Some great things at the station lately

Dear all,

I'd like to contribute some positive and anti racist vibes to the board, via terrific programs I've heard lately on BAI. I say anti racist in the sense that, whenever one is focusing on learning or comprehending something very intelligent or interesting or mind expanding that another person is saying, then racism and/or denegration is somehow absent or very much diminished. At least that is my personal experience.

So here are some real positives I've heard lately. They bring us back to the notion of WBAI as a kind of open air all too self secret club for cool and enthusiastic ideas

There was a program and premium featuring
(?Dr.) Kimbwandende Kia Bunseki Fu-Kiau, who is just brilliant in the scope of his knowledge and insights. This guy is terrific. He has a website (with others) at
http://www.abibitumikasa.com/Home.php .
The music alone there is unbelievable. The drumming!
See especially http://www.abibitumikasa.com/Market.php , about15 minutes in.
We should use it as a premium, a theme song, something. Talk about music that could pull people in to the station, wow!
His philosophy is deep and different, rooted in village tradition. I recommend it immensely. If someone here can point me to the URL for the WBAI interview last week, I'd really appreciate it.
(That's the idea of the web, working together cooperatively.)
What about giving him a few hours to teach on BAI.. He might take it as advertising for his institute.

There was a 2 hour special program on Haiti yesterday (I think) interviewing Edwidge Danticat, an author, originally from Haiti, who has written a new autobiographical memoir called Brother, I'm Dying, nominated for the National Book award. Again, wow! The book was a premium. Again, I'd appreciate a URL to the program. This author shows real intelligence and humanity. I learned a lot.

The producers of "Beyond the Pale" are pretty uniformly amazing in the amount they are able to teach me in a short time.

For me, about 15 - 25 % of the programs I hear on BAI "click" to stimulate a lot of further self learning. Each such program takes days to weeks to research and even partially absorb. Each corresponds to what a friend of mine once called a "big learn", the first time one is exposed. Gee, what more could one ask from radio? In other words 15-25% is plenty for me given the amazing quality of these intervals. Also I don't listen all that much.

These programs are, to me, personally, big sucesses. Let's generate more traffic advertising these terrific accomplishments on this bulletin board, and then figure out how to advertise the station better.

Disclaimer: Although I am running for the LSB on an independent and "anti JUC" platform, I am happy to admit that many people must be doing something right to get programs like these on over and over again. I don't really know whom. My candidacy is focused on the station facing facts and breaking even financially very soon because it has to, and us acting better toward one another, not denigrating the great work on the station. If and when the station is doing OK financially, I'll be happy to bow out.

Thanks,
Seth Goldberg

Candidate questionnaire

Seth Goldberg Oct 15,2007

LSB candidate questionnaire

Limit your answers to no more than 300 words.
Shorter answers are more likely to be read.


1.Why do you wish to serve on the Local Station Board?
The station is in deep financial trouble. I'd like to try to help. See my candidate statement, email address, and other material at
http://www.sgwbai.blogspot.com/
2.What skills, qualifications and experience would you bring to the board?
Scientist, physician, extensive business experience, ability to read a balance sheet, ability to help solve real world problems in concert with others, if they are also willing.

3.What can be done to improve the dynamics and effectiveness of the Local Station Board?
Given the current JUC control, very little I'm afraid. (See Eric K. Williams’ article http://yourfreepress.blogspot.com/2007/04/wbai-jive-95-free-speech-radio-in.html. Williams is an award-winning journalist who has worked for many years at WBAI.) Given LSB control by independent people who are more interested in saving the station in than rigidly pursuing other, to me more narrow agendas, a great deal. At that point the terrible paralyzing acrimony, which characterizes current LSB meetings, might lessen somewhat. The LSB could begin to really do its job of helping in outreach, fundraising, and oversight.

4. What LSB committees would you like to join? What Pacifica National Board committees?
Finance, outreach, fundraising, audit, programming (for both).

5. Would you be interested in serving on the Pacifica National Board, and why?
If I can find the time, it could be important to present a more accurate picture of the local situation to the National Board.

6. How do you view the dynamics between the Pacifica network and local station
autonomy?
To the extent that the station can become financially self supporting, then it will naturally gain more autonomy. To the extent that it is draining the rest of the network stations, they will naturally be more intrusive in our affairs.

7. How should the Pacifica Foundation find a wider audience?
More local tabling, local advertising, helping local progressive organizations, especially in the outlying counties. More respect and inclusiveness of all segments of our fundamental audience, which seems to be independent thinking, intelligent progressives.

8. What can be done to preserve and share the treasures of the Pacifica Archives?
Our current efforts are good enough for right now. We have bigger problems today and in the near term.

9. Do you have any ideas for new approaches to fundraising for Pacifica?
Many, but they all hinge on changing control at the station. Then we can reforge old alliances with communities which are today censored in the wider media. An example is the censoring of progressive Jewish opinion which opposes current right wing US and Israeli opinion. WBAI already has programming which is already tuned into
this scene. There is a wider point as well. Diversity to me and all of the other independent candidates to whom I have spoken means diversity of ideas, not so much diversity of national, racial, or ethnic identity. With this change comes more audience, more fundraising, more amity and a much stronger station.

10. How do you view Pacifica's potential in providing internet content?
Positively.

11. What technologies should the Pacifica Foundation consider for the future?
Youtube, Google video, Facebook, Myspace

12. What can be done to improve our signal strength?
50,000 watts is already very good, especially with the new grants we have for transmitter upgrades. Not reaching enough people is not our major problem at this time. Connecting better and becoming more relevant to the people who can already hear us is the challenge for today.

13. Should the station consider relocating the studio to other facilities? Where and
Why?
Perhaps. It's a complicated question. Probably not in the immediate future, due to the moving costs.

14. How can our station better serve under-represented communities?
By continuing to exist.

15. How can our station better serve the many linguistic communities of the signal area?
By continuing to exist.

16. What do you see as our station's strong and weak points?
WBAI is a space for public personal and especially political speech. Public political speech of this type is very important as a necessary component of progressive political organizing and action. Without it we feel weak and isolated, which is bad for the larger democracy and governance of the US. WBAI is entirely unique in its ability and desire to present unpopular points of view in this way, helping among other things to prevent nationalist excesses and wars. The station, however was hurt very badly in 2001 and has been only slowly recovering ever since. People at
the station apparently mostly think of their tiny subgroup and have little solidarity with the larger station community. While it will take us some time to heal this, in my opinion, without ending the current JUC domination, the situation will only worsen.

17. Have you ever been party to, or provided support for, a lawsuit involving
Pacifica or its employees? When and Why?
In 2001 I was a supporter of Carol Spooner and the suit to reestablish listener control of Pacifica.
18. How do you think the election process for Local Station Board can be improved?

19. What are your hobbies, interests, and other organizational affiliations?
Science, New York Academy of Sciences, Buddhism

20. What question(s) would you pose to your fellow candidates?

A plan forward for the LSB

10/01/07

Whichever candidates win in this upcoming 2007 election, it will be much better for WBAI if the LSB starts to work effectively again. The problem of the current LSB meetings is that there is so much distrust, rancor, and acrimony that the meetings are pathetically and almost comically dysfunctional. By this I mean that it seems that about 3/4 of each meeting is spent on procedural matters about the meeting and the LSB itself, not about WBAI. Actually, if this could be overcome, then I could probably work well with any or all of the candidates or current members. So here are some ideas to make the LSB work better. They are for the LSB members and especially the chairperson.

My overview is that this struggle at the LSB, is all a tempest in a teapot. WBAI, as a legal entity is really just Pacifica doing business in NY as WBAI. Pacifical owns, is entirely legally and financially responsible for and operates the radio station WBAI. All the local station boards, even though they are considered committees of the entire Pacifica National Board (PNB) legally only advise. The PNB is no more obligated to take their advice, than the advice of any other cubcommittee of the Board.

Therefore, whatever resolutions, which are legally resolutions of advice, the majority of the LSB passes or doesn't pass, in current circumstances the PNB is going to look very carefully at the advice of the other significant minority opinions, which in this circumstance means the opinions of the “other side”. So all of this maneuvering for parliamentary advantage at the LSB meetings is pretty much meaningless and of little functional consequence. Only unanimous or concensus opinions of the LSB will carry much weight for a while. It never seemed this way in the past because WBAI was self supporting and more. Whether at Pacifica or General Motors, profitable subdivisions have more sovreignty.

In reality, for the next year or so, the new station manager and the PNB are going to try to save WBAI, and call more of the shots. For example, this last weekend (Sept 30^th 2007) the PNB decided not to approve the WBAI 2008 budget, although the LSB voted to recommend approval. In fact, starting today WBAI is budgeted via an emergency PNB “continuing resolution” for only 90 days, with a financial audit, salary reductions, staff reductions, and a “forensic audit” (to look for malfeasance and mismanagement), weekly reports on cash flows and bank balances in this same 90 days. This is evidence of financial failure during the last 3 years, and the widely remarked upon and well documented failures of the LSB have not helped here.

All the LSB members can do in a positive sense, is support these efforts at saving the station and the network and/or try to offer suggestions for improvement. WBAI has lost much of its independence by becoming insolvent. Behind the efforts for radical increases in financial accountability stand the PNB and much more significantly, behind them stands the actual current financial situation, which is pretty much inflexable. My diagnosis is that the the ego's of the members of the LSB on all sides have gotten away from them. My recommendation is that we should all work together more nicely in what is actually more like a forum for cooperative discussion and development than a governing body. So in this spirit I offer suggestions for the better working of the LSB in the near future.

1. Consider rotating the chairmanship of each meeting to different member in advance, from the different factions, with possible delegation by the chair to a designated substitute. In other words, consider time proportional representation of the chairmanship of LSB meetings. This might help fairness.

2. Meet or communicate with the other LSB members, often and informally, either in person or by email, or phone. Find out the positions of people with whom one doesn't necessarily agree. Think about what they are saying, and give then enough time to think about what you are saying, in advance. Try not to surprise your fellow board members at meetings.

3. Work out meeting agendas in advance, if possible, informally or by email. Treat the job of chairmanship as that of a facilitator.

The LSB is small enough and meets often enough that agendas should be easy to arrange. Any email by a member containing a proposed agenda item needs to be recognized, one way or another. The secret to efficiency here is not too many surprises at the meeting itself. Maybe it informally goes to committee or just gets delayed a little for informal study. Maybe it is introduced as a motion and studied later.

4. Spend 10 minutes prior to the meeting asking people informally what important and last minute items they might want to bring up. In other words, telegraph your punches, give advance notice of controversial positions. Be ready to learn from those who might be opposing you on an issue.

5. For a few initial meetings, set the meeting adjournment time for 10:00 pm, or whenever we physically get thrown out of the space, so that the tragi-comical wasting of time trying to set, and then reset the adjournment time, which sometimes ridiculously takes 40% of the time available for the meeting, is avoided.

6. In terms of parliamentary procedure we all pretty much are incompetent. Be inclusive, forgiving where possible. Get more discussion prior to asking for votes on resolutions. Consider even suspending Roberts rules of order for the first half hour of each meeting or so, to allow all of the LSB members and maybe some listeners the opportunity to say what's on their minds without all these interruptions. We can then reinstate Roberts rules if and when we want to pass a resolution or two.

7. Have division votes by raising of hands, with identification of the members by the secretary after each vote. Waste less time procedurally by agreeing as to which are the divisive issues beforehand, to the maximal extent.

8. More meditating. Less grandstanding. You're only in an advisory body, and, realistically, the minority has about as much influence on the deciding body, the PNB, as the majority.

Candidate statement

Seth Goldberg

I am running because I believe that WBAI is in serious financial trouble, and could use my help now. My expertise has nothing at all to do with radio or organizing – I work on cancer research at a very small non-profit medical foundation. But my professional experience, training, and skills in independent analysis and thinking – I am a 61-year-old physician-scientist who has had successful business experience – may be very helpful to the local station board at this time. Carol Spooner, who was the guiding intelligence in the lawsuit that brought democracy and listener sovereignty to Pacifica in 2002, recently alerted many of us to some of the dire problems now facing WBAI, but which the current board does not seem to publicly acknowledge. Her concerns led me to take on the burden of running for a seat on this board. I am not an "ivory tower" kind of scientist; I am good at helping to clarify and if possible solve, with others, serious practical problems like this in a satisfactory way, so we can keep the wonderful thing we all have here working well.

WBAI needs that kind of experience because, according to Pacifica's most recent public audit, WBAI is currently insolvent, that is broke, after losing about $100,000 a year (out of roughly $3,000,000 of income) for each of the last three years. Pacifica has lately had its own financial challenges in addition to the weight of our debts. I do not know why our LSB – which has long been controlled by a voting majority called the JUC – has let the station spin so dangerously close to disaster in this way, but it needs to stop, now. WBAI's latest proposed budget continues to assume an unrealistically high projection for listener donations this fall, in the face of historically falling donations, just in order to break even. This appears to me as wishful thinking. According Pacifica's latest financial projection, at this rate WBAI will have difficulty meeting its payroll in a few months.

We can still fix this. Long outvoted, independent LSB members have been warning about this for several years. Therefore, at a minimum, the next LSB needs to be controlled by independents. Because the board is staggered, with only 1/2 of its members elected this year, and for safety, that means pretty much voting only for independents this year. As a scientist, and a physician, who has two decades of real-world business experience in running and overseeing two successful family owned companies, both somewhat larger than WBAI, I have learned to look at painful facts early so as to help make best treatment and recovery plans in good time. That means not being unduly reliant on hope or unchecked opinions. I will thereby try to give something back to this station which has meant so much to me and to so many of my friends for the last 35 years. See http://www.sgwbai.blogspot.com/ or email sg.wbai@yahoo.com