Maxie Jackson is very much an apparatchik. As such he is devoted to process and procedures as he understands them.
Is this the path for Pacifica's rebirth, its renewal, the way Forward...?
Or otherwise...?
~ 'indigopirate'
An unvarnished blog that dips into the past and comments on the present of WBAI-FM, a once significant, intelligent New York radio station that for years has suffered chronic abuse from within and now nears extinction. Your comments are welcomed and will not be censored.
Couldn't you just summarize for those of us who don't want to listen?
ReplyDeleteIn this instance I was reluctant to characterize. Maxie, in my judgement, is a fifth-rate corporate/organizational/buzzword person. He's 'progressive' and 'community' and 'minority' in his interests, but clearly suffers from having attended a second-or-third-rate media-management course or two, where the 'true' and 'correct' approach to programming was revealed. It seems to have struck him as did the blinding light that proverbially struck Saul from his borse.
DeleteHis understanding and his emphasis on process are simple-minded and derivative. Though when questioned he will sincerely nod in the direction of the acknowledement of the importance of talent, yet he clearly has no real place for it other than as a secondary or tertiary element in his garden of analysis.
This is a sincere, well-intentioned, but very limited and simple-minded person. Simply listen to five minutes or so, perhaps ten.
There are any number of ways that Pacifica might be revived and/or transformed. Any number of valid possibilities.
Following a rulebook derived from what 'works' for conventional public radio which is in turn in many ways derived from what 'works' for commercial radio isn't one of them.
Counterprogramming is apparently beyond his perception. Our good host may not be fond of me for citing this example, but, for example, Larry Josephson's morning program during the latter part of BAI's Golden Age (our good host's being the first part of that Golden Age) was the antithesis of conventional morning programming. What 'rational' analysis would lead someone to suggest a morning show, 7a–9a, prime drive time, where the host showed up and turned on the transmitter when he got around to it, usually a few minutes late, took readings, mumbled to himself off mic, phoned the local deli for his order, also generally off mic, played what came to mind, leaving master if necessary to go downstairs to the record library, and relied entirely on his wits and interests to hold the audiences interests, taking calls when it suited for him.
A high wire act, an improvisation, that was the antithesis of the sort of orthodox programming thinking reflected in conventional radio, and in the likes of Maxie.
I'm of the school of thought that says only two things matter, really: content, and talent.
Everything else is support for those two things which are in reality one thing, the same thing.
That spirit, that culture, was lost from WBAI many decades ago.
An apparatchik's thinking, an apparatchik's sensibilities will neither replace it, nor reinvent it, nor create something fresh and new of comparable or greater value.
In that sense whether Pacifica's latest ED succeeds or fails simply won't matter.
Okay... that's not a summary per se. Will it do? :)
ps: Please pardon typos and infelicities, it's late, and this ramble is itself a thing free-floating in what we think of as time and space. Sometimes it stumbles, bumbles, and falls...
~ 'indigo'
Kathy Davis having anything to do with a Programming Committee is a joke—her own programs are a sorry mish of mash, resting on the precipice of farce with a humorless streak of Irwin Corey.
ReplyDeleteAt the 1:12(hour/minute) mark of the audio, Kathryn Davis comments to Maxie that this "is not a one person issue" in her response to Maxie's concern that it would be in Amy Goodman's interest to be more cooperative with him/Pacifica in her "business" relationship with them regarding the future of "Democracy Now". Ms Davis is totally wrong. This is a "single person" issue when it comes to WBAI in particular. And that "single person" issue is Berthold Reimers. And if Maxie is serious about making meaningful and viable changes at the station the house cleaning will have to begin with Reimers and his cohorts. Kathryn Davis' show included in the purge.
ReplyDeleteTo say that I totally agree with the essential first step suggested in the above reply would be to put it mildly and with numbing redundancy.
DeleteForgive the off topic, but at the moment (11.43 am) I am listening to Gary Null with Tony Bates.
DeleteWasn't Tony Bates gone ? Is he back or is this just another recycled infoscam?
It's a rerun. Earlier today, I heard a Null/Bates commercial that was hopelessly and obviously outdated—it was also embarrassing in other ways when Bates—trying to make WBAI sound visionary—gave the station credit for reporting the Trump-Russia connection as fake news.
DeleteWell, I think we all know that it is a very real connection, so here is another case of bozos giving the corpse of WBAI an imaginary facelift.
Maxie and the PNB (not to mention Reimers) ought to have stopped this sort of sloppy deception for profit.
Rebroadcasting these scam-based misinfomercials was always a very bad idea, but WBAI has not had competent management in many years and the PNB has a history of corrupt personal agendas.
Which brings us back to the convenience-based system of "election".
So Tony Bates is gone? Good. Which begs two questions:
Delete1. Under what circumstances: Was he pushed or did he jump?
2. And (perhaps rethorically) while he is gone, what makes the remaining scammers/losers stay?
I don't know the answer, but I think Berthold Reimers must have had something to do with it—neither scam artist has a winning personality. Ditto Randy Credico. When opportunists clash...
DeleteGary Null has always advocated non-medical chelation to remove toxins from the body. Today, Lopate's somewhat interesting guest was a woman who specializes in environmental toxicology who stated that chelation was an absolute last resort, where imminent death is the alternative (which is what a google of the subject basically says), and only to be undertaken then under a medical specialist in toxicology. So funny, back to back shows saying the opposite of each other. I suppose that's a form of free speech and diversity.
ReplyDeleteThis is where one arranges for opposing views to be expressed on the same program. There is little o no actual discussion on WBAI. Of course, the Null show is probably an old one.
DeleteThe good news/bad news about Maxie is that it doesn't matter what he thinks. No one will pay any attention to him because they all think they are programming geniuses which basically means: I know what I like and therefore there should be more of that.
ReplyDeleteKim
I'll give Maxie credit for trying to rein in the PNB Programming Committee and recognizing that the types of well-intentioned remedies that Jim Dingeman is promoting there should be matters of local management policy rather than of national governance policy.
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ReplyDeleteSometimes a comment is justified in real time. This concerns the PNB currently in progress. It's an emergency meeting called by most of the minority grouping/faction: Adriana Casanave, DeWayne Lark, Joseph Davis, & William Heerwagen.
https://kpftx.org/archives/pnb/pnb181220/pnb181220_5805_agenda.pdf
https://kpftx.org/index.php (livestream)
Just now, at 9.17pm ET, the PNB Chair, Nancy Sorden, acted egregiously, exceeding her powers by taking the PNB into immediate private session. The item was the $3.265m loan from the Foundation for the Jewish Community (which uses the abbreviation FJC). She had reprimanded Adriana for mentioning the word 'FJC', saying this is confidential, & when Chair Nancy heard the obscenity again she cut the stream.
The thing is, the PDF of the agenda mentions the unmentionable twice (page 1). It also appears twice in a link from the grid calendar: "[p]urpose: Special meeting to discuss the FJC loan and WBAI motions from Heerwagen" (the 8.30pm public session); & "[p]urpose: Special meet to discuss FJC Loan and the financial information related to it" (the 11.30pm private session).
https://kpftx.org/pacalendar/cal_show1.php?eventdate=20181220
In a few of my comments here I've mentioned Pacifica's proud press release of F6Apr, announcing the Empire State Realty Trust settlement. It also says this:
"[f]unding for the settlement was provided through a loan from the non-profit lender FJC, which includes a reserve amount that frees Pacifica from making payments for the first eighteen months of the loan and interest payments only for the following 18 months before the loan matures after three years."
Moreover, the press release cites Chair Nancy even referring directly to FJC! This is what she said:
"'I’d like to first thank the Pacifica National Board, for deciding on this approach and the enormous amount of work they put into it to get us to this point. Second, to FJC for providing this loan at a very difficult time for Pacifica, and third to the team of professionals that helped [blah, blah] as well as Marc Hand of the Public Media Company, who helped negotiate the settlement with ESRT and provided brokerage services with FJC.'"
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ReplyDeleteThe statement ended with descriptions of Pacifica, Public Media Co., and . . . FJC:
"About FJC[:]
FJC, A Foundation of Philanthropic Funds, is a 501c(3) public charity whose mission is advancing donors’ charitable goals and financial planning through creative and pioneering solutions including its non-profit Agency Loan Fund (ALF). FJC offers the ALF as an investment option to donor advised funds and to qualified tax exempt not-for-profit organizations. ALF loans have helped finance projects for public radio and television stations, the establishment of group homes for the disabled, classes for special needs children, programs at community centers for the aged, adult literacy programs, cultural institutions, and arts programs."
This press release, as I write, is still being carried by at least two Pacifica stations, WBAI & KPFK:
https://www.wbai.org/articles.php?article=3570
https://www.kpfk.org/blogs/kpfk-and-pacifica-news/post/pacifica-announces-settlement-with-empire-state-building-and-empire-state-realty-trust/
Guess Chair Nancy needs to get out more, or, if she insists on staying stuck in her basement, to at least keep up with what's on the station websites – indeed, she can even ask the Chair of her LSB, Mr Simms, for a copy of the email he's withholding, the one I sent to her & all the other delegates of the WPFW LSB, which has a link to the Pacifica press statement at WBAI.
Every Pacifica officeholder needs training in what counts as confidential in the meaning of FCC rules. It is pathetic that delegates & directors can just mention 'confidential' & get away with it every f'ing time. Tonight this corrosive & self-harming secrecy culture plummeted to a new nadir.
The ignorance, in both senses, of Pacifica's 'leaders' is truly breathtaking.
'FJC' . . . 'Jehovah' . . . 'G-d' . . . is there a difference?
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDe9msExUK8
Foundation for the Jewish Community?? It all makes sense now - the station used to be known as WAMY - for Amy Goodman - now it is fully Jewish - no more independent programming - Berthold has given up his behind without grease - shame!
Delete"[F]ully Jewish": what can that possibly mean?
DeleteIn response to the loathsomely antisemitic remarks of Anon above, it may be worth noting that when WBAI abandoned and betrayed its and Pacifica's foundational principles in the late 1970s-early 1980s it went quite strongly antisemitic, for whatever reasons, which were never entirely clear.
DeleteThey succeeded quite nicely in alienating many of their most devoted supporters, both those who happened to be Jewish and those who weren't, but who were offended by their virulent antisemitism.
That was the dynamic, that was the reality, I was in a position to know.
~ 'indigopirate'
WBAI follows a shifting pattern—whatever seems most advantageous to its cast members is easily absorbed by them.
DeleteI am still unable to explain why Steve Past and Josephson began making antisemitic remarks after they pushed their way to the microphone, taking advantage of Millspaugh's managerial impotence.
It was very different from some black people's use of the self-depricating "n" word—it was mean-spirited and aimed at some truly dedicated colleagues, like Tana DeGamez (to mention a particularly frequent victim of Post.
This sort of thing would not have happened on my watch. I don't know if this produced written complaints from listener-supporters, but I'm sure it had some negative effect..
Are you familiar with What is a Jew http://www.whatisajew.org
DeleteAre you familiar with Only in America http://onlyinamerica.cc/index.shtml
You may want to note the list of supporters for these efforts.
~ 'indigo'
Is it possible Josphson wasn't a fan of Tana DeGamez because of her position with respect to Cuba?
Delete~ 'indigo'
ps: With respect, also to compare perspectives re the use of the word 'nigger'. It was at one point self-deprecatory, and it's occasionally that at present, but often it's a staking out of territory, and often confrontatory when used around white people. That's my observation as to actual usage, not a statement of my preferences. I see what I see, and I hear what I hear.
indigo - many of these are false charges of anti-semitism - I was in a position to know too @ WBAI. Sidney Smith could tell you all about the lies of Amy Goodman - no goodwoman she!
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