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.
Gerald Horne observes U.S. politics, congress can change policy on the Middle East, and the campaign to free Ruchell Magee after decades of imprisonment.
Dr. Gerald Horne is an author and historian who currently holds the John J. and Rebecca Moores Chair of History and African American Studies at the University of Houston.
Hassan El-Tayyab is the Legislative Director for Middle East Policy at the Friends Committee on National Legislation. He joins us to discuss opportunities for passing congressional legislation on…
Kameron Hurt is an organizer with the Coalition to Free Ruchell Magee. He joins us from New York to discuss the efforts to free this political prisoner held for many decades.
The U.S. can shoot down balloons, call names, and claim that China has "police stations" in New York City. It cannot stop the decline of its own making as it engages in war propaganda theater.
