Custom Search
Gagging Free Speech Radio
Dan DeBar
I have been morning news headlines editor at WBAI-FM since July 2007. I began at that time as one of three volunteer producers and, as the others left to take on other projects, eventually settled in to a five-days-per-week, three newscasts-per-morning production schedule.
These newscasts are a part of (as they say in radio) the morning drive-time program, Wakeup Call.
Late last year, management at WBAI's parent company, the California not-for-profit corporation Pacifica Foundation, Inc., resigned, and the chair of its advisory board became, as is provided for under California law, the acting Executive Director.
Although the usual role for interim management in any corporate environment is to act as a ministerial placeholder - administering such tasks as paying the bills, signing payroll checks, etc. - in this case, the acting ED, Grace Aaron, instead decided to take an active role in reshaping the network personally. Acting in tandem with a local station board at WBAI that is run by a new majority - itself the product of a lawsuit brought, on behalf of members allied with board members Steve Brown and Mitchel Cohen, by an attorney who helped strip the NYS Green Party of ballot status in 2002 - Aaron began acting against WBAI's management in a number of ways that, in my view, threatened its local autonomy.
In that context, and as context for any further news reporting that either I myself, or any others at the station, might make going forward, and, further, with an eye on the fact that the station is financially supported by listener contributions, I began reporting on significant developments concerning the station as a part of my newscasts. Over a period beginning in March of this year, these reports have covered such events as the discussion of a plan at the national board level to place the station in "internal receivership;" the seizure of control of the station's transmitter by the acting ED; the ousting of the station's general manager; and other items which, in my view and, facially, objectively, are matters of primary concern to the listeners who pay to keep the station on the air.
For the purpose of absolute clarity, I must state that officially, and in the internal parlance of the station, I am a volunteer news producer for the program Wakeup Call, and not a part of the WBAI news department which produces the WBAI Evening News.
This past Monday (May 4, 2009), the head of that department, Jose Santiago, issued a statement which was repeated several times during the week after the Evening News. Within that statement was nested another, to the effect that the news department had made a decision not to air any discussion of "internal politics" at WBAI, adding language that was critical of those (presumably myself included) who had done so. This statement is particularly chilling given that Mr. Santiago, the AFTRA shop stewart at WBAI, was appointed this past weekend as a pro tem station manager by Ms Williams while she is out of town for the week.
It should particularly be noted here that Mr. Santiago's statement came shortly after the acting ED issued what can only be described as a gag order on WBAI's on-air personnel. Certainly, all can agree that prior censorship of news is contrary to journalistic principles.
In just the past week, both the station's general manager, Anthony Riddle, and its program director, Bernard White, have been removed by the acting ED. Mr. Riddle, who previously was the CEO of the national public access television advocacy group Alliance for Communty Media, was removed as general manager and offered a job as a national fund raiser for Pacifica. He was replaced by the Foundation's acting CFO, LaVarn Williams, from Berkeley, CA, where Pacifica is domiciled. As a public access TV producer myself for better than 30 years, I can tell you that Mr. Riddle, as the head of the ACM, almost single-handedly saved that particular means of public communication from being dismantled under both the Clinton and Bush administrations.
Mr. White's removal took the form of a temporary suspension. However, according to a statement issued by Mr. Brown, the local board member, Mr. White's "keys (were) taken from him and building security instructed not to permit him on the premises."
Mr. White's removal has long been publicly advocated by Brown, who has often used the most barbaric and racist imagery and language in doing so.
The purpose of my letter is to inform your readers that, unlike Mr. Santiago, it seems clear to me that the "internal politics" of a news outlet are contextual for any reporting that may issue therefrom, and changes in the political dynamics - particularly including the issuance of a gag rule barring certain and undefined speech from the airwaves of "Free Speech Radio" - are not only worthy of reporting; they are necessary pieces of information for listeners trying to determine such basic questions as "who am I getting this information from?" and "what is the agenda of the reporter feeding me this information?".
To our listeners, I can only borrow from Bernard White's long-time signature - stay strong, and pay close attention!
Don DeBar
Ossining, NY 10562
Author's Bio: Producer and morning news headlines editor for WBAI-FM in NYC.
www.opednews.com/populum/print_friendly.php