Have We Been Gaslighted?
I don't think I am alone in wondering when/if there will be a positive change on and off WBAI's air. So far, the bane of BAI has replaced a couple of shows, oddly continuing to wallow in his old groove of minimal IQ, street-black-targeted armchair activism, shallow chit chat and see-thru propaganda. I hesitate to say that Bates deliberately insults intelligence, given that he himself seems to have but a modicum of that, but he clearly has not learned anything from stumbling down the path of poor judgement that endears him to Berthold Reimers.
He was on the right track when he reduced Michael Haskins' 5-day morning disaster to Mondays and Tuesdays, but he should have eliminated him totally. I have heard no details regarding the sudden departure of a silly twosome known as "the blacks", but it, too, was an improvement, and far more weeding remains to be done. The outlook for positive change, however, continues to be dim.
Contributing to the bleak outlook is a rumored consideration by the Pacifica National Board to not compound the current financial crisis by conducting the mandated, costly 2018 election. The reality, however, is that cancellation may well prove to be costly, even fatal. It will extend the stay of Board members whose term is about to expire. One of these members is Cerene Robertson—need I elucidate?
While the bylaws call for an election, the PNB believes that Pacifica's current situation will get the California AG's sanction to override the rules. Never mind that Pacifica has a history of ignoring its own bylaws.
So, with destructive, corrupt Board members staying on, the forecast for recovery remains gloomy.
On that note, let me end with further evidence of WBAI falling victim to ineptitude and neglect. The following audio clip is an air check from last Friday's Morning Show, and it really says it all. As mentioned above, Haskins—who likes to repeatedly ID himself as WBAI's "chief announcer, chief engineer, and guide"—lost the 6-8AM Friday time slot to a succession of hopelessly ill-suited hosts, the current one being Jerry Otera, who calls himself "Mista Oh." When he failed to show up for the 6 AM show, Haskins announced that he would be there shortly and proceeded to play some jazz recordings, interspersed with commercial spots for black events. This continued—with excruciating, but typical sound level bounces—for the next hour and fifty minutes. Then, Mista Oh finally popped up and offered six minutes of rambling, pot-laced gibberish, including a list of several guests whose expertise he had meant for us to hear. Note that he apologises to the guests, but not the listeners. He also announces that he will be back on this topic next year.
Here in its entirety is Mistah Oh's unedited
six-minute breakfast high.
He was on the right track when he reduced Michael Haskins' 5-day morning disaster to Mondays and Tuesdays, but he should have eliminated him totally. I have heard no details regarding the sudden departure of a silly twosome known as "the blacks", but it, too, was an improvement, and far more weeding remains to be done. The outlook for positive change, however, continues to be dim.
Contributing to the bleak outlook is a rumored consideration by the Pacifica National Board to not compound the current financial crisis by conducting the mandated, costly 2018 election. The reality, however, is that cancellation may well prove to be costly, even fatal. It will extend the stay of Board members whose term is about to expire. One of these members is Cerene Robertson—need I elucidate?
While the bylaws call for an election, the PNB believes that Pacifica's current situation will get the California AG's sanction to override the rules. Never mind that Pacifica has a history of ignoring its own bylaws.
So, with destructive, corrupt Board members staying on, the forecast for recovery remains gloomy.
On that note, let me end with further evidence of WBAI falling victim to ineptitude and neglect. The following audio clip is an air check from last Friday's Morning Show, and it really says it all. As mentioned above, Haskins—who likes to repeatedly ID himself as WBAI's "chief announcer, chief engineer, and guide"—lost the 6-8AM Friday time slot to a succession of hopelessly ill-suited hosts, the current one being Jerry Otera, who calls himself "Mista Oh." When he failed to show up for the 6 AM show, Haskins announced that he would be there shortly and proceeded to play some jazz recordings, interspersed with commercial spots for black events. This continued—with excruciating, but typical sound level bounces—for the next hour and fifty minutes. Then, Mista Oh finally popped up and offered six minutes of rambling, pot-laced gibberish, including a list of several guests whose expertise he had meant for us to hear. Note that he apologises to the guests, but not the listeners. He also announces that he will be back on this topic next year.
Here in its entirety is Mistah Oh's unedited
six-minute breakfast high.
In addition to his ridiculous name, and the inanity of his comments, I find Mr Oh's voice to be as annoying as fingernails on a blackboard.
ReplyDeleteLast week "Mista O" was co-hosting his 2 hour time slot with another "ego-driven" radio personality from WVIP (93.5) named Keeling Beckford. Beckford was spinning Jamaican and various other Caribbean tunes and getting free commercial advertising telling listeners where they could buy the recordings, videos, etc. at his place of business in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. There are so many blatant contradictions at WBAI, to say the least.
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to legal matters, the station is as out-of-control as it is when it comes to quality.
DeleteAll this tough guy talk Chris. Is this how they learn English in Iceland?
ReplyDeleteBogarting - selfishly appropriate or keep
Gaslighting - manipulate someone into questioning their own memory, perception and sanity.
You're right about Mr. O'Pothead. Not once did he apologize to the listeners. He shows up at the end and delivers a lecture. Did he even thank Haskings for covering for him or was he in too much of a haze to remember?
Just wanted to say that the Illustrious Blacks was a good show. They are very popular in the LGTB community. The NY Times did a spread on the duo -- https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/13/t-magazine/entertainment/monstah-black-manchildblack-bedstuy-guide.html. And they are sought after to DJ parties for museums and art institutions like the High Line. I am not part of the LGTB community but I did check out their show which was clever and not conventional. And Tony Bates did not bring them onto the station. It was Jeannie Hopper. She brought my show, Make Music NY and How to Make It in the City. Unfortunately, the constant disruptions of shows and proper support drove producers away. I agree new management is desperately needed but more important, the network and station need goals and focus that's broad-based and inclusive. Listeners should advocate for those needs everyday to the Board and the Interim Director.
ReplyDeleteI guess they redefine the meaning of “”illustrious”. Jeannie Hopper is another self-serving abuser of WBAI airtime.
DeleteTo each his own, but why make a mockery of this station in the process? It is neither broad based nor inclusive in the hands of vandals like Haskins, Bates, Reimers, and a very large number of dense dolts.
BTW, I checked out the New York Times link you included, all it does is underline my impression of these two rather shallow people who did not belong on WBAI.
DeleteYou are an elitist Chris. Sit back and listen to the story shamelessly lifted from a google search:
DeleteOnce upon a time in a galaxy not far away, there lived two kings. Each was the ruler of his own deliciously glorious planet. The first king, Manchildblack, was well known throughout the cosmos for his ethereal vocals, celestial sonics and earthy musical messages. The other king, Monstah Black, was a star in the solar system for his gravity defying performances, gender bending fashions and spacey disposition. One magical night, an inexplicable ultra-magnetic pull forced the two planets to collide. A technicolored explosion occurred, turning night into day, with a feast of aural and visual delights. It was then that the universe was changed forever. Manchildblack and Monstah Black united and became The Illustrious Blacks!
I don't think of these guys as turds in any form, they are probably very good when they DJ for parties, but their appearances on WBAI have been totally lacking in substance, humor, intellect, etc. Even the music was of the pedestrian Co-Edison-reliant sort. The applause tracks? Well. didn't we abandon that sort of thing back in the pre-dawn of radio sitcoms?
DeleteNow, that's very judgmental. And it could be very biased. I am not apart of the LGTB community but I learned something. I thought the goal of the station was to bring New Yorkers together along with their interests and concerns. You may not appreciate the Blacks but they are successful. And WBAI had nothing to do with it. How many can claim a spread in the NY Times.
ReplyDeleteI understand your angry over mismanagement but rage is another thing. Start an online digital radio station. Show others how to make a difference. Channel your energy positively. Otherwise you seem entitled, the very thing you are accusing management of being.
Pacifica doesn't criticism for the sake of criticism. They need supportive people with real experience. Set the example.
You thought wrong. WBAI's goal was never a bringing together of New Yorkers, nor should "success" be a criterium.
DeleteAnyway, were you correct in your assumptions, I think we could readily agree that WBAI—having become a virtually unknown station with but a handful of listeners—is a pathetic failure. It wasn't always so, not in earlier years when a policy of intellectual honesty prevailed. That ought to tell you something.
It is what attracted me to WBAI in 1961 and what I strove to maintain when I became its manager.
WBAI does indeed bring NYCers together - a few dozen ignorant malcontents...
DeleteSDL
WBAI also brings more enlightened NYCers together by uniting them in their contempt for the station's management and most of its programming.
DeleteUnity measured in disunity... that group scattered and cannot at this juncture be reassembled. WBAI has been damaged beyond repair, which is not to say that it won't somehow manage to stay on the air so that a clammy handful of very small-minded misfits can continue lying to each other.
DeleteMista Oh is showing us why marijuana was/is illegal. Imagine a country of Mista Ohs all stoned and incapable of doing anything? It wouldn't last too long. This guy is just another meaningless idiot that wastes airspace on the station. Let's see how much money his pothead friends will fork over during a beg-a-thon. Even egomaniac Filipe Luciano was better than this when he did Friday mornings. At least he would talk about some meaningful stuff.
ReplyDeleteI knew Hopper was responsible for The Illustrious Blacks, as it's her type of club scene crap. Remember she was a very short term iPD (or some such thing) after Murillo left.
I think WBAI should really make some controversy and put a black gay Republican on the air. Wait, many of The Remnants may have heart attacks and die. Ummm... Wait... As long as they leave WBAI in their wills, that could be a good thing, since Pacifica likes dead listeners, if they give that last, big donation.
SDL
Why not? It would at least something different. It would be living up to the Pacifica mission. I didnt see the part in the mission that said only certain voices can be heard.
DeleteIt would be a nice change. Doesn't it get boring in the echo chamber?
"Why not?" to the black gay republican idea? Sure, why not? I think it could be interesting, if the person is intelligent and well spoken, of course.
DeleteI'm actually a bit amazed there isn't, at least, a libertarian show on, or more amazed by the lack of an atheist show.
I could go on, but I won't. WBAI is about preaching to the converted, and reinforcing their beliefs, as any such propaganda seeks to do.
SDL
SDL will undoubtedly have his own response to your remark, but I hope you don't mind if I make you aware of a fact that derails your argument: You are correct when you point out that the Pacifica mission statement does not name approved or disapproved voices.
DeleteBeing a member of the LGBT community does not disqualify anyone from appearing on WBAI; being consistently shallow is another matter—at least it used to be. Pacifica's intended "community" was never based upon ancestry, sexual persuasion, race, religious belief, age or even political bent. The current clueless "management" and its insiders have a very different idea—they have narrowed their definition of "community" down to a small segment of the area's black population.
In that process, they reduced the station to an FCC licensed street corner platform for soap box activists and snake oil-level hucksters. Not saying that the discontinued "Blacks" represented either group, but they were sufficiently innocuous for Jeannie Hopper to slip them into the highly diluted mix.
The listenership, as you probably know, looked for and found the nearest exit. A "nice change", you say? I am with the disagreeing majority on this one.
Chris,
ReplyDeleteWhen is WBAI moving from the ESRT?
When is WBAI moving to Times Square? What is the new monthly rent?
Has there been a published breakdown of the amount paid to the ESRT?
What is the interest rate on the loan?
What is the total amount of the loan?
What is the total amount due for the pension? How much is the interest rate for late payments on the pension sum, which is owed? Late fees?
Thank you.
Ed Manfredonia
Ed, as you know, we are still being kept in the dark when it comes to many important details. Some conflicting details have emerged, but the mere fact that actual documentation is scant makes me believe that large grains of salt may still be required.
DeleteI hope someone out there knows more and will share.
Ed wants answers? Take a number. This is Pacifica. The LSB is still looking for answers.
DeleteThe PNB members themselves are not fully informed. Even the GM has questions. The bottom line is that they borrowed a lot of money to get out of a mess they created in the first place and now have to figure out how to pay for it.
Only an experienced apologist like Mitchel Cohen will attempt to whitewash recycled ineptitude. :)
DeleteSomeone wrote why no more books have been written about WBAI. The answer - fear. There are still many thugs and hooligans affiliated with WBAI. The true story would endanger the author to threats. A book needs to be told about the Samori Era - an era of black nationalism and thievery. A few more people need to die before that story is told. Samori and Robert Knight are dead - that is a good sign. Valerie Van Isler is near death - when she oasses, then people will talk.
ReplyDeleteWhen the moon hits the eye, like a big pizza pie....
ReplyDelete... is that Samori?
WBAI was already heading south when he took the reins, but I believe he certainly had much to do with that fatal change in direction. Listen to the current crowd in the driver's seat and you will see that the steering problem is endemic.
That said, let's at least tell it like it appears to be and not wish anyone dead.