Thursday, June 19
This morning at midnight, I heard a very sick rerun of Robert Knight's "Earthwatch." I say sick, because this was the program he did upon his return to WBAI following a two-month medical ordeal that almost took his life. The fact that the final curtain came down not long thereafter, makes it almost cruel to air a program in which he celebrates being alive. He points out that he is on "live" and makes several references to having "come back." He thanks a list of people who visited him in the hospital, and the medical crew that he says, performed a miracle. Then he describes in detail what he went through as he experienced death. When he opens the phone for calls, he gets them from listeners who have had a similar experience, and a lady who tells him that he was "called back" because he is needed and that this translates into a long and important life ahead. Is it just me or is this rebroadcast in the poorest of taste?
Kathy Davis introduces the program, claims that it is being aired in answer to requests from Knight's family and friends, and that the station will continue the rebroadcasts on a weekly basis. Yep—never mind that Knight had become a disgrace to the profession he associated himself with or that these programs are hopelessly outdated—that's what this certifiable pseudo-spiritual numbskull said. I find certain irony in the fact that she is the scammer who tried to push homeless angels and cure-all miracle water on us.
I won't participate in this bad joke by posting an audio clip, but check out the archive and listen to the first five minutes (following that mundane Stevie Wonder song). Whether you agree or disagree with me, I hope you will post a comment.
I didn't hear this, so let me clarify. WBAI is starting a Best of Robert Knight type series of old programs? Well, if that's the case, it shows that WBAI has no idea what to do with its overnight time, as I have suspected for a while now. Is rebroadcasting a dead man's program wrong? No, of course not. Is exploiting it? Yes, in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteAnyway. If they are going to do this, I hope they will pull out some shows from when Knight was a decent investigative broadcaster back in the early 1980s.
Maybe they should let the ever useless Ife Dancy do a disco music mix under the Knight rebroadcast..?
If WBAI wants to do rebroadcasts of old shows, there are decades of shows to use from people who came and went and/or should be gone (insert Bob Fass joke here). Now what? They won't. If WBAI rebroadcast good old programming, it would let those who never heard it see what junk WBAI now is, especially now that its overnights are crap music I can find elsewhere or worthless, uninformative babble.
When is the next pledge drive? I am already missing the crackpot oft repeated shows...
SDL
Apart from the fact that Knight's downloads from Youtube and his biased phone interviews are as passé as they are insulting to intelligence, this morning's rerun, with Knight more or less exclaiming "ta ta, I'm back!" had all the markings of a parody.
DeleteThis idea, according to fellow hare-brain Michael Haskins, came from Kathy Davis, who has floated back to the top and may well be back on some kind of a salary. Irresponsible to the core, Berthold Reimers does not feel it's any of the listeners' business how he spends their money.
According to Davis, the continuance of "Earthwatch" in rerun form is made at the request of Knight's family and friends. Sure, that probably includes the dozen people who showed up for his memorial service, and all the people who did not call the station to express their grief.
Ibrahim Gonzáles, on the other hand, is truly remembered fondly and his delightful program is missed, but he was not a member of Reimers' coterie of opportunists. Sorry to say, WBAI is a station of no significance, its impending last breath will be of no consequence.
Well, I guess running tapes of Robert Knight saves WBAI the simple effort of having to fix the schedule on their website that STILL lists Earthwatch as being broadcast!
DeleteAnyway. Report With The Suckers... errr... Listener is coming up at 10:00 AM. Should be good for some laughs. See you on the flipside, I bet...
SDL
I'm ready for it, I noticed that the recorded promo says Berthold Reimers "and some other guests" will be heard. I suppose that means Reimers himself is a guest. He had better not surround himself in the studio with too many, for each person present in the studio means that there is one less out there on the listener side.:)
DeleteI wonder if Kathy Davis will be there to move his mouth.
Knight should not be excoriated: he should be praised for setting a precedent and leading by example. Others at WBAI should follow his lead:
DeleteKaffy Davis should imitate the strategy of the fat man in the restaurant in the Monty Python movie, THE MEANING OF LIFE. After eating an enormous meal, she should force herself to eat the after-dinner mint which will cause her to explode.
Haskins should clone himself so that he can walk in front of bus that he himself is driving. Hopefully, both incarnations of Michael G. will perish in the ensuing accident
Bozo Bert should be encouraged to display his courage and virility with a late night visit to the Cité Soleil neighborhood of Port-au-Prince in Haiti while wearing a gold chain around his scrawny neck.
Jeff Brady should attempt tight rope walking between the new twin towers using a Mobius Strip while holding hands with Ife.
The Midnight Ravers along with the entire JUC should do a live broadcast of a re-enactment of the Jonestown Massacre using real poisoned Kool-Aid.
Knight’s death should be praised. It was a step in the right direction. Hopefully, the rest of what’s left of WBAI will imitate his actions.
I'll join in the merry morbidity:
DeleteIfe Dancy ODing while DJing at a club...
R. Paul Martin choking on a pickle at the 2nd Avenue Deli...
Bob Fass being electrocuted due to technical problems while doing his show...
Gary Null being eaten alive by ravenous herbivores at the zoo he has in Florida...
SDL
I heard it. I didn't think it was in bad taste. Airing the weekly snide comments of a cop-killer, Mumia Abu Jamal, is totally revolting.
ReplyDelete