Monday, April 11, 2016

Word gets around, but it's guarded


One does not have to tune in for long to hear that all is not right with Pacifica and its inhabitants, so it should not come as a shock that the five-station network's troubles are being observed from the outside. There was a time when the print media followed with admiration the accomplishments of KPFA, KPFK and WBAI—the core outlets—but when the creativity and flow of fresh talent stagnated and the listenership went elsewhere, the media lost interest.

Today, occasional write-ups are no longer sparked by noteworthy radio, but by its looming demise. Years ago, standing on the stage of Carnegie Hall, Billie Holliday looked at the capacity audience and remarked to a fellow performer, "They come to see me fall off the damn stage."

Some Pacifica listeners are similarly motivated to tune in, but even their rank is diminishing. After years of floundering, a menu of stagnant "shows", nasty infighting, extraordinarily inept self-serving management and shady coup attempts, the pioneering broadcast concept Lew Hill and a handful of associates created in the late Forties lost its significance and most of its listener-sponsors. 

The linked article was published April 4, 2016; the writer is obviously a long-time KPFK listener who still sees hope. He should sample WBAI. I recommend that you read his piece and bear in mind that he credits Tracy Rosenberg with assistance.

This link should take you there.

32 comments:

  1. Is it possible for ANYBODY on this station to talk about ANYTHING other than black lives matter?

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    1. Yes, but the infestation comprises, in the main, micro-minded crawlers (of all hues) who haven't the independence of thought to rise above trendy street-level bigotry nor the mental capacity to see that they are thereby fomenting the very race-based divide they allegedly fight against.

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  2. BLM was one of the topics on DN this morning.
    It was alo the topic of Law and Disorder.
    I turned off DN after 20 minutes, I turned off Law and Order after learning that
    the topic for today would be BLM.

    There are a lot of very important things going on in the world; however, WBAI is obsessed with identity politics.
    Sad.

    TPM

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    1. Sadder still is the fact that such narrow scope is now in character.

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  3. John Ervin’s article is laced with too much ignorance to be recommended. It looks like a promo for Tracy Rosenberg. I wonder what relation Ervin and Rosenberg may have.

    “Meanwhile, there are Tea Party affiliates and millionaires pulling all kinds of strings to try to wrest control of the stations and boards, gaining entrance to their affairs through a variety of Trojan Horse incursions. Can you say, "Operation Mockingbird" or "COINTELPRO" or the 1% trying to buy out "Radio for the 99%"?”

    Seriously? It’s their own people, like Wilkinson, Seigel, Brazon, etc.

    “..because it accepts no money from corporations or groups, only from its listeners…”

    Wrong. They received CPB funding for decades until they were too stupid to even be able to file papers to qualify for it the past couple of years.

    As they are unabashedly unbound by special interests, there are those who thus tag them "anarchists."

    Wrong. In the old days they were called “Communists,” if anything. And they are controlled by special interests, like the Black Lives matter bunch.

    Overall, the article is opinionated, incorrect and biased. I recommend Ervin stroll through the pages of this blog before writing anything else about Pacifica.

    SDL

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    1. Yes, shallow and limited in scope. I hope that someone out there is digging deeper.

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    2. I thought Tracy wrote it until I saw his name. I think he just took her quotes and wrote an article around it. The part of wresting control reminds of the joke of the radical who is disappointed when he finds out the FBI never had a file on him. There is no need for external parties to mount a conspiracy. Pacifica is destroying itself.

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    3. In fact, I came across this because Tracy posted it on a lists era. Can't blame her for promoting her side of this factional folderol (?) but I think the writer blew an opportunity to win respect... At least mine. :)

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    4. There was argument in the long-ago as to whether taking CPB money was advisable. The principal argument against was that it would lessen dependence on listener support and thus allow the station to be less committed to its listenership, more likely to drift from that core commitment.

      ~ ‘indigo’

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    5. Well, they don't have to worry about that now. In this era, they get no CPB money and are less committed to their ever decreasing listenership. Best of both worlds, I'd say.

      SDL

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  4. Might as well add letters and politics to the "blacklist" today .
    Incredible the fascination . This has to be a prerequistite here.
    Nobody can possible want to cover this as much as they do.

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    1. I am all for not concealing the fact that Alex Haley was a dishonest writer. Nobody can deny that his book changed attitudes, but it also gave autobiographical authorship a bad name. Now they are talking about Haley's interview with Miles. Miles' subsequent autobiography was written by Quincy. Troupe, who was also guilty of, shall we say, embellishing the facts--he even distorted Miles' own words, as taped.

      Haleywas a better con artist than he was a writer. Discussing this on WBAI is good,especially since the station is crawling wit people wh distort history.

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  5. You would think with everything going on that they might at least tweak the format a little but it seems like its business as usual heading into the 'spring for the green' fundraiser next month. It is just silly to be broadcasting content to one part of one community in an area as large and diverse as New York.

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    1. At this stage, we are of course talking about hypothetical income. No business owner in his/her right mind would pay the current WBAI for a mention on the air. The listeners are all but gone and an association with what has essentially been reduced to political propaganda and self-serving ebonic twaddle is not good for any business.

      As for not addressing the New York area's ethnic diversity, the bozos have a history of that because they share limited vision. Idiots.

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  6. If only they were able to grasp that concept .
    But then again, i don't think they want to .

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    Replies
    1. Some don't want to, others are simply too wrapped up in themselves.

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  7. I've been reprimanded by friends for expressing my wish for a quick yet painful death for everyone associated with the current management of the station.

    Jonathan Swift, writing about the scoundrels of his time, expressed his malice with greater wit and eloquence:

    Like the boatman on the Thames
    I row by and call them names.
    Like the ever-laughing sage
    In a jest I spend my rage.
    But it must be understood
    I would hang them if I could.


    TPM


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  8. I heard some of his distinguished egotistical asshole Ron Daniels this morning. I listen for a while because of one caller - a guy who claimed to be a sociologist and was yelling at him. I found it interesting that this guy's anger seemed to be of the genuine variety and not just the self-aggrandizing - politically and/or financially - variety one finds among the Black Nationalists on WBAI, or in the rest of the media. I say dump Daniels and give the caller his spot, since, he at least, seemed honest. Honesty is something I can listen to and respect, even if I disagree.

    SDL

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    1. Ron Daniels is a totally self-absorbed fraud who counts among his idols such con artist as Garvey, John Henrik Clarke and fuddy-duddy "Dr. Ben". He is blatantly exploiting WBAI, not only with his program but also with promo spots (ads, actually) that the station freely gives him. Of course he is also one of the "Mumia" morons.

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    2. Speaking of mumia... I think this show, Urban Movements Global Struggles, is just another example of a complete waste of air time.

      Giving mumia updates , especially when this is about the 5th time in the same amount of days that i have heard updates on mumia. Sorry, but People in radio land really don't give a shit about this!

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    3. Sometimes, people desperately need a cause as a doorway to their anger. Only truly desperate idiots would pick an opportunistic convicted killer like the guy who—as part of his act—calls himself "Mumia." The whole thing is a farce and all that energy is woefully misdirected.

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  9. I am going to make a confession: I once worked in public relations.

    Most of what I wrote then was more objective than Ervin's piece.

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    Replies
    1. How brave of you to confess a lurid past, Justine :)

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  10. At the risk of offending Mumia supporters, I once attended a lecture about Mumia and tried to keep an open mind. They basically challenged the witnesses and dismissed the cops as racist and brutal. I was not convinced and in the discussion afterward, I felt the evidence was pretty strong and the fact that he and his own brother (a witness) did not testify was very compelling. It was a very spirited discussion. I haven't heard much about the case since the death penalty was replaced with life in prison.

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  11. It's funny how the the adoration of Mumia has pushed aside any talk of the once poster boy for USA political prisoners, Leonard Peltier, who may just be innocent. Even clowns like Kane and Ghosthorse don't talk about Peltier anymore.

    SDL

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    1. Peltier could have been exonerated if he went to trial immediately. Peltier fought extradition to the United States from Alberta, Canada where hw ran to hide, even as Bob Robideau and Darrelle “Dino” Butler, AIM members also present on the Jumping Bull compound at the time of the shootings, were found not guilty on the grounds of self-defense by a federal jury in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Peltier returned too late to be tried with Robideau and Butler, and he was subsequently tried separately. Peltier's fair trial was held in Fargo, North Dakota, where a jury convicted Peltier of the murders of Coler and Williams. If he would have come in immediately and been tried with the other two, he would have walked. That's what happens when you run and act guilty; someone might just assume you are guilty. It's his own fault. No tears here.

      KGT

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    2. Would that be 2004 Peace and Freedom Party presidential candidate Leonard Peltier who got 27,000 votes in California?:)

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    3. @Anonymous: Yes.

      @KGT: My point was more about how the darling political prisoner cause célèbre went from the questionable case of Peltier to the likes of Mumia, who comes off more as something from Putney Swope. Fickle are these politicos.

      All I'm going to say about Peltier is that he was a scumbag in general, but there are questions about his conviction. I don't have a belief in his guilt or innocence, but I do think there are questions to be answered.

      For all the talk that scum like Kane and Ghosthorse do, the truth is that the Native American movement is in tatters now. If clowns like this think they are going to jump aboard Black Lives Matter and get some support in return, are they in for a rude awakening.

      SDL

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  12. By the way, Linda Perry doing the 6PM - 7PM talk show slot again.

    SDL

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    1. Good. I noticed today that Andrea (the fired news person) is back.

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    2. Give me Perry over Forlano or Halper any day.

      SDL

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    3. Linda Perry is married to Richard Barr. I remember him as one angry leftist. Do I get a second on that?

      KGT

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