--Carol Spooner
At 07:32 PM 8/18/2004 -0400, Doug Henwood wrote:
>Egads.
>
>Well I've only been around WBAI for about 15 years. Is that drinking
>deeply? I haven't gotten involved with governance because I've got a
>million other things to do with my life and just don't have time for three
>hour meetings every other day.
>
>I haven't studied the situation closely? Like I said, I've only had 15
>years to study it, which apparently isn't enough. When we were in the Bay
>Area the other day, we spent a couple of hours talking things over with
>Sasha (whom I hold in the highest regard). What she said about the KPFA
>sitch certainly comported with what I've heard elsewhere. Saying she's
>young and doesn't have enough experience with KPFA's history isn't really
>very helpful, since that history is part of the problem. While we were in
>Calif, I asked a bunch of people if they listened to the station - not one
>said yes. I've had very similiar experiences with WBAI - people who should
>be listening aren't. Why? The answers typically run like this: "Too
>amateurish." "Ranting." "Uninformative." "Conspiratorial." Etc.
>
>I think the whole model of electing local station boards is flawed. Few
>people can know the issues or the personnel to cast informed votes. And
>who constitutes the electorate? What about all the ex- and non-listeners
>who wouldn't tune to 94.1 or 99.5, much less cast a ballot? "Empowering
>the listeners" is empty claptrap. That's not the way to run a radio
>station, or a network of five stations. Pacifica needs more
>professionalism, not less.
>
>This whole manichean story of the "saviors" vs. the "corporate raiders" is
>badly in need of a rewrite too. Listenership is dwindling, and something
>needs to be done. And Pacifica's finances are extremely murky - no one
>really knows where the money's going. The share of WBAI's budget going to
>salaries has doubled in the last decade or so - who's being hired, how,
>for what, why? Who knows?
>
>Yeah, sure, complexity and interest are ubiquitous, but I feel like I can
>find out enough about most political issues to make informed judgments.
>That's just not possible with the Pacifica mess. And I've only been around
>WBAI for 15 years.
>
>Doug
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