The following was sent to me this afternoon by Ed Manfredonia and posted on the WBAI-LSB-Public list by Frank Lefever. Frank's post was prefaced by this note from Mitchel Cohen. It is confusing, because Mitchel has long been Reimers' apologist as well as had serious clashes with Mr. Manfredonia. I cannot personally vouch for the veracity of this backstage drama, but the story it tells clearly has some basis in truth. For that reason, I put it on the table, hoping that someone can shed more light on it and, perhaps, come up with some documentation.
So, let's hope listener-supporter Kainak-Daher receives the airfare owed her and thank those who share my strong desire to separate the wheat from the tare and clean up the Pacifica field.
Details of the "thank you gift" in question appeared on the WBAI website, December 29, 2015 (If you need to enlarge it, please click on the image below):
Chris,
I believe that this e-mail from Mitchel Cohen is very important and should be posted. The entire premium imbroglio is one Ponzi scheme. Just read the e-mail and read how WBAI cheats its listeners.
Thank you. Ed Manfredonia
_____________
FROM: Mitchel Cohen
SUBJECT: [WBAI Community Board] letter to WBAI
I was forwarded this letter from a WBAI listener. I send it to you because this is a serious complaint about the way WBAI management does not prioritize its listeners, despite the extremely strenuous good will attempts by volunteers to reach out and assist them where possible.
I am asking the CFO to gather the needed documents and issue a full report on the Gary Null paid retreats, because we have two sets of stories that are not even in the same ballpark, moneywise: WBAI management tells me that people call Gary Null's phone number to go on these retreats and not WBAI, and that WBAI has received no more than $8,000 from them. Steve Brown puts the figure at $28,000 from the last retreat and several hundreds of thousands of dollars over the last 2 years, and has provided some audio from 4 years ago but nothing recent that I've heard in which WBAI's number is the one to call. What's the truth here?
Since the costs are $2,000 apiece, these donations should be easy enough to track down and isolate.
I am also sending this to the Local FInance Committee and asking them to work with the CFO as to what's actually going on.
Thank you.
From: eloisebeyond
Sent: Mon, Jun 13, 2016 2:45 pm
To Berthold Reimers and Andrea Katz:
Please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Eloise Krainak-Daher. If my name sounds familiar to you it is because I was notified back in February of this year, after donating my hard earned money to one of your fund drives, by Andrea Katz, that I was the winner of the one week retreat with Gary Null in Texas. I understand that the station earned over $25,000 from that fund drive.
Weeks went by and NO ONE CONTACTED ME FROM THE STATION WITH MY TRAVEL ARRANGEMENTS OR DATES despite the fact that I sent several e-mails to both of you and left several phone messages. NO ONE EVER GOT BACK TO ME. Can you imagine my emotional confusion and angst after being notified that I was the winner and was never give my prize?? I was furious.
I finally contacted Luanne Pennesi. She connected me with Gary immediately and Gary Null PAID FOR MY ENTIRE RETREAT STAY out of his own pocket. I had to pay my own airfare, which I expect WBAI to refund to me.
What the two of you committed in no uncertain terms is outright FRAUD. Your gross insensitivity to your audience is the main reason that WBAI is dying. It is sheer mismanagement and ABUSE OF THE LISTENERS and I, for one, will no longer tolerate this negligent behavior.
For starters, know that I and all of my friends, who were shocked to hear how poorly I was treated by WBAI management, will no longer be listening to the station, nor will we be donating ANYTHING to your fund drives.
Next, I am reporting WBAI and its management to the NY District Attorney, the NYS Attorney General and the Federal Trade Commission. Many of my friends and co-workers who listen to the station also told me that they paid for premiums and NEVER RECEIVED THEM. After what happened to me they are also going the the Attorney General and FTC with their concerns.
How unfortunate that the management of WBAI is this incompetent and intentionally negligent to its listeners. Shame on both of you for lying to and deceiving your audience.
Eloise Kainak-Daher
Good and bad business practices as demonstrated by Null and WBAI. Null wins loyalty, while WBAI loses money.
ReplyDeleteSDL
And in other Null news, this is now heading up prn.fm's website:
ReplyDeleteFrom Gary Null’s Home on the Upper West Side, Gary wants to give his personal Dining Set to one of his listeners so that the proceed can help keep Progressive Radio Network going strong.
This is a 6 piece dining set. The table is 54” Round with 5 chairs. The glass is 1/2 inch thick and the glass has 2’inchs of frosted bevel. As well as a Custom Design Wrought Iron Base. The 5 chairs are walnut color and since its a beautiful piece and don’t want to ruin, It is local pick up only. The bidding starts at 499.00 and if you have any questions, email me Jason @ prnstudio@gmail.com. Place your bid and keep PRN on.
One of these things is not like the other. Null is either only generous when it suits him, or he's not worth nearly what some assume.
First it's "give" then it's $499.00.
DeleteNull has money, but I don't think he is anywhere as rich as he and his people want us to believe. PRN isn't any sort of big time webcaster.
Let Toto loose to pull back the curtain.
On another note, I had an idea. Get "The "Distinguished" Ron Daniels together with "The Illustrious" Blacks (who showed me today they are deep seated bigots) for The Distinguished Illustrious No Listeners Bullshit Hour.".
SDL
(JustAlistener)
ReplyDeleteHa, WBAI is so stupid they don't even know how to run the scam.
You don't tell ANYONE that they won.
The suck-er...donors will assume someone else won and they won't complain.
So Null is down to selling the furniture in his house to stay afloat...
PS Chris, thanks for the interesting replay regarding my question about Ali.
Reality is so different than the slanted versions of it that emerge decades later.
I hope you write more about your recollections.
Years ago when I heard recordings of Malcolm X's speeches and interviews (on WBAI) it really opened my eyes. A man capable of clear speech and reasoned thoughts. Fortunately he was wrong and MLK was right, but given the era he was in his position was understandable.
My uncle knew Stokely Carmichael (Carmichael's wife, Miriam Makeba was an accounting client of my uncle). I remember my uncle talking about his relationship with Carmichael, including the arguments, but alas my uncle passed away decades ago, before I was old enough to appreciate and ask him for details about those times and the people he met.
"You don't tell ANYONE that they won. " Exactly. Or you have a shill whom you make sure wins, if you have to do a drawing in public view.
DeleteSDL
When they ran such raffles, they broke every rule, including those of reason. They made many announcements to gather interest from listeners, but these were often delivered by incompetent WBAI hosts who had not been furnished any details. There are many iPad models and configurations, but all the hawkers knew was that the prize was an iPad, no knowledge of model, memory, color, etc. On that offer, it turned out that nobody had the details, because the station hadn't even acquired the item. Reimers told an inquiring Katz that they didn't have the money!
DeleteThere should have been an info sheet containing the particulars and time and day set for a live drawing. A raffle opens up many promotional opportunities that would have given WBAI dded mileage, but none wre taken advantage of. When a winner was finally announced, it came more or less as an aside on one of the station's least popular shows, the Haskins morning slavery report.
A recent raffle was extended, which is unethical, possibly illegal, and clearly unfair to listeners who participated in the contest within the originally designated time frame.
WBAI has sunk to depths of deprivation hitherto unimagined by me, for one.
Yes, JAL, we are aware of many of the station's management-condoned scams precisely because the perpetrators are such idiots.
DeleteWhen I met Malcolm X, he had returned from his eye-opening trip a changed man. He was rather pleasant company. Much of the hatred and racism we hear from WBAI's ersatz activists has come to 2016 by way of closed minds.
Pacifica would be the only people who could get a McDonalds franchise and drive it out of business.
DeleteSDL
Starting at 7:55 AM Hay-tie Haskins did a raffle for an all expenses paid trip to the Aware Show retreat, even getting the winner on the phone. Think she'll actually get the travel details? Think having an Aware Show retreat is a dig at Null?
ReplyDeleteSDL
While they're haggling over how much money was made and by whom, has anyone reached out to Eloise to apologize and cover her expenses?
ReplyDeleteA volunteer/donor, Jack A. DePalma, who apparently can get to Reimers, posted elsewhere that he will get him to pay her the money. I hope so, we'll see.
DeleteGary Null made money from the retreat, makes money from the station, raises money for the station, makes the station looks bad by simply answering his phone and emerges as the good guy by helping Eloise. What's wrong with this picture?
ReplyDeleteThe picture is skewed beyond speculation. Some seemingly good deals have turned out to be acts of retribution, for example. I'm not saying that this is the case here, but I'm just sayin', as they say.
Delete