Wednesday, December 27, 2017

Breaking the silence...

Nobody listens to WBAI anymore and fewer still want to hear objective criticism or advice from people who know and care. Among the handful of respected broadcasters left on Pacifica stations is Economic Analyst Doug Henwood, whose program, Behind the News offers a welcomed contrast to the inane fluff and race-generated propaganda that dominates a lackluster weekly schedule. Here is what he has to say about the self-destruction and vandalism Pacifica is currently undergoing.
Because WBAI is broke, almost listenerless, and run by idiots, the station didn’t pay its transmitter bill to the Empire State Building, and is now $3 million in arrears. The ESB has sued and wants to seize Pacifica’s assets, which would include KPFA and KPFK’s bank accounts and buildings. 
Because the Pacifica board is staffed by idiots, the network is not filing for bankruptcy or taking any other meaningful measures to protect itself. The rational thing to do would be to sell WBAI’s frequency (at 99.5, it’s on the commercial section of the radio dial), because the station is braindead and pointless, and the proceeds could save the rest of the network. But that doesn’t seem to be happening.
There’s a high risk that KPFA — where Behind the News originates — will stop broadcasting on January 12. I don’t know what that means for the future of BtN, but aside from that, the loss of KPFA would be tragic. 
It’s taken years to get to this point. If you wanted to destroy the network, you couldn’t have done any better than make Tony Bates the WBAI program director and Berthold Reimers the general manager. And you couldn’t have done any better than staff the board with people who have no idea of how to run anything. It would be premature to type “RIP,” but it’s not too soon to make what delicate people call “arrangements."
—Doug Henwood
Doug Henwood's program is also heard at Pacifica's KPFA whose general manager, Quincy McCoy, had this to say:
All,

I’ve held off writing this depressing message as long as I could in an effort to gather as much information and analysis possible while working with current and former LSB members in trying to protect KPFA’s interests in this grim situation we find ourselves in.

Because of Pacifica’s critical financial condition and the PNB’s lack of strategic action or courage the prognosis for the network’s future is shadowy.

The Imminent Threat

Come *January 12th *KPFA’s money and property may be seized by the Empire State Realty Trust because of a 1.8 million dollar debt of our sister station WBAI.

If this happens we will cease broadcasting because we will be unable to operate the station. At that point, our building and our bank account will no longer be under our control. Needless to say, this is a terrible position to be in, especially for management when there is *still* no plan of action to articulate from the National leadership to the staff.

How Did This Happen?

• WBAI owes the Empire State Realty Trust 1.8 million dollars in delinquent transmitter rent. [Plus more delinquent rent since April, not covered in the suit.] ESRT filed in court against Pacifica on November 23rd, 2016. Their monthly rent is currently at $53K per month escalating each month.

• On October 4 a judge found in favor of ESRT making it possible for them to file in all states where Pacifica has properties, allowing them to seize money and property.

• The idea of a signal swap for WBAI was ignited and brokers were hired.

• The PNB voted to give IED the authority to begin preparation for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, but he and many others on the PNB thought to sell properties (like our two adjacent buildings) and others could cover the debt. The other idea was a high-interest loan that so far has never been secured. All of these instead of the signal swap in New York.

• Then the PNB rescinded the bankruptcy resolution. Also, KPFA and KPFK signals were added for signal swaps.

• ESRT judgment filed in California on December 6th to seize property and money from KPFA and K. It is a 30-day waiting period that ends January 12h.

• Then the PNB voted to allow some prep for Bankruptcy.

• At PNB meeting 2 weeks ago California’s Deputy Attorney General, Julianne Mossier spoke at the meeting and made it clear that the board needed to vote to take action immediately and that anyone who obstructs for any personal reasons were liable for not carrying out their fiduciary duties.

• The board ignored her plea, but set up an emergency meeting about moving ahead with bankruptcy the following Monday but no action was taken.

• The clock is ticking…

What is Being Done?

I want to thank all the LSB members who have worked so diligently this year negotiating with the PNB in good faith to move the network in a positive direction while also protecting KPFA’s interests.

Because of the imminent threat of a lien on KPFA’s bank account, we have disbursed in advance (what is legally allowed) our payroll account to Dec 31 st., medical benefits till February and all of our essential bills are paid.. In the first week of January, we will process advance payroll for January and pay another month of medical. I’m sorry to say that is all management can do. There still is no playbook for a month or two months down the road.

What is the PNB doing? The governance structure of Pacifica, our historic culture of the usual political infighting, etc., has led to disagreement and paralysis. Unless action is taken pretty immediately we may cease to exist. You deserve to understand where things stand. I could wait no longer.

Much respect,

Quincy McCoy

General Manager, 
"In times of crisis, *unity* is the only solution." 


11 comments:

  1. I feel no pity for WBAI. Doug Henwood was a close buddy of Samori Marksman, who gave him his show. He loves Samori, who was a Marxist scumbag. Samori helped cover up many crimes and criminals at WBAI, including the late-breaking news about Armand DiMele, who apparently was molesting and raping women @ WBAI. The place was and is a cesspool and needs to be flushed into history.

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  2. Bates is called "Program Manager" to get around the requirements for hiring a "Program Director." At this point, he should probably be called "Head Honcho," however.

    SDL

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    1. And the other "consultants" covering union positions?

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  3. Can SAG-AFTRA provide any support or guidance to union members in protecting their rights?

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    1. The workers can bring a lawsuit and stand in line with all of Pacifica's other creditor.

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  4. No. Sag/AFTRA won't do anything, and they shouldn't. All they do is look after the needs of their members in good standing. Period. When Air America went bankrupt, SAG/AFTRA was involved with lots of lawsuits. One document was a list of on air people, their home addresses, numbers and how much they were owed. I'm sure that Al Franken was thrilled that the whole world knew where he lived. Having gone through that, why would they do that again with Pacifica?

    How many decades have the warring factions been at each other to seize control of Pacifica? Now they've destroyed it.

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    1. Why would they do it again? Because they support the rights of the dues-paying members. Court records are public docs.

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    2. There was a time, decades ago, when SAG/AFTRA tried to keep off the air a major tribute we had produced to honor Lorraine Hansberry. They wanted money, we wanted to air a fitting tribute.

      We decided to embarrass the unions by bringing this to the attention of the NY Times. They picked it up and ran with it, in large part—I think—because about 50 or 60 top celebrities were involved. The SAG/AFTRA people gave in and allowed us one broadcast.

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    3. Was it recorded and saved?

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  5. Well, at least we now have an answer to the following proverbial question:"What happens when the inmates start running the asylum?"

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  6. Funny , Just a week ago Doug Henwood bashing bai , specifically Reimers and Bates .
    Saying how if you wanted to destroy a radio station you couldn't have picked 2
    better people to do it.
    They are the 2 that are ok,ing the race based crap that you can't get away from here .
    So today Henwood is ADDING to the misery and himself going the race based route .
    Does he listen to his own show ? He does more of his share of race based programming .
    These idiots need to go away . Including Henwood .

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