
Since the 2002 “Christmas Coup,” WBAI has had 11 permanent or interim general managers (GM) and 6 permanent or interim program directors.
The current GM has been in place for 3 years and we think he should have a proper evaluation by local voices, though some national-board members, after blocking the process for months, are trying to get the national board involved.
We’re also concerned that in November the Interim Executive Director announced the departure of the GM without LSB evaluation or consultation. It’s unfortunately all too common for Pacifica management to change local managers without notice or process. This is not a statement about the individuals moved in or out. We just believe due process is something the national board must guarantee.
GOVERNANCE
In 2013, the Pacifica National Board cancelled board elections on the grounds of financial hardship. Because no one on the local station board has reached the 6-year maximum terms, your 2014 local board will be the same 24 persons:
18 Listener members: Fr. Luis Barrios, Carolyn Birden, John Brinkley, Steve Brown, Russell Dale, Seth Goldberg, William Heerwagen, Ray Laforest, Pat Logan, Ken Laufer, Frank LeFever, Fr. Lawrence Lucas, Cerene Roberts, Manijeh Saba, Sharonne Salaam, Jeremy Taylor, Bernard White, Robert Young.
6 WBAI staff members: Janet Coleman, Reggie Johnson, Bob Lederer, R. Paul Martin, Shawn Rhodes, and John Riley.
Four local members were elected to sit on the Pacifica National Board. For 2013, they were Carolyn Birden, Janet Coleman, Cerene Roberts and Manijeh Saba.
On January 8, at a public meeting, new elections for local board officers and national board members for 2014 will occur. Please come to the meeting and make your views known. Your participation is vital.
WBAI Justice & Unity Campaign
Diversity on all sides of the mic
www.justiceunity.org
info@justiceunity.org
(212) 591-2111
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