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The Attack On WBAI & "Pacifica Across America”
The Pacifica Interim Executive Director illegally shutdown WBAI and terminated all the employees violating the AFTRA-SAG contract. It was also done without a vote of the Pacifica Board and a new entity "Pacifica Across America" took over programming while local programmers were locked out.
On Monday, October 7, 2019, without any notice to the staff and in violation of the AFTRA-SAG contract all staff and management were terminated.
This was done by the interim executive director of the Pacifica without a vote of the Pacifica National Board.
Also all local programming was taken over by "Pacifica Across America" without any vote of the Pacifica National Board.
This interview is of the chair and vice-chair of the WBAI Local Station Board and the manager.
Additional media:
The Crisis in Pacifica and KPFA "What Is Going On At Pacifica"?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcGuunuPKhw&t=111s
Crisis At KPFA/Pacifica Network, Democracy & A National Alternative Multi-Media Network-Discussion
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-scgdXCXUIM
Production of Labor Video Project
http://www.laborvideo.org
Pacifica Board Faction & IED Violate Union Contract
From: Becky Hayes
Sent: Monday, October 7, 2019 5:52 PM
SAG-AFTRA demands to bargain over the effects of WBAI and Pacifica’s decisions to cease assigning work to SAG-AFTRA members employed at WBAI, effectively laying them off as of today’s date. We request to meet at the earliest availability.
In addition, in accordance with the collective bargaining agreement, SAG-AFTRA demands immediate payment of the following for all covered bargaining unit members:
-Four (4) weeks’ notice pay under Article XVI(A)(4)
-Severance of one day of pay per month of service (up to a max of 125 days) under Article XVI(A)(5)
-Payout all accrued and unused time, including, but not limited to, vacation, comp time, etc.
-Payment of any and all other monies owing to each SAG-AFTRA member in connection with his or her employment.
We would also like to highlight other applicable sections of the contract including Article XVI(A)(7) which provide that the Company “shall recall all employees on layoff within the previous eighteen months” “before hiring new employees” to perform the work covered by the collective bargaining agreement.
The demands above are on behalf of any and all covered employees, including, but not limited to, Michael Haskins, Reggie Johnson, Max Schmidt, Shawn Rhodes, Leonard Lopate, Jesse Lent, Ilana Levinson, Juliana Forlano, Graceon Challenger, Barry Brooks, Andrea Katz, and Ian Foster.
Additionally, we believe the Company has already violated Article XVI(A)(1) by failing to inform the Union at least four weeks in advance before the layoff took place, thereby depriving us of the opportunity to “economic alternatives to the proposed layoffs,” of any nature.
Finally, please see the attached information request, made in connection with the above demands.
Best,
Becky Hayes
Becky Hayes
Broadcast Manager and Labor Counsel
SAG-AFTRA
One Lincoln Plaza
1900 Broadway, 5th Floor
New York, NY 10023
Layoffs and Canceled Shows at WBAI-FM, a New York Radio Original
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/07/business/media/wbai-pacifica-layoffs.html?fbclid=IwAR3WqYNQzr3aVrw1OIpXOgOzLsnEyzQjhqg-VJ69O_1U_BQiHZI4m78n6b4
ImageA vintage poster advertising WBAI-FM in 1977.
A vintage poster advertising WBAI-FM in 1977.CreditCreditBlank Archives/Getty Images
By Ben Sisario
Oct. 7, 2019
For decades, WBAI-FM has remained a proudly scrappy alternative in New York’s radio market, a bastion of left-wing political commentary and community voices rarely heard elsewhere on the dial.
That identity was cast into doubt on Monday when the station’s owner, the nonprofit Pacifica Foundation, abruptly laid off most of WBAI’s staff and replaced its local programming with shows drawn from Pacifica’s four other stations.
Ten of WBAI’s 12 employees were laid off, according to John Vernile, Pacifica’s interim executive director.
Employees and volunteer hosts at the station said they were blindsided by Pacifica’s decision. “We are in disbelief,” said Alexander J. Urbelis, a host of “Off the Hook,” a weekly show about computer hacking. “Nobody was given any notice of this or any opportunity to be heard.”
Berthold Reimers, WBAI’s general manager, told producers in an email on Monday morning: “There is a show on the air now that I do not recognize. This means your shows are no longer on WBAI.” Mr. Reimers declined to comment.
Pacifica leaders said that the decision to shut down WBAI’s operations in New York had been in the works for months, and that it was an essential step to save the larger foundation from ruin.
In an interview, Mr. Vernile said WBAI — which, like the network’s other stations, is listener supported — had fallen short of its fund-raising goals in recent years. He added that the station was unable to make payroll and other expenses, forcing the larger Pacifica Foundation network to bail it out.
“Listeners in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Houston and Washington, D.C., have been supporting the efforts in New York,” Mr. Vernile said. “It has gotten to a point where we can no longer do that.”
WBAI’s ratings are minimal, but its shows can have an impact. On Monday, Letitia James, the attorney general of New York, wrote on Twitter: “This is deeply disappointing and I hope this station is relaunched.”
WBAI and Pacifica had been under strain for years. Pacifica has not released any financial statements since 2017, when its auditor cited doubts that the organization could continue as a going concern.
The foundation faced possible bankruptcy after a New York State court ordered it in 2017 to pay $1.8 million in rent and other fees to a trust affiliated with the Empire State Building, where WBAI transmitted its signal.
Last year, Pacifica settled with the trust after obtaining a loan from FJC, a nonprofit lender. Mr. Vernile said Pacifica had been meeting its obligations under the loan agreement. Sam Marks, the chief executive of FJC, declined to comment.
WBAI, founded in 1960, was a leader in the free-form radio movement, and has had a history of extraordinary moments in broadcasting. Bob Dylan made early appearances on the station, and in the 1970s WBAI was cited by the Federal Communications Commission for indecency for running George Carlin’s routine on seven “filthy words,” a decision upheld by the Supreme Court.
As WBAI’s audience has dwindled, its finances have grown shaky. In 2013, after nearly a decade of losses, the station laid off 19 employees. At times, it has seemed crippled by factionalism, as board meetings descended into name-calling and bickering over parliamentary rules.
The station’s most valuable asset may be its license to operate a coveted spot on the dial, at 99.5 FM, but Mr. Vernile said Pacifica was determined not to sell that prime piece of radio real estate. Pacifica, he said, wants to “rebuild” WBAI at some point, although he did not offer a clear target date.
“We are not out of the woods yet,” he said, “but this puts us in a place where we have a shot at bringing everything back in full.”
New York-based WBAI radio abruptly shuts down
https://nypost.com/2019/10/07/new-york-based-wbai-radio-abruptly-shuts-down/?fbclid=IwAR2Y0ueaccc8hKAe0TA-3Rz9vCd7aqaR2YMXmt9FPa5jgxjFd-QYB_2Jqxc
By Richard MorganOctober 7, 2019 | 1:56pm | Updated
Enlarge Image
Professional microphone in radio studio
Getty Images/iStockphoto
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WBAI FM 99.5, a listener-supported radio station in New York City that has been on the air since 1955, abruptly announced on Monday it is shutting down.
The station’s California-based nonprofit parent, Pacifica Foundation, blamed “ongoing and continued projections of further financial losses” for the abrupt shuttering of WBAI.
“We realize this news will come as a deep and painful shock, but we can no longer jeopardize the survival of the entire network,” said Pacifica, which also owns radio stations in Berkeley, Houston, Los Angeles and Washington, DC.
Recent local programming has included “Democracy Now!” with Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez, as well as regular broadcasts by Leonard Lopate, who got a second chance at WBAI after he was fired from WNYC over allegations of inappropriate behavior with staffers.
The news surprised public relations executive Jeff Simmons, a volunteer host of two weekly WBAI shows.
Simmons said in a phone interview that he had just listened to the 6-to-7 a.m. Monday replay of his Sunday evening program before learning that WBAI’s employees had been fired.
1.jpeg
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WHAT CHRISTIANS CAN LEARN FROM JEWS ABOUT
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“The note from the general manager came in about 9:40,” Simmons said. That’s when local programming ceased, he said, and “national programming got plugged in.”
In the ’60s and ’70s, the station had been a platform for the counterculture, broadcasting everything from Arlo Guthrie’s “Alice’s Restaurant” to George Carlin’s “Filthy Words.”
More recently, it hit financial turbulence, laying off nearly two-thirds of its staff in August 2013. In November of that year, musicians including Pete Seeger staged a benefit concert for WBAI at the Cutting Room.
Enlarge ImagePete Seeger performs at a WBAI benefit concert at The Cutting Room in New York CIty in November 2013.
Pete Seeger performs at a WBAI benefit concert in November 2013.Redferns
In March 2014, after falling $1.8 million behind on rent in the Empire State Building, the station received an emergency loan to prevent the building’s holding company from seizing its assets. It then relocated to 4 Times Square.
Pacifica said Monday it would relaunch WBAI once it’s able to create “a sustainable financial structure for the station.” Until then, it said WBAI’s signal would carry “a network source called Pacifica Across America.”
The station still had about a half-dozen core staffers along with several paid and volunteer hosts, according to Simmons.
Station manager Berthold Reimers and program director Linda Perry Barr were among WBAI staffers dismissed on Monday.
This was done by the interim executive director of the Pacifica without a vote of the Pacifica National Board.
Also all local programming was taken over by "Pacifica Across America" without any vote of the Pacifica National Board.
This interview is of the chair and vice-chair of the WBAI Local Station Board and the manager.
Additional media:
The Crisis in Pacifica and KPFA "What Is Going On At Pacifica"?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcGuunuPKhw&t=111s
Crisis At KPFA/Pacifica Network, Democracy & A National Alternative Multi-Media Network-Discussion
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-scgdXCXUIM
Production of Labor Video Project
http://www.laborvideo.org
Pacifica Board Faction & IED Violate Union Contract
From: Becky Hayes
Sent: Monday, October 7, 2019 5:52 PM
SAG-AFTRA demands to bargain over the effects of WBAI and Pacifica’s decisions to cease assigning work to SAG-AFTRA members employed at WBAI, effectively laying them off as of today’s date. We request to meet at the earliest availability.
In addition, in accordance with the collective bargaining agreement, SAG-AFTRA demands immediate payment of the following for all covered bargaining unit members:
-Four (4) weeks’ notice pay under Article XVI(A)(4)
-Severance of one day of pay per month of service (up to a max of 125 days) under Article XVI(A)(5)
-Payout all accrued and unused time, including, but not limited to, vacation, comp time, etc.
-Payment of any and all other monies owing to each SAG-AFTRA member in connection with his or her employment.
We would also like to highlight other applicable sections of the contract including Article XVI(A)(7) which provide that the Company “shall recall all employees on layoff within the previous eighteen months” “before hiring new employees” to perform the work covered by the collective bargaining agreement.
The demands above are on behalf of any and all covered employees, including, but not limited to, Michael Haskins, Reggie Johnson, Max Schmidt, Shawn Rhodes, Leonard Lopate, Jesse Lent, Ilana Levinson, Juliana Forlano, Graceon Challenger, Barry Brooks, Andrea Katz, and Ian Foster.
Additionally, we believe the Company has already violated Article XVI(A)(1) by failing to inform the Union at least four weeks in advance before the layoff took place, thereby depriving us of the opportunity to “economic alternatives to the proposed layoffs,” of any nature.
Finally, please see the attached information request, made in connection with the above demands.
Best,
Becky Hayes
Becky Hayes
Broadcast Manager and Labor Counsel
SAG-AFTRA
One Lincoln Plaza
1900 Broadway, 5th Floor
New York, NY 10023
Layoffs and Canceled Shows at WBAI-FM, a New York Radio Original
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/07/business/media/wbai-pacifica-layoffs.html?fbclid=IwAR3WqYNQzr3aVrw1OIpXOgOzLsnEyzQjhqg-VJ69O_1U_BQiHZI4m78n6b4
ImageA vintage poster advertising WBAI-FM in 1977.
A vintage poster advertising WBAI-FM in 1977.CreditCreditBlank Archives/Getty Images
By Ben Sisario
Oct. 7, 2019
For decades, WBAI-FM has remained a proudly scrappy alternative in New York’s radio market, a bastion of left-wing political commentary and community voices rarely heard elsewhere on the dial.
That identity was cast into doubt on Monday when the station’s owner, the nonprofit Pacifica Foundation, abruptly laid off most of WBAI’s staff and replaced its local programming with shows drawn from Pacifica’s four other stations.
Ten of WBAI’s 12 employees were laid off, according to John Vernile, Pacifica’s interim executive director.
Employees and volunteer hosts at the station said they were blindsided by Pacifica’s decision. “We are in disbelief,” said Alexander J. Urbelis, a host of “Off the Hook,” a weekly show about computer hacking. “Nobody was given any notice of this or any opportunity to be heard.”
Berthold Reimers, WBAI’s general manager, told producers in an email on Monday morning: “There is a show on the air now that I do not recognize. This means your shows are no longer on WBAI.” Mr. Reimers declined to comment.
Pacifica leaders said that the decision to shut down WBAI’s operations in New York had been in the works for months, and that it was an essential step to save the larger foundation from ruin.
In an interview, Mr. Vernile said WBAI — which, like the network’s other stations, is listener supported — had fallen short of its fund-raising goals in recent years. He added that the station was unable to make payroll and other expenses, forcing the larger Pacifica Foundation network to bail it out.
“Listeners in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Houston and Washington, D.C., have been supporting the efforts in New York,” Mr. Vernile said. “It has gotten to a point where we can no longer do that.”
WBAI’s ratings are minimal, but its shows can have an impact. On Monday, Letitia James, the attorney general of New York, wrote on Twitter: “This is deeply disappointing and I hope this station is relaunched.”
WBAI and Pacifica had been under strain for years. Pacifica has not released any financial statements since 2017, when its auditor cited doubts that the organization could continue as a going concern.
The foundation faced possible bankruptcy after a New York State court ordered it in 2017 to pay $1.8 million in rent and other fees to a trust affiliated with the Empire State Building, where WBAI transmitted its signal.
Last year, Pacifica settled with the trust after obtaining a loan from FJC, a nonprofit lender. Mr. Vernile said Pacifica had been meeting its obligations under the loan agreement. Sam Marks, the chief executive of FJC, declined to comment.
WBAI, founded in 1960, was a leader in the free-form radio movement, and has had a history of extraordinary moments in broadcasting. Bob Dylan made early appearances on the station, and in the 1970s WBAI was cited by the Federal Communications Commission for indecency for running George Carlin’s routine on seven “filthy words,” a decision upheld by the Supreme Court.
As WBAI’s audience has dwindled, its finances have grown shaky. In 2013, after nearly a decade of losses, the station laid off 19 employees. At times, it has seemed crippled by factionalism, as board meetings descended into name-calling and bickering over parliamentary rules.
The station’s most valuable asset may be its license to operate a coveted spot on the dial, at 99.5 FM, but Mr. Vernile said Pacifica was determined not to sell that prime piece of radio real estate. Pacifica, he said, wants to “rebuild” WBAI at some point, although he did not offer a clear target date.
“We are not out of the woods yet,” he said, “but this puts us in a place where we have a shot at bringing everything back in full.”
New York-based WBAI radio abruptly shuts down
https://nypost.com/2019/10/07/new-york-based-wbai-radio-abruptly-shuts-down/?fbclid=IwAR2Y0ueaccc8hKAe0TA-3Rz9vCd7aqaR2YMXmt9FPa5jgxjFd-QYB_2Jqxc
By Richard MorganOctober 7, 2019 | 1:56pm | Updated
Enlarge Image
Professional microphone in radio studio
Getty Images/iStockphoto
MORE ON:
RADIO
Conservative radio host accused of abusing, threatening wife
Ryan Ruocco thriving as fill-in for legendary Yankees voices
Radio host exits amid NY probe into CBS workplace misconduct
John Catsimatidis acquires 77 WABC radio for $12.5 million
WBAI FM 99.5, a listener-supported radio station in New York City that has been on the air since 1955, abruptly announced on Monday it is shutting down.
The station’s California-based nonprofit parent, Pacifica Foundation, blamed “ongoing and continued projections of further financial losses” for the abrupt shuttering of WBAI.
“We realize this news will come as a deep and painful shock, but we can no longer jeopardize the survival of the entire network,” said Pacifica, which also owns radio stations in Berkeley, Houston, Los Angeles and Washington, DC.
Recent local programming has included “Democracy Now!” with Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez, as well as regular broadcasts by Leonard Lopate, who got a second chance at WBAI after he was fired from WNYC over allegations of inappropriate behavior with staffers.
The news surprised public relations executive Jeff Simmons, a volunteer host of two weekly WBAI shows.
Simmons said in a phone interview that he had just listened to the 6-to-7 a.m. Monday replay of his Sunday evening program before learning that WBAI’s employees had been fired.
1.jpeg
TOP ARTICLES
1/5
READ MORE
WHAT CHRISTIANS CAN LEARN FROM JEWS ABOUT
ATONEMENT
429.jpg
“The note from the general manager came in about 9:40,” Simmons said. That’s when local programming ceased, he said, and “national programming got plugged in.”
In the ’60s and ’70s, the station had been a platform for the counterculture, broadcasting everything from Arlo Guthrie’s “Alice’s Restaurant” to George Carlin’s “Filthy Words.”
More recently, it hit financial turbulence, laying off nearly two-thirds of its staff in August 2013. In November of that year, musicians including Pete Seeger staged a benefit concert for WBAI at the Cutting Room.
Enlarge ImagePete Seeger performs at a WBAI benefit concert at The Cutting Room in New York CIty in November 2013.
Pete Seeger performs at a WBAI benefit concert in November 2013.Redferns
In March 2014, after falling $1.8 million behind on rent in the Empire State Building, the station received an emergency loan to prevent the building’s holding company from seizing its assets. It then relocated to 4 Times Square.
Pacifica said Monday it would relaunch WBAI once it’s able to create “a sustainable financial structure for the station.” Until then, it said WBAI’s signal would carry “a network source called Pacifica Across America.”
The station still had about a half-dozen core staffers along with several paid and volunteer hosts, according to Simmons.
Station manager Berthold Reimers and program director Linda Perry Barr were among WBAI staffers dismissed on Monday.
For more information:
https://youtu.be/lyamU2dvvtU
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SUPREME COURT OF NEW YORK STOPS PACIFICA'S ATTACK ON WBAI
https://popularresistance.org/supreme-court-of-new-york-stops-pacificas-attack-on-wbai/
By Pacifica Radio in Exile, Popular Resistance.
October 8, 2019 | RESIST!
Above photo: Michael G. Haskins, a studio engineer, at work at WBAI-FM (99.5), where George Carlin is still considered “part of the family.” CreditBess Greenberg/The New York Times
NOTE: The Popular Resistance podcast, Clearing the FOG, started being broadcast on Tuesday mornings at 9:00 am on WBAI 99.5 Pacifica Radio in New York City in early September. Yesterday morning, we received a message that the WBAI employees were fired and locked out of the station. The staff moved quickly to reverse that decision and brought it to the courts, which decided in the middle of the night to restore WBAI. Sadly, the hostile maneuver interrupted WBAI’s fund drive. We congratulate the staff for their hard work to restore local programing and we look forward to being heard on the New York airwaves again. – Margaret Flowers
Watch a video report by clicking on the image below:
Berkeley-In the morning, a crew of Pacifica Foundation board members led by brand new IED John Vernile, locked out the staff at WBAI-FM in New York and then fired them all, told the landlord to rent the space to someone else, and started piping in content from the West Coast over mid-Manhattan. In the night, the Supreme Court of New York told them to stop it and restored WBAI’s facilities, equipment, studio space, employees and control over the airwaves.
If this feels to you like a flashback, well there’s a reason for that. Two decades ago, the Pacifica Foundation locked out employees at Berkeley’s KPFA and started piping in content from Texas. At that time, the nonprofit’s board was united in their desire to teach KPFA a lesson and extract the millions in license value. Not this time. At least half of Pacifica’s elected board wasn’t informed, had no idea. and never consented. That’s probably why Supreme Court judge Frank Nervo (at home and in his pajamas) called a halt to things. This is what he said.
The Supreme Court of the State of New York has issued a stay and temporary restraining order enjoining the Pacifica Foundation from 1. Seizing any property files or equipment from WBAI 2. Terminating any employees of WBAI 3. Preventing WBAI from broadcasting it’s regularly scheduled programming. 4. Interfering in the business or orderly administration of WBAI pursuant to Section 1315 of the NYC Not for Profit Code and the Pacifica Foundation bylaws until a hearing to be held on October 18th.
The WBAI takeover followed immediately upon the collapse of a proposed set of new bylaws presented by the same folks who attempted to lock out WBAI, namely the KPFA board faction formerly known as Concerned Listeners, before they were formerly known as Save KPFA and currently known as United for Independent Radio. For the bylaws amendment petition, the name used was “The Pacifica Restructuring Project“. They were joined by a few board members from Texas and Los Angeles. The petition to the members sought to install six hand-picked people as a new self-selecting board majority that would perpetuate itself indefinitely with broad powers to further change the bylaws. The petition, which aimed to install the six by January of 2020, relied on the existing national board to open a bylaws amendment period and call another election. The board deadlocked at 11-11, blocking the petition until next year, and the proponents resorted to trying to kick one of their opponents off the board, KPFA’s Tom Voorhees (an action which is still scheduled for October 26th at KPFA).
Denied their hand-picked six to rubber stamp their actions, the group simply decided to go ahead in secret with the attack on WBAI with no board sanction. This secrecy meant that a number of things that needed to happen, didn’t: no meet and confer with the union prior to laying off union staff, no advance notice to employees and programmers, no notice to the landlord, and no consultation with the lender who holds as collateral studio buildings in LA, Houston and Berkeley.
Whether it could possibly be considered a sober plan no matter how carefully carried out is another matter. The lockout interrupted a fund drive in process that would normally book around $300,000. Laid off employees get severance pay and failing to meet and confer prior to layoffs results in a trip to arbitration. It probably wasn’t cheap to find a lawyer and dispatch them to Judge Nervo’s house in the middle of the night to argue unsuccessfully against the TRO. A repeater station still needs to transmit and WBAI’s 4 Times Square transmitter costs $12K a month. With no fund drive apparatus or staff and a program schedule of re-runs, where does that money come from? It’s unlikely to be the NYC audience whose programs were all cancelled. An organization so desperately broke that it has to cannibalize its own radio station can’t fly the IED and at least three board members to NYC and put them up in hotels to do the dirty work. It doesn’t really add up. Most WBAI’ers concluded the end game is a sale of the station license for the tens of millions of dollars it will get on the open market as a commercially convertible license.
Besides its role as a cash cow to provide a windfall to other 4 stations, are the finances at WBAI really that bad or that much worse than the other stations? Once the predatory Empire State Building tower lease Pacifica stuck WBAI with was ended, the answer is not really that much worse. You don’t have to take my word for it. Here is a profit and loss statement for 2018-2019.
It shows an operating deficit of -$227,000 including the internal transfers that Pacifica calls “central services” which are not direct costs, but payments to the Pacifica Foundation itself to support the national office. We want to be clear that in the end, all of the Pacifica stations are going to have to find a way to break even or the long-term prognosis is bleak. However, if every Pacifica unit that ran an operating deficit of -$227,000 or more was shut down, all the employees fired and the station turned into a repeater with every single local program cancelled, then the treatment would have happened to:
KPFK in 2007, 2013, 2014 and 2015
WPFW in 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2016
KPFA in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013 and 2016
Only KPFT in Houston would be left standing.
In another ironic twist, the WBAI signal area in 2019 provided a generous bequest from the estate of a former WBAI fan of $583,500. A nice chunk of change that was left to the national foundation which promptly ratcheted up their annual spending from $1.82 million in 2018 to $2.49 million in 2019, an increase of $670,000 powered by that estate gift. Once it was all spent by national, they moved to shut WBAI down.
So what now? The Pacifica Foundation has been silent since the TRO was issued. WBAI staff and programmers are meeting tomorrow to get themselves back up and running. WBAI members should support the station right now and show it with your words, emails and dollars. (Mail them checks. The Pacifica Foundation disabled the online donations system). In other signal areas, please speak up. Your delegates are elected and you put them there to represent you so can tell them what to do and what not to do in your name. Each station has instructions for contacting the local station board on the website and they meet in public once a month. Democratic Socialists of America, who have a program on WBAI, are mobilizing to support the station in New York. In Berkeley, which is the most responsible for the attack on WBAI, there should be accountability with the listeners who elected these delegates.
Since this all just happened on 10-7-2019, plans are still being developed, but we are told there may be a press conference on October 8 at 9am at KPFA and speakouts are expected at the planned local station board meetings on October 19th and October 26th here in Berkeley. Other signal areas will likely also arrange some events. To be clear, about the last thing in the world our listener dollars should be spent on is Pacifica fighting WBAI in court. None of that makes the stations stronger, better, more engaging, more technically sophisticated, more politically pointed or more culturally rich. It’s our responsibility to back this misguided board up and make them support our stations, not destroy them.
If you value being kept up to speed on Pacifica Radio news via this newsletter, you can make a little contribution to keep Pacifica in Exile publishing . Donations are secure, but not tax-deductible. (Scroll down to the donation icon).
To subscribe to this newsletter, please visit our website at http://www.pacificainexile.org
###
Started in 1946 by conscientious objector Lew Hill, Pacifica’s storied history includes impounded program tapes for a 1954 on-air discussion of marijuana, broadcasting the Seymour Hersh revelations of the My Lai massacre, bombings by the Ku Klux Klan, going to jail rather than turning over the Patty Hearst tapes to the FBI, and Supreme Court cases including the 1984 decision that noncommercial broadcasters have the constitutional right to editorialize, and the Seven Dirty Words ruling following George Carlin’s incendiary performances on WBAI. Pacifica Foundation Radio operates noncommercial radio stations in New York, Washington, Houston, Los Angeles, and the San Francisco Bay Area, and syndicates content to over 180 affiliates. It invented listener-sponsored radio.
https://popularresistance.org/supreme-court-of-new-york-stops-pacificas-attack-on-wbai/
By Pacifica Radio in Exile, Popular Resistance.
October 8, 2019 | RESIST!
Above photo: Michael G. Haskins, a studio engineer, at work at WBAI-FM (99.5), where George Carlin is still considered “part of the family.” CreditBess Greenberg/The New York Times
NOTE: The Popular Resistance podcast, Clearing the FOG, started being broadcast on Tuesday mornings at 9:00 am on WBAI 99.5 Pacifica Radio in New York City in early September. Yesterday morning, we received a message that the WBAI employees were fired and locked out of the station. The staff moved quickly to reverse that decision and brought it to the courts, which decided in the middle of the night to restore WBAI. Sadly, the hostile maneuver interrupted WBAI’s fund drive. We congratulate the staff for their hard work to restore local programing and we look forward to being heard on the New York airwaves again. – Margaret Flowers
Watch a video report by clicking on the image below:
Berkeley-In the morning, a crew of Pacifica Foundation board members led by brand new IED John Vernile, locked out the staff at WBAI-FM in New York and then fired them all, told the landlord to rent the space to someone else, and started piping in content from the West Coast over mid-Manhattan. In the night, the Supreme Court of New York told them to stop it and restored WBAI’s facilities, equipment, studio space, employees and control over the airwaves.
If this feels to you like a flashback, well there’s a reason for that. Two decades ago, the Pacifica Foundation locked out employees at Berkeley’s KPFA and started piping in content from Texas. At that time, the nonprofit’s board was united in their desire to teach KPFA a lesson and extract the millions in license value. Not this time. At least half of Pacifica’s elected board wasn’t informed, had no idea. and never consented. That’s probably why Supreme Court judge Frank Nervo (at home and in his pajamas) called a halt to things. This is what he said.
The Supreme Court of the State of New York has issued a stay and temporary restraining order enjoining the Pacifica Foundation from 1. Seizing any property files or equipment from WBAI 2. Terminating any employees of WBAI 3. Preventing WBAI from broadcasting it’s regularly scheduled programming. 4. Interfering in the business or orderly administration of WBAI pursuant to Section 1315 of the NYC Not for Profit Code and the Pacifica Foundation bylaws until a hearing to be held on October 18th.
The WBAI takeover followed immediately upon the collapse of a proposed set of new bylaws presented by the same folks who attempted to lock out WBAI, namely the KPFA board faction formerly known as Concerned Listeners, before they were formerly known as Save KPFA and currently known as United for Independent Radio. For the bylaws amendment petition, the name used was “The Pacifica Restructuring Project“. They were joined by a few board members from Texas and Los Angeles. The petition to the members sought to install six hand-picked people as a new self-selecting board majority that would perpetuate itself indefinitely with broad powers to further change the bylaws. The petition, which aimed to install the six by January of 2020, relied on the existing national board to open a bylaws amendment period and call another election. The board deadlocked at 11-11, blocking the petition until next year, and the proponents resorted to trying to kick one of their opponents off the board, KPFA’s Tom Voorhees (an action which is still scheduled for October 26th at KPFA).
Denied their hand-picked six to rubber stamp their actions, the group simply decided to go ahead in secret with the attack on WBAI with no board sanction. This secrecy meant that a number of things that needed to happen, didn’t: no meet and confer with the union prior to laying off union staff, no advance notice to employees and programmers, no notice to the landlord, and no consultation with the lender who holds as collateral studio buildings in LA, Houston and Berkeley.
Whether it could possibly be considered a sober plan no matter how carefully carried out is another matter. The lockout interrupted a fund drive in process that would normally book around $300,000. Laid off employees get severance pay and failing to meet and confer prior to layoffs results in a trip to arbitration. It probably wasn’t cheap to find a lawyer and dispatch them to Judge Nervo’s house in the middle of the night to argue unsuccessfully against the TRO. A repeater station still needs to transmit and WBAI’s 4 Times Square transmitter costs $12K a month. With no fund drive apparatus or staff and a program schedule of re-runs, where does that money come from? It’s unlikely to be the NYC audience whose programs were all cancelled. An organization so desperately broke that it has to cannibalize its own radio station can’t fly the IED and at least three board members to NYC and put them up in hotels to do the dirty work. It doesn’t really add up. Most WBAI’ers concluded the end game is a sale of the station license for the tens of millions of dollars it will get on the open market as a commercially convertible license.
Besides its role as a cash cow to provide a windfall to other 4 stations, are the finances at WBAI really that bad or that much worse than the other stations? Once the predatory Empire State Building tower lease Pacifica stuck WBAI with was ended, the answer is not really that much worse. You don’t have to take my word for it. Here is a profit and loss statement for 2018-2019.
It shows an operating deficit of -$227,000 including the internal transfers that Pacifica calls “central services” which are not direct costs, but payments to the Pacifica Foundation itself to support the national office. We want to be clear that in the end, all of the Pacifica stations are going to have to find a way to break even or the long-term prognosis is bleak. However, if every Pacifica unit that ran an operating deficit of -$227,000 or more was shut down, all the employees fired and the station turned into a repeater with every single local program cancelled, then the treatment would have happened to:
KPFK in 2007, 2013, 2014 and 2015
WPFW in 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2016
KPFA in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013 and 2016
Only KPFT in Houston would be left standing.
In another ironic twist, the WBAI signal area in 2019 provided a generous bequest from the estate of a former WBAI fan of $583,500. A nice chunk of change that was left to the national foundation which promptly ratcheted up their annual spending from $1.82 million in 2018 to $2.49 million in 2019, an increase of $670,000 powered by that estate gift. Once it was all spent by national, they moved to shut WBAI down.
So what now? The Pacifica Foundation has been silent since the TRO was issued. WBAI staff and programmers are meeting tomorrow to get themselves back up and running. WBAI members should support the station right now and show it with your words, emails and dollars. (Mail them checks. The Pacifica Foundation disabled the online donations system). In other signal areas, please speak up. Your delegates are elected and you put them there to represent you so can tell them what to do and what not to do in your name. Each station has instructions for contacting the local station board on the website and they meet in public once a month. Democratic Socialists of America, who have a program on WBAI, are mobilizing to support the station in New York. In Berkeley, which is the most responsible for the attack on WBAI, there should be accountability with the listeners who elected these delegates.
Since this all just happened on 10-7-2019, plans are still being developed, but we are told there may be a press conference on October 8 at 9am at KPFA and speakouts are expected at the planned local station board meetings on October 19th and October 26th here in Berkeley. Other signal areas will likely also arrange some events. To be clear, about the last thing in the world our listener dollars should be spent on is Pacifica fighting WBAI in court. None of that makes the stations stronger, better, more engaging, more technically sophisticated, more politically pointed or more culturally rich. It’s our responsibility to back this misguided board up and make them support our stations, not destroy them.
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Started in 1946 by conscientious objector Lew Hill, Pacifica’s storied history includes impounded program tapes for a 1954 on-air discussion of marijuana, broadcasting the Seymour Hersh revelations of the My Lai massacre, bombings by the Ku Klux Klan, going to jail rather than turning over the Patty Hearst tapes to the FBI, and Supreme Court cases including the 1984 decision that noncommercial broadcasters have the constitutional right to editorialize, and the Seven Dirty Words ruling following George Carlin’s incendiary performances on WBAI. Pacifica Foundation Radio operates noncommercial radio stations in New York, Washington, Houston, Los Angeles, and the San Francisco Bay Area, and syndicates content to over 180 affiliates. It invented listener-sponsored radio.
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