by The Editors
More than a year after a new board majority assumed control of WBAI-FM, Pacifica’s New York radio station, the losing side in what they called “the coup” has set up shop on the Internet. Within two months, the “exiles” of WBAIX hope to offer “a 24-7 broadcast grid of programs.”
WBAIX Launches Daily Programming on the Net
by The Editors
“White asserts that the majority that came to power on the board of directors last year are seeking a whiter and more affluent audience for the station.”
The side that lost the battle for control of New York’s Pacifica-owned radio outlet WBAI-FM has a new home on the Internet. WBAIX – the “X” stands for “in exile” – begins operations July 1 with original programming from 6:00am to noon, to be “looped” to run throughout the 24-hour cycle. “The first three hours will be a morning program that is essentially the old Wake Up Call with new content added, some international news,” said Don DeBar, who produced the morning news before being terminated by Pacifica in June of last year. “Then, from 10:00am to noon, we’re working on some ideas with some former producers at WBAI – and one who’s still a producer at WBAI.” The biggest difference, said DeBar, will be that Bernard White, the former WBAI program director, “will have a free hand.”
The new venture is designed to fill what White calls “a vacuum that has been created by WBAI’s decision to abandon their traditional role in allowing the community to come forward and present issues.” White asserts that the majority that came to power on the board of directors last year are seeking a whiter and more affluent audience for the station. “They are going to make an appeal to a broad cross-section of the white population, because that’s where they believe the money is,” he said. “They believe this group has money and is more capable of supporting the radio station.”
“Everybody is working as volunteers, and the streaming is free.”
As an example of the shift in emphasis, White cited last week’s press conference announcing the founding of the Freedom Party, an independent, Black-led political party. “I was there,” said White. “I saw nobody there from WBAI. This is amazing. This is an important historical event that has the possibility of challenging the Democratic Party and the hegemony that the two party system has in this town.”
How will WBAIX sustain itself? The streaming service is free, and so are the personnel. “Everybody that we have working, and it’s a handful now, mostly from WBAI, are working as volunteers, so there’s no overhead now,” said DeBar, who anticipates the “exiles” will launch a talk-variety show in the 3:00pm – 6:00pm slot, and an evening news program. “We hope that within about two months, by the beginning of September, we’ll be doing a 24-7 broadcast grid of programs.”
Don DeBar and the WBAIX team can be contacted at WBAIX@yahoo.com, or 914.374.2475 or at don.debar on Skype. Visit WBAIX at http://www.livestream.com/wbaix.
There is nothing mysterious about Trump’s effort to curb legal immigration. White supremacy is the explanation.
“Cuba ... a free and sovereign state with no chains binding it to anyone...with no proconsuls directing its policy, can speak with its head held high.”
Minnesota pushed back against ICE until its visible presence seemed cut in half, but Trump does not forgive or forget, and it’s a time to be organized.
The party that installed its presidential candidate without a primary vote now blames its 2024 loss on everything except its own contempt for its base and allegiance to neo-liberal policies.
"SONNY" is the latest from BAR's Poet-in-Residence.
