At 3:09 PM -0400 4/8/05, Louis Proyect wrote:
I just got an email from Steve Brown, a local WBAI activist, with an attached file announcing the resignation of Don Rojas, the station manager at WBAI and Dan Coughlin, the executive director of Pacifica. I am making it available here:
http://www.marxmail.org/wbai.pdf
I was deeply disappointed in the way that Rojas managed the station and assume that things will get better.
A couple of points on this.
I like Don Rojas, who just resigned as WBAI general manager, and I think he tried to do what he could. But the resistance within the staff to even the most minor innovations - e.g., reading some news headlines at the top of the hour - was profound. But Don's resignation has been in the works for months.
The author of the memo, Steve Brown, is deeply involved in the internal battles of the station. It's very hard to take sides in this battle. At its worst, it devolves into a crude black nationalism vs. a crude white ressentiment that does neither side any credit. Gary Null's show was dropped in part because he refused to participate in fundraising, and through his website, was urging listeners not to contribute to the station. In some ways it's amazing he was tolerated as long as he was. Plus he's a health crank with dubious politics.
But there's no denying WBAI is deeply troubled. Listenership is shrinking and the fundraisers are longer than ever. The station spent 91 days fundraising in 2004 - a full quarter of the year. Many people within the station act as if a small listenership is proof of authenticity. It's sad to see a 50,000 watt station in the middle of the FM dial in the largest metro area in the US dwindling away.
Doug
