{"article":{"id":7243,"heading":"Irate Listenners of WBAI Radio March Into Station","author":"KRPonef","created":"2001-06-06 02:32:06","modified":"2001-06-06 03:00:01","last_modified":"Wed, 06 Jun 2001 10:00:01","article":"

NEW YORK - June 4 - At 9:00 a.m. on Monday, 18 irate listeners to

noncommercial radio station WBAI (99.5 FM) marched into the station chanting

\"Take back WBAI!\" and \"Restore Progressive Radio!\" Several interrupted WBAI's

Morning Show demanding a reversal of the sharp, rightward political turn and

selective censorship of programming, as well as an end to attacks on workers'

rights. Some protesters attempted to hung a 30-foot banner reading \"Save

Progressive Radio\" from the 10th floor studio at 120 Wall Street, while other

members of the group distributed flyers with their demands to a surprised

staff. WBAI is a public radio station in the listener-sponsored Pacifica

Radio Network, which consists of this station and four others in Berkeley,

LA, Washington, DC and Houston.



The non-violent group calling itself LOUD RAPP (Listeners Outraged, Upset and

Determined to Restore A Progressive Pacifica), which organized the protest,

insisted that programming at the Pacifica Network return to its progressive

founding mission. The group demanded that WBAI Interim Station Manager Utrice

Leid schedule, within two weeks, a two-hour on-air program hosted by the

station's Local Advisory Board to discuss the crisis at WBAI\/Pacifica. The

program would allow both sides to present, including representatives of WBAI

management, staff and listeners. The group also demanded the resignation of

Ms. Leid and a reversal of what they called the purge of leftist programs and

programmers undertaken by her since her installation by the increasingly

corporate-led National Board of Pacifica in a late-night coup on December 22,

2000.



According to Miguel Maldonado, a listener activist (and also chair of WBAI's

Local Advisory Board), \"Since the coup, Ms. Leid has removed or pre-empted

some of the most progressive, critical and popular radio programs from the

air, replacing them with bland, New Age material and in the past month, at

least three programs based on right-wing, anti-semitic conspiracy theories.\"

One of the programs currently pre-empted in New York is Democracy Now!, an

award-winning daily national news program showcasing voices of dissent. In

addition, Ms Leid has fired or removed 21 producers and staff members,

imposed selective on-air censorship, and is trying to impose a new labor

contract that removes all unpaid producers - who comprise the vast majority

of programmers - from legal protection.



For more than 41 years, WBAI has been New York's cherished outlet for

progressive issues and community concerns rarely heard on mainstream media.

Today's action is part of a rising crescendo of criticism of the current

management, including a very effective listener-led boycott of WBAI's current

three-week on-air fund drive, on which the station depends for 85% of its

revenue.

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