The good news is that WBAI's fund drive has picked up in the last few days and is now on track for meeting the goal:
From Summer Reese:
"The interim Program Director has decided to move on. We thank him for his
service and wish him all the best in his future endeavors.
Our fund-drive results have nearly doubled since my mandated changes. We
are now achieving in excess of $30,000.00 per day in fund-drive totals.
Additional premiums, preemptions and changes to the schedule will be
coordinated between the National Office and local management.
The goal of the fund-drive is to raise much needed revenue to pay
severance, transmitter tower rent, health benefits, etc.
The goal is to raise half a million dollars in one month. With much better
numbers we are on track to meet that goal."
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| WBAI 99.5 FM |
I don't think Mr. Philips resigned because he was "not willing to be as flexible, cooperative and supportive as is needed during these difficult times". He left because he learned of negotiations to sell or lease the station through an article in The Daily News rather than from a station or Pacifica board member. That, after the effort he has put into helping keep the station alive.
ReplyDeleteIf I were in his shoes, I'd leave, too. No one deserves to have his or her professionalism or personal dignity so disrespected.
Unless the funds collected are used to pay the severance and back salary of the staffers who were let go, anyone who pitches for the station is participating in fraud.
I hate to say such things about a station I listened to for three and a half decades, but I cannot understand how anyone can describe the situation in any other way.
We took those words from Summer Reese's letter, which we're assuming was said in regard to Andrew's resignation:
ReplyDelete"Please be flexible, cooperative and supportive of one another as we adjust in real time to survive the challenges of the present and work towards a sustainable future for WBAI and Pacifica."
Agreed, Andrew had a sizeable beef, but so what? In the crisis that WBAI is in right now he should have been able to keep that in perspective. Not saying he should have ignored it, just saying there were ways he could have addressed it other than the way he did, which was actually destructive to to the station. Sorry about the affront to him personally, but when he resigned he actually hurt WBAI. The name of the game here is to help WBAI. As much as we've always loved Andrew, we cannot excuse that. Wrong attitude.
"The name of the game here is to help WBAI."
DeleteI guess that's one name for the GAME. But unfortunately the game is over. The blundering politics of race and stupidity have won. There has been too little thought given to the role and future of station since Andrew left last time. Instead of becoming once again a trend setter, an innovator the station became self obsessed and simply boring. Sorry but lights out and good night.
Yes, and one could see WBAI's precarious position today as being a direct result of the long series of ineffectual managers who came and went and accomplished nothing in terms of giving "thought to the role and future of the station". And just when it looked like WBAI might be turning a corner in that regard with the return of Andrew Phillips, he joined that sad tradition. It looks like he too has given up on WBAI.
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