It was even worse than I thought it would be. Reimers came off as semi-articulate, but he had great news—WBAI has improved its financial condition considerably since he took over as the manager! And the sound of the station has undergone vast improvement, too, he added. But wait...there's MORE! The mood at the station is wonderful because he communicates with the staff!

Kathy Davis was equally delusional (insincere, actually). She feels new energy among the producers. She didn't explain why we, the listeners, don't get those good vibes, but she did throw in some typical blather about the management's job being" "protecting a mission that came before us." Of course, fund-raising listeners will forever associate Kathy's voice with a couple of major scams—most notably the "miracle" water.

Andrea Katz was all excited about the upcoming offer of a tote bag. She also spoke enthusiastically  of the "BAI Buddy" fundraising offer, which never got off the ground, and said she had been very busy applying for grants, but seemed rather perplexed by the fact that there are no takers. Perhaps these people actually checked out the programming. I would think the poor quality and fact-forsaken, hateful content of so many "shows" might give prospective grantees second thoughts.

Premiums coordinator Yvonne Singh was happy to announce that the double helix water product had finally arrived and will now be shipped out. There was no further mention of the helix scam.

Chris Hatzis, the new PD, who has been hard at work for two months without producing any discernible results, talked about having regular sessions with producer/hosts to assess their shows. I couldn't help but wonder if those responsible for the shows might not be the very last people one should consult. Those assessments should be made by Hatzis tuning in to the shows and discussing them with listeners before sitting down with the producers. Why, I'd like to know, has he not removed some of the decidedly awful programs from the air? How many months will it take before he does the obvious? The hope I had for WBAI's upturn in his hands has all but died.

Then there were the phone calls—quite revealing and mostly not well received. One lady, having sat through all the empty talk of this mutual admiration society, had a suggestion:

"Take off those rose-colored glasses, everybody" she urged. Then she suggested that a disconnect between WBAI's audience and the management probably accounts for the massive loss in listenership. She also advised that they (the assembled group) take a hard look at ethics.

Robert Knight made it obvious which calls he liked or disliked. He was quick to cut off a couple of callers who thought it might be a good idea to bring back Bernard White—and make peace, as it were, and he offered one suggestion of his own: that the $25 membership fee be increased. Does he really think that having to pay more will bring back the old listeners?

A caller wanted to know why Tony Bates was fired, and who made the call. Reimers said it had been a local board decision, adding (and here I paraphrase): "The one good thing about Tony Bates was that he would not allow internal problems at WBAI to be discussed on the air." He added that this made the atmosphere much better. There was, of course, no mention of the alleged signed petition, which was said to contain many  signatures

 (not Knight's).

The gorilla in the studio was, of course, something rather huge that we can call "Denial," If callers had not pointed out how much the programming has deteriorated, that important factor would not have been brought up. Well, there was a vague reference by Hazis to a needed fix, but it was quickly fluffed over.

One alleged purpose of this program was to get listener feedback, but I guess that did not include criticism, even of the objective kind.

As usual, the group enthusiastically complimented themselves. Reimers was painfully defensive at one point, and Kathy Davis had anger in her otherwise sugary voice when she declared: "There's an effort afoot to destroy this organization from within." A lot of "propaganda," she insisted.

Thus ended a two-hour program of....well, propaganda. Lend it an ear in the archive (wbai.org).

P.S. I believe all the participants are salaried.

The following comment and video came from The Pacifica Maven, one of WBAI's many disenchanted listeners, who has contributed several intelligent comments to this blog. He makes reference to NJBF (New Jersey Black Female) another truly concerned listener who gave up on the station after many years of supporting it. I suspect that there are many former listeners out there who are equally disappointed, if not disgusted with the direction WBAI has been taken in. Here is the Maven's latest comment, which I am happy to post.

Cristina Rad is a brilliant (and very beautiful) woman from Romania. Her blog is usually about science, atheism, women’s rights. She often ridicules human stupidity as manifested by creationists, pro-life groups, Taliban of all religions, and bigots.

However, when I watched this video I wondered if Cris had been reading some of my more mean-spirited posts.

I think both Ms. Rad and my good sister from New Jersey may be making the same point: there comes a time when one just has to let go.

In one of my first posts on Mr. Albertson’s WBAI blog, and also in one of my first posts on the blue board, I quoted what I think is a profound insight of Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche from his work GENEOLOGY OF MORALS:


...the cause of the origin of a thing and its eventual utility, its actual employment and place in a system of purposes, lie worlds apart; ...whatever exists, having somehow come into being, is again and again reinterpreted to new ends, taken over, transformed, and redirected by some power superior to it; all events in the organic world are a subduing, a becoming master, and all subduing and becoming master involves a fresh interpretation, and adaptation through which any previous “meaning” and “purpose” are necessarily obscured or even obliterated. 


WBAI has been taken over and transformed into something I hardly recognize and which I don’t like very much. I guess the choice is whether to keep ranting about it impotently and bitterly, or follow the more mature, reasonable choice that NJBF has made.

KCR’s morning music this week has featured Scriabin’s piano music which is almost never heard anywhere on the radio dial. KCR has programs on opera, gospel and Indian music, The African Show, Colombian music, music from Brazil, and Phil Schapp. Yes, I know he’s pedantic and tedious at times, but he’s done interviews with some of the greatest figures in the history of 20th Century music. And he does play some great music.

There is life after WBAI.

This will not be the last comment I post, but I will take seriously Cris’s admonition about being a hater. 

Thanks for the kind remarks, NJBF. And thanks again to Mr. Albertson for providing us with a forum for extended comments that are usually more interesting than the “tweets” and name-calling on the broken blue board.


The Pacifica Maven

Just as we thought the on-air fund-raising had gone legit, here come the in-house scammers, crawling out of crevices in the moral fibre of Lew Hill's marvelously non-conformist wall, long since cracked by predecessors in pursuit of personal agendas. Where was Mr. Hatzis, the newly installed Program Director, the savior summoned to correct the destruction left behind by another "savior," Tony Bates?  Did Berthold Reimers, WBAI's inert General Manager, come out of hibernation, roused by  the desperate whines of tenured opportunists? Did frantic five o'clock fossils aim their tongues at yet another PD? Whatever lies behind the stagnation, it does not bode well for the promise of WBAI as a returning champion of unvarnished truth in broadcasting. The soapbox Lew Hill hammered together in the post WWII years began to come apart in the late 1960s, when Larry Josephson and Steve Post took it over, but there was still room for the occasional voice in the wilderness. Then, this year, as WBAI came too close for comfort to the edge of extinction, along came an Aussie. Was that a hammer in his hand? Did we see a box of nails? Was the soapbox about to be reassembled and open to fresh voices? Some of us thought so, and it may still come to pass, but if there was a bright light up yonder, the summer "fun" drive cast an ominous shadow to dim it. I hope I am being overly pessimistic. —Chris

So they drank the double helix water and generated more disdain for
WBAI than money. What now? Oh, let's give 'em a heavier dose of
conspiracy—get me Mother Mud, have Bobbie do his psycho act on
Psy War—no, it's not an act? Oh, well... and let's have Kathy do her

Quant number, the one with the extra deep vibes. Make sure that

Michael G. is wound up and that the phone ringer fx gizmo is turned
up to the max. That ought to do it.

What's that Berthold? No refund on them empty little bottles? Damn!

Please also read the comments (below) 

We knew it was coming, but the new firings at WBAI make little sense and do nothing to improve the programming. This has become a radio station that cries out for ethical cleansing, functional management, and fresh voices.

Why, one has to wonder, did they (we still don't know who is calling the shots, but it appears to be Pacifica) fire Indra Hardart, the station's Business Manager, without notice? From what I understand, this is a hard working staffer who spent many years keeping things as stable as possible while GMs passed through and listeners were driven away by bad programming. A part-time receptionist was also summarily dismissed in what some insiders see as the start of a troubling trend. Why, some have asked, were obvious expendables not the first to go? The list of desired candidates is not limited to dross on the payroll, for only a thorough sweep can make the needed difference. Who do you think should be shown the door?

Please also read the comments (below):

Station for sale?

I just picked this up from Nalini's Pacifica Radiowaves list. It's dèjá vu all over again (going back as far as the mid-Sixties) but, given the present financial situation, it can't be laughed off. I agree with Mitchel that it must be nipped in the bud, and I think it should serve as an extra incentive to clean house at WBAI and get the station back into gear. What do you think?

____________________

Former Pacifica counsel Dan Siegel, now on the KPFA (Berkeley) Local Station Board, has called for WBAI to be temporarily shut down, moved to Queens or New Jersey, and sold to some high roller.

In response to the alert I sent out about his proposal to sell WBAI, Siegel wrote: "I have never suggested that Pacifica sell WBAI."

Siegel, the lawyer, is playing word-games. Here are his words, verbatim, from the July 7, 2012 KPFA Local Board meeting. Keep in mind, please, that this was the second recent meeting at which Siegel advocated the selling of WBAI.
"I don’t know if it’s true or not anymore, but a few years ago at least it was possible there were actual people who would buy WBAI for enormous amounts of money, and that part of the deal in exchange is that WBAI would get a new spot on the dial – admittedly, a less attractive one in the eyes of the person who wanted to buy it. Now we’ve always been extremely resistant about even thinking about ideas like that but given 1) the urgency of the situation, and 2) the fact that BAI really has a tiny number of committed listeners, making that change doesn’t seem as radical as it might be anymore."

Siegel is using the words "exchange for money" (and spot on the dial) instead of the word "sell". Nice one!

For those who might be snookered and think this to be a reasonable-sounding proposal, please be forewarned that one is not able to "trade" (for money, or for anything else) the current 50,000 effective watt antenna we're now licensed to use for one of similar power. Any "exchange" or "sale" would entail losing our call numbers and, more importantly, our strong signal. Additionally, there is no guarantee that the FCC would approve a new spot-on-the-dial for the former WBAI. What would ensue from Siegel's proposal would be tragic. We would likely lose WBAI forever.

I would hope that all WBAI listeners and staff would stand united -- all factions together -- and oppose any sale of the station. While we all know that Pacifica is in trouble economically (as is WBAI), Siegel's slash-and-burn proposal is precisely the wrong way to go about making the improvements needed.

Mitchel Cohen
Chair, WBAI Local Station Board*

*For ID only. These are my own comments and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Local Station Board.

PD's Report to the LSB

WBAI LSB - July 11, 2012

First of all my apologies for not attending this meeting. I am knee-deep in Fund Drive, being at the station from 6 am everyday, helping on-air and off-air, answering phones and performing general duties that are required in all departments during this busy time. I am also meeting with Bob Fass as we speak. I have tried to organize a meeting with Bob for weeks and I did not want to postpone him anymore. And I am exhausted. Again, my apologies.




It’s been a little over a month since I arrived at WBAI. It is still way too early for me to provide any kind of comprehensive report on programming. I have spent all of my time so far talking to every producer and program maker across the grid. Talking to producers about their concerns about their shows, their feelings, anxieties, problems, self-criticisms and scope for improvements. This is taking a very long time. Most meetings scheduled take over an hour and I still haven’t met everyone. I have also spent time coming in on weekends to meet producers that don’t usually get to the office during the weekday hours, which has been appreciated. My weekday hours begin at 9 am and I rarely leave before 7 pm at night. My presence in the office at 9 am is a huge shock to a lot of people; my impression is that it hasn’t happened in a while.




The biggest complaint I have heard so far from the producers is that there hasn’t been a dialogue with them for so long. Program Directors need to be present physically in the office as much as possible, even if it’s for an informal chat of 5 mins before or after one’s show. This makes a huge difference to producers and I have noticed that so far they appreciate it. The News Department is also appreciative of contact and dialogue; in fact, every department has had a sense of purpose that hasn’t been evident for a long time. One of the many shocks when I first arrived at WBAI was the lack of collegiality among departments; the lack of community, lack of teamwork and communication, lack of regular meetings to simply address the day-to-day and week-to-week goings on.




As PD, my short term initiatives are to deal with programs that are the spine of the station, such as Wake Up Call, Hugh Hamilton, Robert Knight etc. I have set up regular meetings with Esther Armah, including general meetings with all her producers and interns. I have even arrived at the station at 6 am to physically see the show in action. We have implemented a few changes already, such as setting up a 7 am segment where Esther and Democracy Now’s Amy Goodman forward-promote what’s coming up on Democracy Now that day. This is an example of the collegiality and cross-pollination of programs and producers that I wish to implement across the station grid. The whole Wake Up Call daily and weekly schedule is being assessed and critiqued, and we are trying to improve segments, specials and interviews across the board to ensure a much wider audience for our premier drive program. Esther is very keen to help and be directed.




The same is being done with Hugh Hamilton’s program. Extensive talks and criticisms with Hugh have already begun and, again, he is very keen to improve the program. Hugh has many ideas he would like to implement, not just on his own show but to organize some “town hall’ type thematic live broadcasts of his program in all five boroughs and parts of New Jersey. They would possibly involve a theme for each show and location, moderated discussion between pre-eminent guests with a Q & A session from the audience. It is definitely something we are keen to pursue.




Discussions are happening with all programs, both formally and informally. Again, this is taking up most of my time.




A major initiative for me has been better and more regular communications with the Operations Department. They have been dealing with perennial problems at all levels of broadcasting at WBAI; everything from pure technical issues to production problems of individual programs. All the daily frontline happenings of what the station is involved in go through them and they are best placed to ascertain station problems at a programmatic level, individually and overall. They are not without criticism; they are also keenly aware that they themselves need revamping and better communications with all departments. It’s an ongoing process.




Another major issue is the traffic situation at WBAI. I believe a proper traffic system is essential for any station and my impression is that there have been several attempts at setting one up from previous directors, all to no avail. I am in discussions with the Operations team as to how best to implement this, it is so long overdue. It’s not an issue of difficulty; it is one of wherewithal and follow through. It needs to be devised and designed properly, implemented and then maintained by all producers and managers at a consistent, professional level.




The News Department is another area that has welcomed regular meetings and communication. We are working together to perhaps implement better and more frequent news content across the station. This is especially difficult given their lack of resources and staff, but they are very encouraged and enthusiastic with this new approach and dialogue. Jose Santiago even has a spring in his step lately. 


So my initial month has been taken up by implementing lines of communication that have been sorely neglected in the past. Developing relationships of mutual respect and constructive criticism with every producer, especially our core programmers. I believe that without this initial establishment of mutual respect I cannot move forward and make necessary changes to any area of programming. And in my first month I have noticed many good and bad aspects to BAI, most of which will already be very familiar to you.




Good things:




There is a general goodwill amongst the listeners, staff, producers and volunteers about the station. They all want it to succeed. They are all painfully aware of the destructive history of internal politics, over decades, but what is striking is that in spite of all this they continue to believe in WBAI. Listeners continue to listen and give money. Producers sick and tired of the infighting continue to give their time to do shows. Staff press on with unbearably long and tedious fund drive organization, with serious threats of station insolvency, often juggling four or five jobs at a time. Volunteers, who have heard about and believe in the station, experience the bad atmosphere first-hand yet still give their time regularly and often. Listeners especially want the station to succeed, even the ones that criticize it the most. There is a groundswell of hope, change and opportunity; enough people want the station to be a certain way and are happy to work towards it.




There is evidence that the various departments at BAI are physically happier. The News Dept is happier and are being used across the station more. During the recent SCOTUS Health Care decision, we featured Jose delivering an up to the minute report on Delphine’s Thursday morning show seconds after the decision was handed down. Delphine had a great professional 10 minute dialogue with Jose about the decision, and both forward promoted all the programs that would be dealing with post-decision discussion through the day, mentioning Hugh Hamilton, Robert Knight, and focusing on the 6 pm in-depth BAI News Bulletin analysis that evening. Delphine even featured a discussion with Health Styles producer Barbara Glickstein later on her show talking about the decision, and of course forward promoting the Health Styles show later. This cross-pollination, cross-promotion of shows was welcome and all enthusiastically administered, something that I notice BAI hardly does anymore. To see it happening during a big news day was good for everyone.




Station community and collegiality seems to be returning, slowly. It is being rebuilt, as in the Esther/Amy cross-promote, and there is a groundswell of enthusiasm amongst the producers for more of the same. Again, this seems to have been neglected over many years. Hopefully this will translate to more listeners.




Bad things:




You all probably know this all too well. I don’t have to mention to you the chronic institutional inertia and memory that exists at BAI, and has done so for 20-plus years. No amount of goodwill can change this unless there is constant and meticulous work done by all administrations at every level of the organization. Most of my communication with producers and departments has been taken up by individual and collective venting of problems, psychological and physical. It needs to be acknowledged at the very least so we can move forward. But I am overwhelmed by the beating producers have taken over the years, and they are all letting it out. My concern is the radio, first and foremost, so the welfare of producers and operations is paramount. That’s why I have been part new PD and mostly psychiatrist to people over this last month.




My concern is that this inertia, this atrophy, cannot be changed even with the best intentions. There is a fear and anxiety amongst the station that hangs over everyone, rightly or wrongly. Fear of insolvency, fear of cutbacks to an already threadbare staff, fear of too much bad history that has prevented us from solving even a few of these problems. This affects us on-air, especially during the current fund drive. I am concentrating on the air we deliver and I am trying to make it better, but these pre-existing situations make it very difficult to do that.

From a general programming point of view, it is still way to early to seriously assess the grid. But some initial impressions suggest an overall dated and stale sound. We sometimes sound like a station still broadcasting in the 70s. Many programs can adapt and change with help and critical production techniques, but many programs have to seriously be reconsidered. Some programming hasn’t changed in decades. I’m not suggesting a slash and burn approach, but the feeling is that even the slightest change will be slow, painful and full of political ramifications. 


Our audience is old, too. This isn’t news to us. I’m not being age-ist, but we need to attract a larger, younger demographic. This isn’t at the exclusion of older listeners, but we certainly aren’t including any younger ones. And by young I mean at the very least 30s or 40s.


Our fundraising is problematic in that we are deriving funds solely from one source: our listeners. And that source is ever diminishing. Also, by the sound of our fund driving, we are targeting aging hypochondriacs, an ever-decreasing market. Not healthy (irony alert).


There are already some obvious deficiencies in structure and production staff. The regular weekly shows, Wake Up Call, Hugh Hamilton, Robert Knight etc., are in serious need of content/line producer staff. Wake Up call needs a proper in-studio/ content producer. So does Hugh Hamilton. We can’t rely on interns, as enthusiastic as they are. We need a serious commitment from producers if we are to have a seriously produced daily show in either drive slots.




The News Department is also short-staffed by maybe 2 or 3 journalists. We don’t have a morning drive live news bulletin of any sort. In a perfect world, or even half-perfect, we’d have a live person reading a 5 minute or so news bulletin at a given half-hour or hour. I know Esther and Hugh would love this to happen. I seriously do not know how we can address this, given our fiscal problems. But, again, interns are not the answer.




---------




I have only touched on a very small number of the many issues that I have encountered so far. We all know that dealing with just one of these issues is a 10-hour argument. But I have also encountered enough people involved at the station that are willing to work hard to fix them. I am encouraged by the desire and enthusiasm of producers and staff that, in spite of all our ongoing problems and checkered history, are still excited about making good radio. They are wanting to be directed to produce quality, relevant and compelling content. Support staff are keenly aware of our deficiencies in all areas of administration and they want to be guided and involved in rejuvenating those areas.

 




The listeners are out there. They want us to succeed. We need to get them back. Earn their respect. In this internet/blog/DIY world, a programmatically well-curated radio station is still a unique entity in an increasingly media consolidating landscape.




I’ve spent a lot of time trying to re-instill a sense of community, a sense of collegiality at the station that, ironically, USED TO EXIST. The horror stories I have heard so far did include some encouraging history of teamwork and togetherness that did occur in all areas of administration. I am trying to rekindle that. It is going to take a long time.