WMNF: Diversify your station staff, bring back the news, and reinstate Alvaro Montealegre!

WMNF is seen from the outside as a community radio station that is about our diverse community in the Tampa Bay area, however we find that inside the walls of the station there is a lack of diversity, in particular people of color, who are represented in the listening community, yet largely unrepresented in the studio.

At the present time, out of 42 daytime weekly shows, only two are hosted by people of color, of those, only one show is African American (all week long). Out of 65 hours of daytime shows 62 and a half hours are hosted by white hosts.

That has to change. More people of color, Black, Latinos, Asians, Arabs, Indians, etc. Must have access.

Out of 15 staff members, only two are Black Americans. No other people of Color are on staff. It has been more than 10 years since WMNF has had a staff person in the news room.

The news program use to be 2 hours long; one hour of straight news and one hour of programs of news analysis such as Counterspin, Letters and Politics, Free Speech Radio News, and others. Now the news has been reduced to three five-minute segments at 3:30, 4:30, and 5:30, pm.

We need to bring the news back to one hour with 5 minute segments on the environment, housing (homelessness, tenants' rights, protection from foreclosure, etc.), immigration, women's rights, the rights of People of Color (neutralization of the Klan and other hate groups) etc.

Alvaro Montealegre is a WMNF volunteer/ member of 9 years who is speaking up about this for some time and a person standing up for those unrepresented.

Alvaro should be commended for his noble actions from what is supposedly a progressive station and yet has been fired over bringing up these issues.

We demand a reinstatement of Alvaro as well as the actual inclusion of diversity of staff at the station. If the station does not truly represent the community inside, then they do not represent the community outside.