I know this might sound Andy Rooneyish but, I’ve always been skeptical about people who are so willing to put their picture on all of their documents. Since this is not a common practice I wonder what their motivation is. Hmmmm.
In past years, weeks before each of our fund drives, Steve Brown’s propaganda machine was geared up to send out emails and letters to his extensive address book of subscribers and listeners strongly suggesting to them that they should not support WBAI with their cash contributions. His methodology was the utilization of negative racial imagery and totally fabricated conversations and encounters designed to undermine listener confidence in WBAI and past Pacifica management. The ACE brochure is a continuation of his effort to manipulate reality and impose his will.
Over the past several months, the Steve Brown propaganda machine has been operating at full toxic speed. It seems that hardly a week goes by that he isn’t sending out an email or a letter with his face splattered on the front page. Even though he is not running in the present board election, his imprint is indelibly etched all over ACE’s literature. Any intelligent reader can clearly see that he is the one who controls this organization. He has brought to their presentation all of the subterfuge and deception that he uses in his business of marketing junk products that people don’t need and that often don’t work. (whoisstevebrown.info)
Stevie’s latest mailing is the ACE election brochure. It is a slick brochure replete with misstatements of facts, the use of images that give the impression of endorsements and also…his picture. Most of the people whose images he has attached to this document are there to give the impression that they endorse his slate of candidates. People like Harry Belafonte, Mumia Abu Jamal, Amy Goodman, Howard Zinn, Noam Chomsky, Alice Walker, Gore Vidal, etc were never asked about whether their images could be used in this fashion. Most of them don’t even know what ACE is. This is all being done to mislead the reader into believing that these individuals are all on board with Mr. Brown. An honest candidate with principles would not go along with the type of trickery. But then they wouldn’t be on Stevie’s slate. This slate is packed with individuals who are willing to acquiesce to Brown’s leadership and influence. Obviously, they cannot be trusted to stand up and insure adherence to the Pacifica Mission against reactionaries.
Speaking of reactionaries, Steve Brown and Grace Aaron constitute the present leadership of Pacifica. This is a marriage of East coast millions with West coast millions. They both share a common philosophy. They believe that Pacifica should be reshaped to appeal to a richer, wider, whiter audience. Their recent actions are a testimony to this assertion.
Take Forward WBAI is ACE and ACE is Take Forward WBAI. Take Forward WBAI’s brochure is also an obvious Brown product. It employs the same tactics that the ACE brochure uses. For instance, I knew Al Lewis and if one check’s with his widow, Karen, I am sure that she would tell you that Al and I were friends. I know that Al would not have sanctioned the use of his image on the Take Forward WBAI brochure. I know that his politics and beliefs were the antithesis of Take Forward WBAI. He would firmly denounce the overtly racist statements and associated behaviors that the leaders of this group have made over the years. This is a very nasty bunch.
Readers and voters should be outraged by the ACE group and Brown’s blatant attempt at manipulation. This is not the kind of leadership that WBAI needs or deserves. Whenever reading a document issued by Brown, make sure you read the small print first.
Until next time, Stay Strong and Pay Close Attention,
Bernard White
http://www.takebackwbai.org
Dear All,
For many of you, I have not been in any communication with you in quite some time but that doesn’t mean that I and the “Take Back WBAI Coalition” hasn’t been actively organizing in a concerted effort to return the autonomy and retain the community character of WBAI. Without having access to the air waves or a propaganda machine equivalent to that of Steve Brown getting the word out about what is actually happening to WBAI remains an arduous task. This communiqué reflects my perspective and analysis and will provide an update on recent events and activities. When you read this document you will have a good idea about what in fact are the realities that are emerging inside as well as outside the station.
UPDATES:
Take Back KPFK & WBIXradio.org:
On September 12th , I was in Los Angeles, California, the home of Grace Aaron, the chair of the Pacifica National Board and also the Interim Executive Director of Pacifica’s national office. Our sister station KPFK is located in Los Angeles. My reason for being there was to give solidarity and support to the “Take Back KPFK Coalition.” I participated in a public forum that addressed the issues affecting KPFK and WBAI resulting from the actions of the new national board majority led by Grace Aaron and Steve Brown. A group of concerned listeners producers and board members are protesting the redirection of KPFK’s programming away from the Pacifica mission and the heavy-handed, racist actions being taken against staff and producers.
Tim Wise was the keynote speaker at the forum. Thanks to the perseverance of Don Debar the entire program was streamed live over WBIXradio.org. It is very important that you hear what Tim had to say. He absolutely understands what is happening in Pacifica and points out its location in the broader context of what is happening in “progressive left” media. Tim has friends on both sides of this issue yet he has chosen to speak out against what is happening to the network. Either purchase a copy of Tim’s presentation from http://www.takebackwbai.org or visit http://www.wbixradio.org and see a streaming video of the entire forum. Tim Wise shares his profound understanding of the psycho-social dynamics at play in this recent takeover.
Fund Drives:
WBAI has had two fund drives since May of 2009. We are told that both fund drives were successful and that each exceeded their stated goal. I think we can believe that this is true for the first drive but I question the conclusion about the success of the second drive. For the first drive I believe that our listeners were responding to hype and fear that was created by Grace Aaron as she led us to believe that we were about to get evicted from 120 Wall St and that she got there just in time to stop it. Once this lie was told over and over our listeners became frightened and gave donations, many without asking for a premium. Even Michio Kaku just to name one producer went to the air waves without doing much investigation and reiterated Grace’s line in dramatic fashion. Remember after Errol Maitland read Anthony Riddle’s letter questioning Grace Aaron about her attempt to surreptitiously take over our transmitter in the middle of the night, Wakeup Call made $40,000 dollars without offering a single premium. Folks were scared that we were about to be taken over…once again, so they gave generously.
The second fund drive is a different story. First of all it is being posited as a sign of listener approval for the change in management. Many listeners are unaware that changes have been made and the reasons for making those changes. Secondly, I don’t believe that what we were told regarding the monetary success of the drive was totally true. The question that I have is, if the last drive was such an overwhelming success then why in the next few days is WBAI going back to the listeners to get an additional $120,000? This three day micro-drive has been scheduled with the full knowledge that in October there will be another full-fledged drive that will last for at least three weeks. It doesn’t make since given their pronouncements of success. They say it is designed to clear out inventory. If that is the case then why give a goal?
I think that there is a direct relationship to the budget. By this time last year Tony Riddle had already submitted at least five forcibly revised budgets. To date this crew has not submitted a budget for review. It’s hard to lie in the budget. Either the money is there or it’s not.
Program Changes ?
They call them pilots. They say that they are just temporary programs that will not necessarily lead to a permanent location in our schedule. Time will tell.
Over the past few weeks, the community focus of WBAI has been dealt a severe blow. Wakeup Call, whose primary focal point is on local events and issues, has lost 5 hours of air time, and Democracy Now, with its national and international focus has been relocated to the 8am-9am time slot, from 9am -10am. We have experienced the importation of a bevy of white, Californian producers from KPFK, mostly male, who are speaking to other white men and women about their perspectives on the rest of the world. This means that a total of 10 hours that could present issues of local concern have been reprogrammed. Now it can be clearly seen what I mean when I say that their real intention is to take community out of community radio. The new management and their collaborators are gradually removing the tri-state community out of community radio as they search for a richer, wider, whiter audience.
Simultaneously Steve Brown is pursuing his primary goal by paving the way to get Gary Null a Democracy Now type relationship with Pacifica. If that happens, and it will unless we stop it, Mr. Null will be imposed on all five stations. $$$$$$$
In conclusion, you and only you can do something about what is happening to Pacifica. Although there are a few producers with enough understanding and integrity to challenge the authoritarian rule of the new board majority, most of them consider themselves to be safe. It will not be until they are personally affected that they will be willing to stand up and fight. They know that some funky stuff has gone done but they are unwilling to stand up on principle. Therefore it is up to the listeners and a hand full of enlightened producers to fight this struggle. If we do not fight, Pacifica will be lost to a group of extremely narrow-minded individuals who will recreate the institution into their own image. The poor and the marginalized will have lost the last media institution that has as its mission the amplification of their pain and their experience.
Until next time, Stay Strong and Pay Close Attention,
Bernard White
http://www.takebackwbai.org
For many of you, I have not been in any communication with you in quite some time but that doesn’t mean that I and the “Take Back WBAI Coalition” hasn’t been actively organizing in a concerted effort to return the autonomy and retain the community character of WBAI. Without having access to the air waves or a propaganda machine equivalent to that of Steve Brown getting the word out about what is actually happening to WBAI remains an arduous task. This communiqué reflects my perspective and analysis and will provide an update on recent events and activities. When you read this document you will have a good idea about what in fact are the realities that are emerging inside as well as outside the station.
UPDATES:
Take Back KPFK & WBIXradio.org:
On September 12th , I was in Los Angeles, California, the home of Grace Aaron, the chair of the Pacifica National Board and also the Interim Executive Director of Pacifica’s national office. Our sister station KPFK is located in Los Angeles. My reason for being there was to give solidarity and support to the “Take Back KPFK Coalition.” I participated in a public forum that addressed the issues affecting KPFK and WBAI resulting from the actions of the new national board majority led by Grace Aaron and Steve Brown. A group of concerned listeners producers and board members are protesting the redirection of KPFK’s programming away from the Pacifica mission and the heavy-handed, racist actions being taken against staff and producers.
Tim Wise was the keynote speaker at the forum. Thanks to the perseverance of Don Debar the entire program was streamed live over WBIXradio.org. It is very important that you hear what Tim had to say. He absolutely understands what is happening in Pacifica and points out its location in the broader context of what is happening in “progressive left” media. Tim has friends on both sides of this issue yet he has chosen to speak out against what is happening to the network. Either purchase a copy of Tim’s presentation from http://www.takebackwbai.org or visit http://www.wbixradio.org and see a streaming video of the entire forum. Tim Wise shares his profound understanding of the psycho-social dynamics at play in this recent takeover.
Fund Drives:
WBAI has had two fund drives since May of 2009. We are told that both fund drives were successful and that each exceeded their stated goal. I think we can believe that this is true for the first drive but I question the conclusion about the success of the second drive. For the first drive I believe that our listeners were responding to hype and fear that was created by Grace Aaron as she led us to believe that we were about to get evicted from 120 Wall St and that she got there just in time to stop it. Once this lie was told over and over our listeners became frightened and gave donations, many without asking for a premium. Even Michio Kaku just to name one producer went to the air waves without doing much investigation and reiterated Grace’s line in dramatic fashion. Remember after Errol Maitland read Anthony Riddle’s letter questioning Grace Aaron about her attempt to surreptitiously take over our transmitter in the middle of the night, Wakeup Call made $40,000 dollars without offering a single premium. Folks were scared that we were about to be taken over…once again, so they gave generously.
The second fund drive is a different story. First of all it is being posited as a sign of listener approval for the change in management. Many listeners are unaware that changes have been made and the reasons for making those changes. Secondly, I don’t believe that what we were told regarding the monetary success of the drive was totally true. The question that I have is, if the last drive was such an overwhelming success then why in the next few days is WBAI going back to the listeners to get an additional $120,000? This three day micro-drive has been scheduled with the full knowledge that in October there will be another full-fledged drive that will last for at least three weeks. It doesn’t make since given their pronouncements of success. They say it is designed to clear out inventory. If that is the case then why give a goal?
I think that there is a direct relationship to the budget. By this time last year Tony Riddle had already submitted at least five forcibly revised budgets. To date this crew has not submitted a budget for review. It’s hard to lie in the budget. Either the money is there or it’s not.
Program Changes ?
They call them pilots. They say that they are just temporary programs that will not necessarily lead to a permanent location in our schedule. Time will tell.
Over the past few weeks, the community focus of WBAI has been dealt a severe blow. Wakeup Call, whose primary focal point is on local events and issues, has lost 5 hours of air time, and Democracy Now, with its national and international focus has been relocated to the 8am-9am time slot, from 9am -10am. We have experienced the importation of a bevy of white, Californian producers from KPFK, mostly male, who are speaking to other white men and women about their perspectives on the rest of the world. This means that a total of 10 hours that could present issues of local concern have been reprogrammed. Now it can be clearly seen what I mean when I say that their real intention is to take community out of community radio. The new management and their collaborators are gradually removing the tri-state community out of community radio as they search for a richer, wider, whiter audience.
Simultaneously Steve Brown is pursuing his primary goal by paving the way to get Gary Null a Democracy Now type relationship with Pacifica. If that happens, and it will unless we stop it, Mr. Null will be imposed on all five stations. $$$$$$$
In conclusion, you and only you can do something about what is happening to Pacifica. Although there are a few producers with enough understanding and integrity to challenge the authoritarian rule of the new board majority, most of them consider themselves to be safe. It will not be until they are personally affected that they will be willing to stand up and fight. They know that some funky stuff has gone done but they are unwilling to stand up on principle. Therefore it is up to the listeners and a hand full of enlightened producers to fight this struggle. If we do not fight, Pacifica will be lost to a group of extremely narrow-minded individuals who will recreate the institution into their own image. The poor and the marginalized will have lost the last media institution that has as its mission the amplification of their pain and their experience.
Until next time, Stay Strong and Pay Close Attention,
Bernard White
http://www.takebackwbai.org
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