The NY Times visits WBAI

The reporter seems no worse for the wear. You have to experience the Times article through the fever swamps of NYC Indymedia to get the full effect. Here's a taste:

When the treasurer acknowledged a typographic error in a number in a financial report, Mimi Rosenberg, an on-air host and a housing lawyer, erupted.

“You’ve got a C.F.O. who doesn’t proofread?” she yelled. “You are a backward, reactionary fraud!”

WBAI employs two hulking, tattooed bouncers to keep order, although neither man was so foolish as to give in to incessant demands to evict this member or that. As the yelling reached a particular keening cacophony, the more hulking of the two whistled and demanded a cease-fire: “You should call a time out and every one of you should go to the bathroom and chill out.”

For a moment, the room fell into something like decorum. Then the revolutionary ruckus swelled anew.

It's things like this that make WPKN – unfortunately well on its way to becoming WBAI, Jr. – appear somewhat sane.

Technorati tags: WBAI, moonbats, radio

Pacifica: Comedy Gold

The left eats its own once again as CounterPunch goes after Pacifica and Grace Aron hits back.

It started with Iain Boal's piece in CounterPunch asserting that

On September 17 the Governance Committee of the Pacifica National Board passed a resolution expressly designed to find out whether Amy Goodman’s Democracy Now! program is getting CIA funding through covert channels like the Ford Foundation for suppressing the “truth” about the 9/11 “over-up” The author of the resolution, Chris Condon, made it clear that he wrote a motion on funding disclosure specifically to find out "where the hell Amy Goodman's money is coming from".

After his opening salvo, Boal changes the subject to discuss how the current situation at Pacifica resembles their problems in 1999.

Under Aaron’s tenure, the stations have been under serious pressure to increase listenership and fundraising by offering miracle cures and 9/11 conspiracist DVDs as donor “thank you gifts”. Pacifica station WBAI in New York made tens of thousands of dollars on gifts promising protection from fungus-causing aerosols that the government is supposedly spraying on its population. It is also symptomatic that at the same time that Aaron favors depoliticized self-help shows, she is reported to fulminate against “pro-Palestinian, pro-immigrant” public affairs programming on the network.

Pacifica National Board chair Grace Aron fought back with a letter demanding a retraction. After correcting some of Boal's assertions, she defends her anti-Israel bone fides:

The statement that "she is reported to fulminate against “pro-Palestinian, pro-immigrant” public affairs programming on the network" is untrue. I have a long track record as a peace activist on those issues and I consider this an unfounded smear on my reputation.

It's comforting to know that Pacifica has its priorities straight.

For a trip into the fever swamp, read this story on the NYC Indymedia site. The comments are hilarious.
"New Pacifica's" frontal attack on Democracy Now!
After rejecting Cynthia McKinney for ED, Aaron's Pacifica now turns on Amy Goodman

Pacifica recently rejected the application of perhaps the nation's best-known 9/11 Truth activist - former Rep. Cynthia McKinney - for the position of Executive Director. Meanwhile, PNB Governance Committee member Christopher Condon revealed one goal of his resolution - to reduce funding of Democracy Now!, the network's most popular program, in future contract negotiations.

You just can't write better comedy.

Technorati tags: WBAI, Pacifica, Democracy Now!, radio, Democracy Now!, moonbats

Fortunately, things are slightly more sane at WPKN

WBAI's Mimi Rosenberg and the Pacifica National Board. They sure know how to bring the crazy.



Bonus video: we don't get any cowbell at WPKN staff meetings.



UPDATE 8/4/09: More cowbell!



Technorati tags: WBAI, Pacifica, Mimi Rosenberg, radio, cowbell

Latest Indymedia discussion of WBAI descends into the sewer

The latest thread about WBAI in the fever swamps of the NYC IMC went downhill quickly as the discussion turned to criticism of Amy Goodman and Democracy Now! for not being anti-Zionist enough.

Speaking of WBAI, producer, host and Operations Director Peter Bochan was just hired as the General Manager of WPKN. Let's hope he doesn't bring the WBAI cancer with him to WPKN.

UPDATE 5/20/09: The mods at NYC-IMC have been busy. They hid 18 comments in the thread.

Technorati tags: WPKN, WBAI, radio

It's hard to sell an unpopular product, Exhibit B

Al Jazeera reports on WBAI's financial problems.



Technorati tags: WBAI, radio

The other shoe drops at WBAI

The Daily News picked up what was reported on a WBAI message board over the weekend. Program Director Bernard White has been suspended and banned from the premises. The lock reportedly has been changed on his office. In addition, the Radio Listener's Forum board reports that producer Ayo Harrington has also been suspended.

Previously on WBAI Meltdown '09:

• WBAI continues melting down
• WBAI "Easter Coup" BWAHAHAHAHA!
• It's hard to sell an unpopular product
  

Technorati tags: WBAI, Bernard White, radio

The WBAI meltdown continues

An anonymous post at NYC Indymedia describes a Local Station Board (LSB) meeting at which board chair Mitch Cohen and member Steve Brown sought to begin a no-notice evaluation of WBAI General Manager Tony Riddle and Program Director Bernard White.

Technorati tags: WBAI, radio

WBAI "Easter Coup" BWAHAHAHAHA!

The lunatic children who have been running WBAI for the past few years have finally had their playtime stopped by adult intervention.

> From: Justice & Unity Alert
> Subject: URGENT: Hands off WBAI!
> To: xxxxxxxxxxxx
> Date: Thursday, April 2, 2009, 11:05 AM
>
> ***** PLEASE FORWARD WIDELY ******
>
> SPRING COUP AT WBAI - PACIFICA ORDERS CHANGE OF LOCKS AT WBAI TRANSMITTER
> Email the Pacifica National Board to Protest!
>
> The following was circulated by WBAI's General Manager, Tony Riddle, late
> last night, to the WBAI staff and the Pacifica National Board and its Chair,
> Grace Aaron (who is based in Los Angeles)...The opening sentence of Mr. Riddle's email is: "It has been brought to my
> attention that you have issued an order today to change the locks on the WBAI
> transmitter room in the Empire State Building tomorrow." We are urgently
> attempting to learn more about the situation.
>
> This is extremely serious -- it allows the new national controllers of Pacifica
> to directly program the station from any location at any time...
>
> ...We must fight back! Send an email to the Pacifica National Board at
> pnb@pacifica.org -- which reaches each board member individually, including
> Grace Aaron. Please send a cc to info@justiceunity.org. Demand that WBAI's
> autonomy and local control of programming be maintained and protected!

It's too late for Bernard White and the Justice & Unity Campaign. The dysfunctional lunatics are being shoved aside by the functionally retarded lunatics of the Pacifica National Board.

Technorati tags: WBAI, Pacifica, radio