The following letter, dated March 18, 2013, was sent to the Federal Communications Commission and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting by former WBAI supporter TPM. It would surprise me if this is the first complaint against the current WBAI received by the FCC.
Dear
Sir or Madam:
WBAI
in New York City, 99.5 FM, is registered as a non-profit, listener sponsored
radio station. It used to raise
money by offering membership to its listeners and by soliciting donations in
addition to membership fees. For
many years, this formula worked.
In
recent years, because of changes in management and programming, the station’s
tactics for fund-raising has changed. With
a payroll that has swollen to approximately $1.500,000, “marathons” now last
over a month and are held every three months. Sometimes they are held more often and for longer periods.
In
what I believe is a violation of the station’s non-profit status, WBAI
raises money by selling books, CDs, and DVDs at greatly inflated prices. Among the items for sale are often
materials produced by employees of the station like Gary Null, Natalie
Thandiwe, and Kathy Davis. To
quote former WBAI GM, Chris Albertson:
The
station has become a convenient, free advertising outlet for a number of
commercial ventures, including the alternative medicine crowd. I also have to
wonder what the arrangement is with these "premiums". Does the
station get all the money? Are the DVDs legal? Last night a guy named Tony Ryan
was offering a $100 package of DVDs. He started with 4 major films ("Cabin
in the Sky," "Island in the Sun," "Porgy and Bess,"
and "Stormy Weather"), then—seemingly on a whim—decided to throw in
"A Raisin in the Sun." He referred to these DVDs as
"copies" and that made me question the validity of this offer.
As
a recovering cancer patient, I am offended by the hawking of materials that
offer outlandish “alternative” cures for cancer. Curing cancer by diet, and special programs that the
government and medical establishment repress is the theme of many of the
station’s premiums along with the theme of secret Jewish control of the money
system.
I
am especially offended by one set of premiums that deal with magic water, or as
Kathy Davis and former Program Director Tony Bates describe it, “double-helix
water. I have a recording of the
pitching of this ludicrous product if anyone is interested.
Among
the dubious claims made for this offshoot of Chinese medicine and homeopathy
(so claim the “discoverers of this magic potion) are that it is a veritable
panacea for people as well as for pets.
One of the promoters of this magical elixir can be heard on tape telling
an anecdote of how someone with pancreatic cancer was cured by using this
product.
Another
big premium is a DVD called Thrive. I cannot do it justice in three or four
sentences. You’ll have to go to
the Thrive website. Seeing is believing (or disbelieving).
In
addition, WBAI has fallen into the hands of racist black radicals. Almost 100% of the station’s paid
employees are now black. Morning
and afternoon drive time programs are black hosted and themes of these programs
are black oriented. Almost all
engineers and announcers are black, as well as management.
Much
of the programming is offensive and repetitive. Endless replaying of M.L. King and Malcolm X speeches,
interviews with John Henry Clark or Dr. Joy Degruy Leary, and interviews with
self-hating white, Tim Wise, who has gotten rich by writing books about white
privilege. The morning host,
Esther Armah, has even done a show on the psychology of white males.
WBAI’s
non-profit status should be taken away.
And the station should be sanctioned for its unethical, perhaps illegal,
premium chicanery.
CPB
should not be spending taxpayer money on WBAI.
Respectfully,
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