How often have we heard WBAI's product pitchers refer to premiums as "thank you gifts"? Countless times, I'm sure. but it's a meaningless term to describe something that one is being charged for... especially when the price is exorbitant.
As we all know, this is more a scam than anything else. Berthold Reimers, his immediate predecessors, and their abettors need to keep WBAI on the air. Not because the station is significant and vital to the New York area, but because it is all some of them have standing between them and the unemployment line.
Times have changed, trends have come and gone, technology has altered the landscape, but there is still a serious need for intellectual stimulation of the kind WBAI and Pacifica once represented.
We half-jokingly refer to Reimers, Mitchel Cohen, and the rest of the station's small inner circle as the gang in the bunker, but the tag is not without merit. There is indeed a bunker mentality surrounding the small group of people who, with increasing desperation, attempt to reverse what they and others have done to the station and its parent organization. They know that the damage can not be repaired, only covered up, which is what they are doing by any means they deem necessary.
As we all know, these fund drives are now more a scam than anything else. Berthold Reimers came in on a vow to double WBAI's income in a not so realistic short order. He had a plan that would straighten everything out, he said. So, what did he do? He spent his first year as interim GM in the premium room, where unfulfilled orders formed a major part of the clutter left behind by the previous regimes.
When he re-emerged, a year later, this self-professed financial expert (see Linkedin resumé) assured us all that the problem was almost solved, the backlog of product handling and shipment cut down to a negligible size. Sighs of relief were heard, but this turned out to be the tip of the iGM's iceberg of twisted truths, downright lies, and delusions. Even the Sandy blast, which was devastating, did not exonerate Reimers—he was collecting a $100,000,00 annual salary based on the smoke and mirrors that Frank Lefever and a WBAI committee of selection failed to detect. It has been downhill since then and the deeper the station sank, the bigger and more frequent the lies became. Now it has reached a point where just about anything goes, so the fundraising attempts are more dominant and increasingly irresponsible. The listeners? Well, most of them wisely evacuated themselves and those who remain seem comfortable with shameless political indoctrination.
No thinking person expects WBAI to revert to Mozart in the morning, but a thought-inspiring schedule of multi-ingredient brain food remained obtainable in spite of changing times and life styles. In its earlier years, WBAI not only survived changing trends, it often helped to shape them, doing so in a seamless, open manner. The listener's mind was ever nourished, never forced into a mold. These days, technology has—more than ever before—been difficult to keep up with; it has widened generation gaps and, as always happens, left some people out.
Back in the days when few people owned computers and the new internet was referred to as a "super highway," I recall seeing an elderly black woman interviewed on Public TV by the more respectable of Adam Clayton Powell's sons. His description of this new electronic "highway" produced from her a lengthy pause, followed by a question: "Will it run through Harlem?"
My point, though clumsily expressed, is that some things never change, quest for knowledge being among the perennials. Delivery methods evolve, but there will always be a serious need for intellectual stimulation of the kind WBAI and Pacifica once represented.
We half-jokingly refer to Reimers, Mitchel Cohen, and the rest of the station's small inner circle as the gang in the bunker, but the tag has merit. There is, indeed a bunker mentality surrounding these people who, with increasing desperation, attempt to reverse the damage they have inflicted on the station and parent organization. They know that their vandalism can not be repaired, so they focus on covering it up, but only succeed in doing so partially.
They lie by rote—and, almost a la Occupy-ers, in chorus—to the few remaining listeners as well as to themselves and each other. With Gary Null cast as Popeil the station's morally bankrupt amateur hucksters have long since abandoned efforts to raise funds for the Hill concept that made Pacifica stations so special. That was only possible when principles of good programming and communication were observed. Now the aim is to keep their own little "shows" and designer politics on the air, even if it calls for embroidering or downright eliminating the truth that once fueled Pacifica stations.
Sunday night/Monday morning, I listened as Tony Ryan played soul music from his own earlier years and offered a premium comprising a children's novel, Indigo Blue, and equally unrelated CD-resident MP3s from "my own collection." As listeners reported problems with their calls to the phone center, Mr. Ryan (Yes, that sledgehammer- toting management member) told them to just ask and pay for the book... he would personally and separately send out the CDs. In fact, he impulsively decided to throw in one or two extra ones. These are obviously discs that he burns, so you know there are no licenses or royalties involved. Copyright infringements do not matter to these people as long as money comes in.
Off the Hook is one of the station's good programs. Its producers have never minced words when it came to voicing their disgust with the way things are handled by Reimers. His cavalier attitude toward them is all the more inappropriate when one considers that their premiums are always relevant and made by them at no cost to the station. When it turned out that many of the show's paid-for premiums were collecting dust in a corner at Atlantic Avenue, and calls to the station went unanswered. OTH spoke up and received Reimers' assurance that all would be taken care of. That promise was empty, so now OTH has again commented on the destructive Bunker game played against the show. You can read it here. The matter was brought up at the WBAI LSB Finance Committee last week and here's what the Treasurer had to say about it:
UPDATE:
The Finance Committee must have been persuasive, because Berthold Reimers came to his senses long enough to let the Off The Hook team back in last night. I doubt that Reimers realizes what a colossal ass he is and how grateful he should be that WBAI has such good, forgiving volunteer producers. Here's what they had to say about their return:
As noted, the OTH people are forthright, offering quite a contrast to the misplaced WBAI inmates, who lie by rote to the few remaining listeners and, I think, to each other. With Gary Null cast as Popeil the station's morally bankrupt amateur hucksters have long since abandoned efforts to raise funds for the Hill concept that made Pacifica stations so special. Now the aim is to keep their own little "shows" on the air, even if it calls for embroidering the truth that used to fuel the station—and embroider they do.
As we all know, this is more a scam than anything else. Berthold Reimers, his immediate predecessors, and their abettors need to keep WBAI on the air. Not because the station is significant and vital to the New York area, but because it is all some of them have standing between them and the unemployment line.
Times have changed, trends have come and gone, technology has altered the landscape, but there is still a serious need for intellectual stimulation of the kind WBAI and Pacifica once represented.
We half-jokingly refer to Reimers, Mitchel Cohen, and the rest of the station's small inner circle as the gang in the bunker, but the tag is not without merit. There is indeed a bunker mentality surrounding the small group of people who, with increasing desperation, attempt to reverse what they and others have done to the station and its parent organization. They know that the damage can not be repaired, only covered up, which is what they are doing by any means they deem necessary.
As we all know, these fund drives are now more a scam than anything else. Berthold Reimers came in on a vow to double WBAI's income in a not so realistic short order. He had a plan that would straighten everything out, he said. So, what did he do? He spent his first year as interim GM in the premium room, where unfulfilled orders formed a major part of the clutter left behind by the previous regimes.
When he re-emerged, a year later, this self-professed financial expert (see Linkedin resumé) assured us all that the problem was almost solved, the backlog of product handling and shipment cut down to a negligible size. Sighs of relief were heard, but this turned out to be the tip of the iGM's iceberg of twisted truths, downright lies, and delusions. Even the Sandy blast, which was devastating, did not exonerate Reimers—he was collecting a $100,000,00 annual salary based on the smoke and mirrors that Frank Lefever and a WBAI committee of selection failed to detect. It has been downhill since then and the deeper the station sank, the bigger and more frequent the lies became. Now it has reached a point where just about anything goes, so the fundraising attempts are more dominant and increasingly irresponsible. The listeners? Well, most of them wisely evacuated themselves and those who remain seem comfortable with shameless political indoctrination.
No thinking person expects WBAI to revert to Mozart in the morning, but a thought-inspiring schedule of multi-ingredient brain food remained obtainable in spite of changing times and life styles. In its earlier years, WBAI not only survived changing trends, it often helped to shape them, doing so in a seamless, open manner. The listener's mind was ever nourished, never forced into a mold. These days, technology has—more than ever before—been difficult to keep up with; it has widened generation gaps and, as always happens, left some people out.
Back in the days when few people owned computers and the new internet was referred to as a "super highway," I recall seeing an elderly black woman interviewed on Public TV by the more respectable of Adam Clayton Powell's sons. His description of this new electronic "highway" produced from her a lengthy pause, followed by a question: "Will it run through Harlem?"
My point, though clumsily expressed, is that some things never change, quest for knowledge being among the perennials. Delivery methods evolve, but there will always be a serious need for intellectual stimulation of the kind WBAI and Pacifica once represented.
We half-jokingly refer to Reimers, Mitchel Cohen, and the rest of the station's small inner circle as the gang in the bunker, but the tag has merit. There is, indeed a bunker mentality surrounding these people who, with increasing desperation, attempt to reverse the damage they have inflicted on the station and parent organization. They know that their vandalism can not be repaired, so they focus on covering it up, but only succeed in doing so partially.
They lie by rote—and, almost a la Occupy-ers, in chorus—to the few remaining listeners as well as to themselves and each other. With Gary Null cast as Popeil the station's morally bankrupt amateur hucksters have long since abandoned efforts to raise funds for the Hill concept that made Pacifica stations so special. That was only possible when principles of good programming and communication were observed. Now the aim is to keep their own little "shows" and designer politics on the air, even if it calls for embroidering or downright eliminating the truth that once fueled Pacifica stations.
Sunday night/Monday morning, I listened as Tony Ryan played soul music from his own earlier years and offered a premium comprising a children's novel, Indigo Blue, and equally unrelated CD-resident MP3s from "my own collection." As listeners reported problems with their calls to the phone center, Mr. Ryan (Yes, that sledgehammer- toting management member) told them to just ask and pay for the book... he would personally and separately send out the CDs. In fact, he impulsively decided to throw in one or two extra ones. These are obviously discs that he burns, so you know there are no licenses or royalties involved. Copyright infringements do not matter to these people as long as money comes in.
Off the Hook is one of the station's good programs. Its producers have never minced words when it came to voicing their disgust with the way things are handled by Reimers. His cavalier attitude toward them is all the more inappropriate when one considers that their premiums are always relevant and made by them at no cost to the station. When it turned out that many of the show's paid-for premiums were collecting dust in a corner at Atlantic Avenue, and calls to the station went unanswered. OTH spoke up and received Reimers' assurance that all would be taken care of. That promise was empty, so now OTH has again commented on the destructive Bunker game played against the show. You can read it here. The matter was brought up at the WBAI LSB Finance Committee last week and here's what the Treasurer had to say about it:
UPDATE:
The Finance Committee must have been persuasive, because Berthold Reimers came to his senses long enough to let the Off The Hook team back in last night. I doubt that Reimers realizes what a colossal ass he is and how grateful he should be that WBAI has such good, forgiving volunteer producers. Here's what they had to say about their return:
UPDATE II: Don't expect to hear OTH this week (March 4), because Reimers extended the drive for another week AND PRE-EMPTED "OFF THE HOOK" AGAIN!!! Has this idiot a brain???
As noted, the OTH people are forthright, offering quite a contrast to the misplaced WBAI inmates, who lie by rote to the few remaining listeners and, I think, to each other. With Gary Null cast as Popeil the station's morally bankrupt amateur hucksters have long since abandoned efforts to raise funds for the Hill concept that made Pacifica stations so special. Now the aim is to keep their own little "shows" on the air, even if it calls for embroidering the truth that used to fuel the station—and embroider they do.
If anyone believes Gary Null to be the great benefactor he portrays himself as, I have this bridge... More so than before, endless re-airing of his many self-serving pitches have turned the current drive into a Null show. Is his generosity overflowing, or does he find all that free air time irresistible? Listen to him as he inadvertently tells it like it is...
On one of his misinfomercials—his generosity almost bursting—Null announces in true commercial style that his offer includes "Not one, not two, but THREE bottles!" Then he explains why that is important. Reimers, he says, voiced a concern over the station not being equipped to replenish the customers' supply of monthly bottles. No problem, Null assures the listeners, adding that he is prepared to handle such needs. Of course he is... I have always thought that re-orders is what this is all about, anyway—get them hooked and feed the new need.
I heard several other good examples of bad radio in the past couple of days, but the WBAI site's archive is so messed up as to be unlistenable
I heard several other good examples of bad radio in the past couple of days, but the WBAI site's archive is so messed up as to be unlistenable
I have previously spoken of that Natalie woman's lies regarding availability of Gwen Scott's health package. In fact, I have brought it to the attention of Reimers apologists and tried to get it to the mismanager himself, but nothing was ever done about editing out the falsehoods. We are talking about a couple of hour-long misinfomercials that have the two women pitching a 3 discs and a book package in a phone hook-up that dates back to WBAI's Wall Street days. Reimers must love this commercial, for he has scheduled it beyond death. I was able to capture one from last week (they run about 3 or 4 times a day) and extract from it several false claims of WBAI exclusivity, which I strung together for your listening displeasure.
And here is my string of Natalie's lies. Note that Scott is on the phone throughout and that she never attempts to correct the false exclusivity claim. If you think of it, why on earth would a seller give exclusivity to a failed station in a single market? It makes as little sense as everything else.
Gary always lauds James Irsay. I'm suspicious.
ReplyDeleteKGT
Although he is an opportunistic convenience lauder, odds dictate that Null's praise will occasionally be correctly aimed. Such, I believe, is the case with James Irsay's excellent program. On the other extreme, we have the laudatory words he routinely tosses Haskins' way. Given Null's intelligence, those are deliberate misfires.
DeleteBe suspicious whenever Null embraces Berthold Reimers. For that matter, whenever ANYONE does so.
Even a broken watch is right twice a day.
ReplyDeleteKGT
If someone wants a premium, they should first go to Amazon.com. If it's not available there, google it. Once you find the item, which you will, buy it from the vendor and send the difference to WBAI. That way, you actually get the item AND support WBAI. (FYI: I did that with the Cubans in Africa documentary. It was available as a rental for a few Dollars on Amazon, which is all it was worth. Not bad but oversimplified and very introductory on the subject.)
ReplyDeleteI hate to say this, but I can't stand up for OTH or TPCS anymore when it comes to the premiums shipment problem. Both shows have gone on long enough pitching their very legitimate premiums with the full knowledge the supporters aren't receiving said premiums. Now they are at the "passing the buck" level. Sorry, but the excuses no longer fly. They should send the items out themselves.
I don't listen to Tony Ryan, so I don't know what CD-Rs he's pitching. If they aren't public domain, then he is setting himself and WBAI up for potential trouble. However, do more than five people listen him?
Anyway, maybe you should make a continuing thread listing the pitched items and where people can obtain them.
I've wondered for a while how the infomercials and products are chosen for particular beg-a-thons. There have been a wide variety of each available over the past few years, but this current beg-a-athon probably has the smallest numbers of items made available yet, repeated until you can memorize the scripts. Think they have had trouble with suppliers, and, hence, are told not to offer items by those suppliers? Boku was on a lot, but not anymore. Hay-tie's Hayti documentary, etc. Think WBAI got stuff on terms and never paid the bills?
Remember John Delorean? Maybe Reimers can try a coke deal to save WBAI, hopefully with the same result.
You know whose name never comes up on the Pacifica and WBAI forums? Reggie Johnson, the afternoon announcer/engineer. Seems like there is no dirt to him, so maybe he's an OK guy? Just been wondering.
I'd pay to see a live debate between Hufnagel and Cohen. I'll wear a rain poncho for that, considering how much shit would be flying around the room...
SDL
Addendum: I rented the Cubans movie on Amazon but DIDN'T send WBAI the difference. Just want to make that clear.
DeleteSDL
Purchasing the item at a reliable place makes much sense and donating the difference is an interesting idea, but I think an even better idea would be to use the difference in some way that is guaranteed to help the station. Blindly donating could easily land your money in the wrong hands... to pay Reimers' salary, keep Kathy in cakes, etc.
DeleteTony Ryan's second toss-in bonus was a Patti Labelle disc, I think the other one was a compilation that included The Stylistics.
I think Reggie is a good, honest guy. He handles callers courteously and is a better engineer than Haskins (who isn't).
A Hufnagel/Cohen debate would be a riot, as it were.
Many years ago OTH did handle fulfillment of their own premiums, but at some point Berthold forbade them from doing so and required that they give the premiums directly to the station so that they could be sent out from there instead. The producers of OTH no longer have any access to the list of people who pledged for each premium. The station is also supposed to tell them how many of each premium is required after the drive is over, which they have neglected to do for the past several drives.
DeleteWhy don't the hosts mail out their own premiums COD? Then they'll be sure they're received.
ReplyDeleteKGT
C.O,D, is a pretty expensive additional service these days. I don't think customers would want to foot the bill. That's why it isn't common anymore. Add to that how many pledges go unpaid for in the first place. Could end up costing WBAI a chunk of change for returned packages.
DeleteI'll bet at least 25% of pledges never get paid. You have to wonder how that figures into budgets and shortfalls...
SDL
The figures we get are questionable for several reasons. I guess you have noticed that, despite Mitch Cohen's assurance to the contrary, we have not seen tallies other than the ones R. Paul posted during the first week.
DeleteConsidering we don't get figures, i don't think they can be questioned. What CAN be questioned is WHY we don't get figures.
DeleteI think my post about WBAI management not trusting its on-air staff on the dead and soon to be buried blue board went further than meets the eye. The secrecy is probably primarily aimed at the staff and not the listeners.
In the movie Zulu Dawn, one officer says to another, "Learn nothing from that man... except how not to behave." Fits Mitch perfectly.
SDL
Emmanuel Goldstein needs to learn to sing better, as his rendition of Led Zeppelin's Communications Breakdown isn't very good or convincing...
ReplyDelete"Communication Breakdown, It's always the same, I'm having a nervous breakdown, Drive me insane!"
SDL
I have never met Goldstein, but my impression is far from favorable.
DeleteIt's worth mentioning that the last few fund drives have been lite on the 9/11 drivel & there's even been a diminution on the Nazi-Zion front. It's also worth mentioning that Null, the classic music programs and a number of others NEVER EVER..& I mean NEVER mention Israel. They want their programs and whatever their own thoughts are, they keep them very much to themselves
ReplyDeleteAn interesting observation, but I wonder which priority pushing to the back what you so aptly describe as "the 9/11 drivel" reflects. Is "management" seeing the light or is the shift dictated by tallies. I don't think Berthed Reimers has any true convictions as to WBAI's direction—it's all about the money, it's all about keeping the wreck afloat.
DeleteAs for the Nazi-Zion front, I believe the hunger for hate now is more effectively satisfied by reliving the daily lynch and focusing on the current situation, one where blue uniforms replace white linen and racism remains unabated as it does an about face.
Simply put, these fractions of factions cannot exist without hate, so they have merely redirected their own variety to spots where the spotlight shines brighter. In doing so, they have lost any vestige of valid rationale.
They may think they are keeping their thoughts to themselves, but I find them to be quite transparent and utterly vacuous.
Painting WBAI black has helped to put it in the red.... I wonder if they ever think of that? :)
Reimers, to me seems apolitical, he does what it takes to keep the station and himself afloat, if that means trolling for Jewish dollars, troll away
ReplyDeleteThat's my impression, too. It's easy to write him off as a clueless numbskull, but he has managed to get a job for which he has neither experience nor qualification, and—more amazingly—kept that position for years during which WBAI has continued on its downward course.
DeleteIs Reimers smarter than he appears to be or does he know the stuff that blackmail is made of? His longevity could also be attributable to the dysfunction of the PNB.
Maybe he has a few compromising photos of a few people...
DeleteAs for the Israel question: I have heard Hametz mention it--in the context of the opera about Leon Klinghoffer, anyway. But I don't recall any other time he voiced his views. And as Anon mentioned, the other classical music programmers don't talk about Israel. Then again, it really wouldn't matter to me if they did or what position they took: Chris Wendt, James Irsay and Ivan Hametz are all worth listening to. Ditto for "Off the Hook" and Simon Loekle. I wish I could say the same for the majority of BAI programs.
WBAI needs a Dr. Phibes type character running around the station...
ReplyDeleteSDL
I just looked up Dr. Phibes and I think Dr. Phil is more like what the WBAI staff could benefit from. And a few could benefit from a DNA paternity test from The Maury Show.
ReplyDeleteKGT
I was talking about what would benefit the listeners...
DeleteSDL
If the listeners are still listening, they need Dr. Phil and Maury Povich.
DeleteKGT
I think that people underestimate Reimers. I have a theory. I think that the sole reason that he is at BAI is because of his Marxist cred that he might have. Not just a liberal or a left winger. But a Marxist with influence in the livery drivers union, Haitian community, and probably other organizations active in NYC. Unlike Murillo, whose field of endeavor is still in the media, professor of media studies at Hofstra, at the time of him being appointed, Reimers' likely came from outside the media, which gave him more cred as an activist. That is why he was made the GM - he had the strongest ideological cred to maintain the station's political biases, unlike other self-proclaimed activists, whose affiliation with BAI was their strongest organizational affiliation. I believe think that Reimers was picked to keep the BAI's ideological vision in line with Samory Marksman's views and that is his only purpose. That is why he is bland and unresponsive to the events involving the station and the staff. He presents a bland and an inoffensive bean counter image, and he keeps his political views and biases well out of sight. The station's decision to pre-empt the Off The Hook show only makes sense if you consider Reimers' ideological agenda.
ReplyDeleteAnother example of the muddled mind of PDR who sees Marxist threats in the Marx brothers.
ReplyDeleteTPM
PDR appropriately sees Lenin in John Lennon.
DeleteKGT
Actually, a person known to you, who has worked closely with Reimers over a period of months and knows him better than you, has characterized him as a scrappy old Marxist, and that person is a progressive and he expressed a term of affection. Follow up and examine Reimers' involvement in city politics.
ReplyDeleteWhat city? Port-au-Prince?
DeleteKGT
This morning I heard something that made me remember why I started listening to BAI--and reminded me of what the station has all but lost.
ReplyDeleteSimon Loekle (Who else?) read from "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner". Near the end of his program, he asked listeners to become members. He said he couldn't offer "18 Ways to Improve Your Relationships" or miracle cures. Instead, he said, he gave us the premium in his reading of "Ancient Mariner" and the music he played.
The great thing about Simon is you don't think, for a second, that he's being pompous or conceited in saying things like that. They're just the truth. How often do you hear on BAI--or anywhere--a witty and erudite man who isn't a self-promoter reading great works of literature and playing great music?
If only there was a better station--indeed, a better world--for the likes of folks like him!
Simon is among the precious few at WBAI who know and do good radio. Who would have thought that the absence of hatred and deception might one day become a noticable WBAI program characteristic? Sadly, it has come to that.
DeleteThere's no shame in being a Marxist. Marxism is a valid tool for understanding historical as well as contemporary problems and conflicts in the world. And if obliged to choose one or the other, would much prefer post revolutionary Russia to pre-revolutionary Russia.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, it's pathetic to be an aging Russian fascist who hides behind the image of a teddy bear and defends himself against charges of anti-Semitism by whining, "But I married a Jew!"
tpm
Forget Marxism and The Marx Brothers. WBAI is more like The Ritz Brothers - stupid and not funny.
ReplyDeleteSDL
Much as I love the Marx Brothers, I would place the Three Stooges on the WBAI end of that schtick.
DeleteWBAI's recent history is reminiscent of fascist movements in Italy, Greece, and France where thugs intimidated and beat up people in the streets. The local board meetings and the lounge area of the Wall Street studio were physically occupied by street thugs some of whom, like Father Lawrence Lucas, carried firearms. Bernard White and two henchman once followed Bob Fass into the men's room during a LSB meeting to "challenge" him over his challenge to Bernard. JUC people pushed, tripped, and kicked people who opposed their agenda and provoked fights. One current engineer and host, Mr. Ryan, wielded an ax handle.
ReplyDeleteThe Ritz Brothers, The Marx Brothers, and The Three Stooges were amusing. Haskins, Davis, Greg Scott Keyes, Tony Ryan, and Kaffy Davis are not.
TPM