<nettime> Pacifica lockout of WBAI staffers

[ronda@ais.org (Ronda Hauben)]

I received this notice about a lockout of senior staffers at WBAI from
another mailing list I am on and thought those on nettime would be 
interested in knowing of these developments.

Ronda

-------------------------------

>Date: Wed, 27 Dec 2000 01:06:59 -0000
>Reply-To: J4Team@egroups.com
>Subject: [J4Team] Pacifica's hypocrisy against Democracy Now!

>ACT NOW.
_________

Lockout at WBAI: Pacifica management fires senior s taff, changes
locks at New York station


LOCKOUT AT WBAI:
Pacifica management fires senior staff, changes locks at New York
station

December 26, 2000

The national management of Pacifica Radio has fired several long-time
staffers at WBAI, the New York City community radio station that is
home to the award-winning show "Democracy Now!": program director
Bernard White, producer Sharan Harper, and station manager Valerie
Van Isler (see "Pacifica Management Move to Undermine WBAI's
Independence," http://www.fair.org/press-releases/van-isler.html ).

Accompanied by security guards, Pacifica executive director Bessie
Wash arrived at WBAI late at night on Friday, December 23, and changed
the locks both to the station and to individual offices. WBAI staff--
including "Democracy Now!"'s Amy Goodman--=A0 are now being admitted to
the building only on a "controlled entry" basis until further notice.
White and Harper have been threatened with arrest should they attempt
to enter the building.

Pacifica has appointed WBAI afternoon talk show host Utrice Leid as
acting station manager. Last week, WBAI news director Jose Santiago
turned down the job, saying he had been falsely assured by management
that Van Isler was resigning voluntarily. Since the lockout, Leid has
asserted on air that the crisis is simply an internal personnel
dispute. Given Pacifica management's recent embrace of arbitrary
firings and other autocratic management techniques, this is at best
hard to believe.

The current crisis is reminiscent of last year's lockout at KPFA in
Berkeley, which also came on the heels of a number of politically
motivated firings. That lockout brought thousands of Berkeley
listeners out into the streets to protest Pacifica management's
actions and demand greater accountability to the community, in keeping
with the progressive core values laid out by Pacifica founder Lew Hill.

Over the last year and a half, Pacifica's management has increasingly
orchestrated censorship-- including of FAIR's own radio show,
CounterSpin--retaliatory personnel moves and the disenfranchisement
of listeners and local advisory boards in order to impose its often
regressive decisions on the network. FAIR had feared that Pacifica's
recent moves against "Democracy Now!" (see
http://www.fair.org/activism/democracy-now.html ) were an
indication that the network was preparing an attempt to break the
independence of WBAI, one of the cornerstones of the progressive
community. The holiday firings and lockout have more than confirmed
those fears.

When FAIR asked for help in supporting "Democracy Now!" against
harassment from Pacifica management this October, members of our
email list responded passionately and swiftly, writing over 1,300 letters
to Pacifica in just over four days, and organizing demonstrations across
the country.

Since then, listener meetings and demonstrations have been ongoing,
and early signs are that listeners are responding to this latest
crisis with just as much energy. Despite the organizing difficulties
presented by the holiday season and below-freezing temperatures,
listeners have already begun to take action in New York City. Several
dozen people held a vigil outside WBAI's Manhattan studios on the
night of the lockout, and hundreds attended a demonstration outside
the building on Saturday the 23rd. Daily protests are planned outside
the station from four to six pm, beginning Tuesday,
December 26.

ACTION:
1. The group Concerned Friends of WBAI is urging New York City
listeners to attend a community planning meeting this Wednesday,
December 27, 6:30 pm at SEIU Local 32 B-J, 101 Sixth Avenue. For more
information, see: http://www.wbai.net .

Concerned listeners in other cities should check the Save Pacifica
website for updates and for links to local listener groups that may
be organizing in their area: http://www.savepacifica.net .

2. Please call or write to Pacifica and let them know that you
support the locked out WBAI staffers. Urge the network to reinstate
Valerie Van Isler, Bernard White and Sharan Harper, and to cease
harassment of WBAI employees.

CONTACT:
Bessie Wash, Pacifica executive director
mailto:FALCON1591@aol.com
Phone: 888-770-4944 x348 (toll free)
Post: The Pacifica Foundation
2390 Champlain St.
WA

#  distributed via <nettime>: no commercial use without permission
#  <nettime> is a moderated mailing list for net criticism,
#  collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets
#  more info: majordomo@bbs.thing.net and "info nettime-l" in the msg body
#  archive: http://www.nettime.org contact: nettime@bbs.thing.net