common throughout the network. KPFK has a new, receptive and
vigorous manager, the old program director has been retired, the
staff is elated and collegial, etc. The key was a great change in the
Pacifica National Board, fashioned by new delegates from WBAI.
I won't go into details, but progressives in New York were finally
roused by a few BAI activists and voted in a new local board. That
LSB, as do all 5 stations, elects their National Board. Pacifica's
new President, Grace Aaron, has led this dramatic push with skill,
democratic values and huge expenditure of energy, going from
station to station, creating and inspiring these critical changes. She
deserves accolades.
However, serious financial problems spiraled for the past 3 years
and all the above will be for naught unless there's a significant
financial response from liberals and progressives from throughout
the listening areas. New York residents responded, as described
below, and it's now LA's turn to do the same.
KPFK is in the middle of it's fund drive and welcoming memberships
and donations from $25, up. I ure you at least to read the narrative
and hope it inspires a call to KPFK, at 818-985-5735, the donation line.
Below that I posted a call for candidates for the local Station Board.
For those inspired to help fashion further positive changes, directly.
Ed
----- Original Message -----
From: Stephen M Brown
To: Alliance
Sent: Sunday, June 07, 2009 4:29 PM
Subject: [alliance] More good news from WBAI (are we being spoiled?)
Dear WBAI Supporter --
Previously I reported on the abrupt removal of WBAI's General Manager, Tony
Riddle, and its Program Director, Bernard White, along with several of their
friends.
Why were they removed? Legally, no one at Pacifica is allowed to say. So
unless Riddle and White themselves agree to unseal the records (which no one
believes they will do), the public will have to make up its own mind. In any
case, those two are history. So I will now report on what has happened since
my last post.
And the news is surprisingly good. After years of dwindling listenership and
shrinking revenues, it appears that WBAI has reversed its downward slide and
is bursting with creative new energies.
Barely two short months after taking charge, the new General Manager, Lavarn
Williams (who also happens to be Chief Financial Officer of Pacifica), and
her team have begun to stabilize finances, attract new listeners, increase
revenues, and revitalize programming. She has made long-overdue changes in
management -- promoting capable staff members to new positions of
responsibility -- and helped boost staff morale to a level not seen in
years. Producers, programmers, announcers, and news reporters are reportedly
high-five-ing each other in the hallways, and happy listeners are ringing
the phones off the hook with encouragement.
But, you might say -- so what? Even if staff members are now jumping for
joy, and even if Lavarn Williams is a savvy administrator with twenty years
of financial experience, and a nice smile (see photo below) ...
... what difference will that make to the listeners? Will they start
listening again? More important, will they care enough to start supporting
the station again? Good questions. And we have some answers, most of which
are happy.
For example, today a letter of congratulations was sent to General Manager
Lavarn Williams and the WBAI staff by Pacifica Executive Director Grace
Aaron. Aaron was congratulating them because our most recent fund drive --
which concluded on Saturday, May 30 -- had raised over $839,000.
This was $160,000 more than the $672,000 called for in the Fiscal Year 2009
Budget.
So instead of failing to reach our goals year after year -- often coming up
short by hundreds of thousands of dollars per drive -- we have now, for the
first time in years, actually exceeded our goal.
As Executive Director Aaron was well aware, the fund-drive's astonishing
success was due in large part to Lavarn and her new management team of staff
and volunteers, who revamped and revitalized the old fund-drive procedures
and premiums. Aaron especially commended the organizing efforts of Kathy
Davis, our Public Affairs Director, and of Tony Bates, the fund-drive
"wizard" lent to us by sister-station KPFK in Los Angeles (who, if we are
lucky, may be persuaded to stay in New York and apply his talents to WBAI on
a permanent basis).
What else should we be happy about? The increased number of pledges that
came in during this fund drive indicate that the station may have already
begun to lure back former listeners, as well as attract fresh new audiences
of every age, color, and cultural background. This surge in listenership
will hopefully be matched by a commensurate surge in financial support --
without which WBAI could not remain free of advertising, corporate
censorship, and government control.
What else? New management pledges to make live coverage a major part of the
new WBAI (once again!). This is a radical change from the policies of former
management, which were often criticized as lackluster and unfocused. WBAI
promises to be there -- in person -- to cover and analyze important
political events, Congressional hearings, major speeches, court trials,
street demonstrations, as well as concerts, plays and cultural events too
often slighted in the past.
For example, on June 12, WBAI will go to historic Riverside Church in
Harlem, where it will broadcast -- live and in full -- one of the most
eagerly awaited speeches of the year. On that day, at 7pm, Noam Chomsky will
ascend the podium to deliver an address expected to be so powerful, and so
provocative, that it may well (as many hope) shock the faltering left
consensus back to life. Why cover it live? WBAI believes that, although
reading Chomsky can be enlightening, hearing him can be electrifying. Of
course, seeing him can be even more electrifying. So try to and get tickets
to attend in person. (I've already bought mine.) Call The Brecht Forum at
(212) 242-4201. Or go online at
http://brechtforum.org/events/crisis-hope-theirs-and-ours .
Either way, you know you won't be hearing Chomsky's speech on CBS or NBC.
And you won't read it in The New York Times - whose editors, while admitting
that Chomsky is "arguably the most important intellectual alive today" and
"perhaps the most widely read voice on foreign policy on the planet," were
so upset by his ideas that they wouldn't review his books for decades.
I doubt you'll be "upset" by Chomsky's ideas, but you might be surprised at
his latest analysis of issues ranging from the Bank Bailout to indicting
Dick Cheney for war crimes to US military intervention in the Middle East to
social revolution in South America - to the election of Barack Obama. His
speech (introduced by Amy Goodman) starts at 7pm on July 12. Don't miss it.
And don't miss WBAI's move to a wider stage. Starting immediately, WBAI will
seek new listeners through full-page ads in leading progressive publications
such as The Nation (whose latest, issue, which will arrive in mailboxes
tomorrow, has a full-color ad for WBAI announcing the Chomsky live
broadcast). Ads are also planned for The Progressive, New Republic, In these
Times, The New York Review of Books, Harper's, Atlantic, and others. We will
also put ads on left-leaning web sites such as AlterNet, Huffington Post,
DailyKos, Znet and others.
Perhaps, too, WBAI may finally launch its own Music & Arts label, and open
its airwaves to adventurous local musicians, singers, actors, poets, and
playwrights eager to share new sounds, ideas, and visions with their fellow
citizens. .
In the months and years to come, the station will be opening windows, not
closing them. And WBAI will continue to be -- as it has been for 50 years --
a force for peace and justice as well as a forum for voices such as Noam
Chomsky, Naomi Klein, Michael Parenti, Howard Zinn, Alice Walker, Jim
Hightower, Amy Goodman, Mumia Abu-Jamal, and many others too often censored
by corporate media.
This is not only WBAI's heritage, but also its future.
Regards,
Steve Brown
Member of the WBAI Local Station Board
(speaking only for himself)
Stephen M Brown
sbrown13@nyc.rr.com
***
From Pacifica's Grace Aaron:
An Important Announcement to Pacifica Radio Listeners
Pacifica Radio and its five stations--KPFA (Berkeley), KPFK (Los Angeles),
KPFT (Houston), WBAI (New York) and WPFW (Washington, DC)-need your help
this month.
2009 is a year of challenges and changes at Pacifica. We are asking for your
support by taking part in the June LOCAL STATION BOARD ELECTION in your
area.
The LSBs are elected by Pacifica station members to oversee management of
their station. Each LSB is represented on the National Board of Pacifica
Foundation--a nonprofit organization with a mission of presenting
community-based, commercial-free, listener-supported radio. Electing LSBs
that reflect a broad listenership is not just a good thing to do-it's life
or death for the Pacifica project.
WHAT'S AT STAKE
Our communities are in dire straits, and thousands of young people are
expecting change, and looking for answers. Unfortunately, local talk radio
is in decline, and progressive talk is disappearing. In recent months local
voices have been dropped from commercial stations. Getting local progressive
voices out to media audiences is urgent, and requires action now.
Reinforcing Pacifica stations' community ties and professional quality is a
big part of meeting this need.
That's why we are asking you to step up and help in the revival and
improvement of Pacifica.
HOW YOU CAN VOTE
All paid-up Pacifica station listener-sponsors (members) can vote in the
current LSB election. That is, anyone who has paid the annual dues of $25 by
the deadline, June 30, 2009. You can also become a voting member (by June
30) by volunteering at WBAI for a minimum of 3 hours, or by obtaining a
waiver from a current LSB member. Everyone on the membership list will
receive a ballot from Pacifica's local election committee.
HOW YOU CAN RUN
Any paid-up Pacifica station listener-sponsor can run for a seat on the LSB,
if they can provide endorsement signatures from 15 verifiable station
members, and an introductory statement (500-word max).
For more information on the LSB election, go to
http://www.pacificafoundation.org/elections/
For the formal explanation of the LSB, go to
http://www.pacifica.org/governance/bylaws_rev.html
and scroll down to Article Seven.
Thank you, and thanks to .... for letting us speak directly to you,
Les Radke
Pacifica National Election Supervisor
Renee Asteria Penaloza
KPFA Local Election Supervisor
Michael Sanchez
KPFK Local Election Supervisor
Ann Shaw
KPFT Local Election Supervisor
Ethan Young
WBAI Local Election Supervisor
Lydia Harris
WPFW Local Election Supervisor
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