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From time to time, a former WBAI contributor looks at the present and shares thoughts of a radio experience none of us can look forward to. Tom Wisker's program on weaponry was informative and his emotions often made it surprisingly appropriate for airing on a Pacifist station. The above assessment appeared yesterday, January 2, 2018 on FaceBook. If you find the text too small, please click on the image.
My thanks to another WBAI/Pacifica veteran, Andrew Leslie Phillips who originally hosted the above statement in his own FaceBook spot and has now added his own observations:
Tom was a gem and there were many others down through the years and I doubt current management knows any of them. WBAI was an incredible and awesome place and I use both adjectives in their true sense. Some over here might find insights over there:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/PacRadioSupporters/?ref=bookmarks
KPFA is very much misunderstood my many on this coast. I managed the place (much to my surprise) for 2.5 years and learned a lot. There are some really good producers there, very professional and way different to over on this coast. The music programing is extraordinary and most hosts are ersatz ethno musicologists. The news is a little conservative for my taste but well produced. The morning programming headed by the talented Brian Edwards Tiekert, with a little help, could become a national morning program. When I arrived at WBAI - should I say returned after about 17 years as PD (for ten weeks) I brought some of the west coast programming to WBAI - to the consternation of some like Mitchel Cohen - and I would have brought more had I stayed. Ian Masters "Background Briefing" should be a national program but as soon as I left, Reimers dumped it. I was at WBAI 1979-1994 and it was a pretty good radio station. After that it went into decline and then Bernard White's destructive years sealed its fate. Bernard was a good music host but that was about the end of his talent. The JUC folks should not have been near a mic. Political Correct nonsense flooded the airwaves and the audience evaporated. There was a time when Null was a pretty good producer. When I was PD he returned about 25% of the income from fund raising - which was unhealthy of course but he was professional on air and his numbers compared with others were huge. I introduced Amy Goodman to WBAI in 1984 and soon she ran the news room. DemNow came later, long after I left. There was talent at WBAI and one can still find some at WBAI but basically its sadly dissipated now. And why Reimers and Bates have been permitted to essentially loot the place is beyond me. The ineffective boards local and national over the past twenty years have facilitated the demise. It would be a terrible thing if the once great WBAI cause the sacking of the entire network. It would be terrible of KPFA which really is the jewel in the crown also came tumbling down.—Andrew Leslie Phillips
A few days ago I was thinking of Wisker and his illuminating program. How a man like him would be such a breath of fresh air on WBAI these days. I'm glad to know he's still around.
ReplyDeleteHis comments are cogent and appreciated.
SDL
Wisker - Illuminating, insightful, great sacrifices for the Pacifica mission, and knows how to thread a tape machine and ride the levels! A lost talent.
DeleteI remember a Report to the Listener show back in Wisker's day where a woman called in and asked for his show to be taken off the air because, as she said, it advocated violence. Whoever answered her asked her doesn't she want to know where her money is being spent on the military. That shut her up quickly.
DeleteSDL
Tom was a gem and there were many others down through the years and I doubt current management knows any of them. WBAI was an incredible and awesome place and I use both adjectives in their true sense. Some over here might find insights over there https://www.facebook.com/groups/PacRadioSupporters/?ref=bookmarks - KPFA is very much misunderstood my many on this coast. I managed the place (much to my surprise) for 2.5 years and learned a lot. There are some really good producers there, very professional and way different to over on this coast. The music programing is extraordinary and most hosts are ersatz ethno musicologists. The news is a little conservative for my taste but well produced. The morning programming headed by the talented Brian Edwards Tiekert, with a little help, could become a national morning program. When I arrived at WBAI - should I say returned after about 17 years as PD (for ten weeks) I brought some of the west coast programming to WBAI - to the consternation of some like Mitchel Cohen - and I would have brought more had I stayed. Ian Masters "Background Briefing" should be a national program but as soon as I left, Reimers dumped it. I was at WBAI 1979-1994 and it was a pretty good radio station. After that it went into decline and then Bernard White's destructive years sealed its fate. Bernard was a good music host but that was about the end of his talent. The JUC folks should not have been near a mic. Political Correct nonsense flooded the airwaves and the audience evaporated. There was a time when Null was a pretty good producer. When I was PD he returned about 25% of the income from fund raising - which was unhealthy of course but he was professional on air and his numbers compared with others were huge. I introduced Amy Goodman to WBAI in 1984 and soon she ran the news room. DemNow came later, long after I left. There was talent at WBAI and one can still find some at WBAI but basically its sadly dissipated now. And why Reimers and Bates have been permitted to essentially loot the place is beyond me. The ineffective boards local and national over the past twenty years have facilitated the demise. It would be a terrible thing if the once great WBAI cause the sacking of the entire network. It would be terrible of KPFA which really is the jewel in the crown also came tumbling down.
ReplyDeleteWeaponry was a fabulous show. Wisker was - and apparently still is - Of The Body when it comes to what WBAI is supposed to be. Perhaps Wisker, and others like him, can continue their (former) radio shows on-line, and in so doing not only provide us all with valuable programming, but demonstrate to the current WBAI clowns what quality shows actually sound like.
ReplyDeleteDead on.
ReplyDelete~ indigopirate'
As Pacifica gets closer to officially shutting down, the various warring factions chime in to keep tearng each other apart. Which is one of the key reasons Pacifica can't be saved. No actual accountability of anyone for anything they say and do.
ReplyDeleteI predict that the warring factions will continue to wage war long after the Pacifica stations have gone silent.
DeleteTheir own YouTube channel perhaps?
They will try to sue until their faces are blue.
Delete5 more days till KPFA and the other affiliates start to be shut down.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone have an idea of the sequence of events for ESRT's actions?
DeleteThe first thing that they will do is attach the bank accounts. This will freeze them as a prelude to their being emptied by ESRT. Next, they will foreclose on the real estate, which will be auctioned for cash.
DeleteI see there's an 11th hour PNB meeting for tonight (January 4). This should be interesting in showing us if they get their heads together or blow it.
ReplyDeleteSDL
I wonder if Reimers will use the weather as an excuse to blow off the report to the listeners that was announced for today.
ReplyDeleteHe would first have to claim that the phone line is frozen. Then either Bates or Cerene will takecommand and address thee 23 listeners with lies even Reimers couldn’t have invented.
DeleteReimers and Bates could claim "They" (and the evil Swiss) manipulated the weather so Report to the Remnants had to be cancelled.
DeleteSDL
They’ll have to bring a note from Brady.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteWell, apparently, despite announcing the Report was cancelled an hour before, WBAI decides to do the Report anyway at 4PM due to the WSJ report circulating about Pacifica/WBAI situation and according to Kathryn Davis, this is not ESRB's fault, it's more an internal problem inside Pacifica that's causing this chaos. BTW, you can only listen online because the feed at 99.5 is cutting on & off constantly thanks to Verizon.
Deleteahh , Now i know why it is" Report to the listener" , And not ,Report to the listeners" haha
ReplyDeletefrom Marc Cooper, former WBAI broadcaster:
ReplyDeletePacifica Radio has been but a zombie network for more than 15 years. The sooner it goes, the better as it does nothing but discredit the Left. It has a miniscule audience, NO political influence, it is a serial purveyor of quack "medicines," it offers NO serious nor relevant political analysts who can reach anybody beyond the cult like choir. It is a toxic, nasty workplace filled with oddballs and miscreants and has been radically mismanaged into deep debt and obscurity.
If you do the tedious homework necessary you will find that the current death spiral dates back to 2000 when Saint Amy Goodman invented a supposed "corporate takeover threat" and the rest of the Idiot Left blindly bought into the conspiracy narrative. It has been downward ever since. A straight vertical line. Under a Tump admin, Pacifica should be rolling in money.... but that would assume there was anybody there who knew what they were ding except clinging to their little pieces of personal air time. I deeply deeply regret every minute I spent there --it's time I will never get back and it was an enormous waste of time spent among some of the ugliest personalities I have ever encountered.
"I deeply deeply regret every minute I spent there --it's time I will never get back and it was an enormous waste of time spent among some of the ugliest personalities I have ever encountered."
DeleteThis is EXACTLY how I feel. It was like I accidentally started going to cult meetings for 6 years. I enjoyed putting on my little show, but it was a pointless hobby that very, very few people listened to. I wish I had devoted a fraction of those hundreds of hours into writing one single article published in a real newspaper, or some other actually meaningful endeavor. I have been able to reboot my career in something completely unrelated and fulfilling, but my time at bai is the biggest regret of my life.
2018 is a new year! We can redeem that wasted time. No looking back.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/radio-broadcaster-pacifica-teeters-on-edge-of-bankruptcy-1514907785
ReplyDeleteIt seems you need to be a suscriber to read the entire article. Can you copy and paste it?
DeleteI guess WBAI made the big time...
SDL
(JustAListener)
ReplyDeleteNice to hear Tom Wisker is still around and functioning.
I was worried because when he gave up his show he seemed to be in a bad state.
"Weaponry" had become "PTSD Radio" (the crabs eating the bodies...).
But it was one of my favorite shows, one of those "you'll only hear this here" shows that had useful info (especially for fans of the B32) presented by an interesting host.
Tom, you have to write/record your memoirs, you never told us what you were doing in Central America!
And seeing Andrew Philips comment reminds me of the last moment WBAI had a chance of survival.
What if Summer Reese had been allowed to fire Reimers and put in Phillips instead of being almost literally kicked out of the national office (in what would surely be a highlight of "Pacifica the Movie" if anyone bothered to make it)?
Reese did extend WBAI's life by facing reality and laying off most of the staff, but realistic thinking was subsequently banished.
Only Pacifica could make a leftist flake like Reese look like a savvy CEO such as Michael Eisner or Alan Mullaly!
He's an example of the complete failure of WBAI to operate like a professional radio station. "Weaponry" is an outstanding idea for a show. You could imagine all sorts of interesting programs on the weapons used by different countries, the history of weaponry in warfare, the politics and economics behind procurement, etc. You could imagine interviews with manufacturers, DoD analysts, disarmament activists, and veterans who actually used the weapons being discussed. It could have been something amazing. But instead, it was some guy with no experience or expertise, reading statistics from a book in monotone. The one time I heard him deviate from this dreary, boring formula is when he went off on a bizarre conspiracy theory that there was a huge battle between the US and Soviet navies in 1983 and everyone on both sides was covering it up. He's an idiot who was well-suited to his job as a clerk at the Strand bookstore, not as a faux weapons analyst. And he squatted on the air for decades. It's disgraceful.
DeleteWBAI is having audio problems, just in time for Reimer's report. A coincidence?
ReplyDeleteSomeone said that the “report“ had been postponed until next week at the same time due to the snow.
DeleteNo, the report just started and is fine on the website. Only the FM audio has dropouts.
DeleteSDL
It's not postponed, it's going on right now, although they did say they'll do another report next Thursday, same time 4-6 PM as they aren't able to take phone calls today.
DeleteYou cannot sensor thought if you can't hear it. The broadcast is dropping out, might be best to listen over wbai.org. A broke report to the listener.
ReplyDeleteNothing new. All finger-pointing at the National Board.
ReplyDeleteHemorrhoid, Kathy, and Cerene were just on what.org, discussing the ESRT judgment. They are no longer vilifying the ESRT. Instead, they vilified the Pacifica Foundation. Also, Kathy and Cerene argued about turning over control of WBAI to MNN. As one might, expect, none of it was enlightening, but it was fun to hear the nonsense all three of them spouted
ReplyDeleteI finally got my Kathy vs. Cerene dream match, and it was kinda funny...
ReplyDeleteSDL