Ken Nash and his guests on Building Bridges were pulled of the air abruptly today by interim station manager Utrice Leid, who said she believed that lies had been told by Ken and his guest, Rep. Major Owens.
Ken opened the program by reading a statement condemning the firing and banning of Mimi Rosenberg, his co-host, on Feb. 5. He said that Mimi flatly denied the charges of violence made against her by Utrice Leid, and that he believed that it was Utrice that ought to apologize for her conduct since Dec 22, when Leid and Pacifica Executive Director Bessie Wash changed the locks at WBAI and a series of firings and bannings begun. At least 10 people have been banned from the station since that time.
Ken also said he refused to acknowledge the validity of Mimi's banning, and that he felt obligated to report on what he described as an injustice.
This lasted 2-3 minutes.
Following Ken's statement, Ken spoke with his phone guest Rep Major Owens about WBAI, the labor rally Feb. 20, the banning of Mimi and the general gagging of media in America, and the idea of a people's media which has been exemplified by WBAI.
Owens asked, who owns the airwaves, and who owns a non-profit institution? He says WBAI must be given a structure that fits it's mission. As Rep. Owens is saying, "We must keep alive what WBAI stands for, freedom of speech..." Utrice Leid is heard entering the control room.
She said, "Major Owens, Major Owens".
Owens says"Hello" a few times, sounding confused as she is off mike and there is a babble of voices in the background.
All sound stops at about six minutes into the program, and there is dead air for a few seconds. When sound returns, Leid is addressing Major Owens, "Hello, I'm here, " she says while Ken Nash attempts to ID the show from off mike (or a turned off mike)
Then, dead air again, and music begins playing for about 6 min.
The engineer comes on about 12 min and introduces Utrice Leid, after expressing support for her action.
Leid says that she "Just had to do something that she wished she did not have to do" but had to "send a signal that enough is enough."
She said that the program began "with what in effect is a false statement and we have had enough of such false statements" She went on to defend the management position, and her views.
For the rest of the hours she takes calls from listeners.
During the duration of her time on air, she insists that neither Rep. Owens, Mumia Abu Jamal, Noam Chomsky, nor others that have made statements condemning the acts of WBAI/Pacifica have been misinformed or duped. She mentions frequently that the truth has not been told by critics of events at WBAI. Accuses critics of right-wing tactics, bad journalism.
Audio of the program is available on line http://www.radio4all.net/proginfo.php?id=2719
We hope to have a transcript available soon.
Lyn
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