Dear WBAI Supporter -- What do the newly elected members of WBAI's governing board (aka Local Station Board or LSB) look like? I have attached photos of each one, so you can easily recognize them on the street -- in case you want to toss a bouquet (or hurl a rotten rotten tomato, as the case may be). The first meeting of this board took place on Wednesday, April 23. As I said in my last report, the political faction known as Justice & Unity (JUC), which formerly held a majority on the station board, was repudiated and soundly defeated by the Independent (INDY) candidates in the recent station election. And for good reason. During the 5 years that the JUC faction controlled the governing board and the station, WBAI's most popular broadcasters were abruptly fired, some of its best programs were either taken off the air or turned over to untalented (and often incapable) friends of management. Thousands of listeners deserted the station in protest and withdrew their financial support, rendering the station bankrupt. That is what the new Independent (INDY) board members have inherited. Can WBAI be turned around? The Independents are now in the majority. And although they do not always agree with one another (to say the least), they have all pledged that they will work harmoniously together to heal WBAI ... to restore its financial stability and empower its producers and staff to create the kind of powerful and provocative programming that will re-establish WBAI as the leading voice of New York's progressive community. But they can't do it without your help. As Mitchel Cohen, the newly elected Chair, recently announced (echoing the resolve of all the independent board members): "I want to invite all WBAI listeners to attend our meetings -- and PARTICIPATE. All our meetings will be open to the public, and I will be submitting a plan to change how future meetings are conducted, so that ALL OF US (board members and listeners alike) can discuss our problems and tackle them TOGETHER. Your active involvement is needed." Below are the 24 members of the 2008 WBAI Local Station Board, in alphabetical order. (See attached file for their photos): Mitchel Cohen---------INDY (Chair) Kathy Davis-----------INDY (Pacifica National Board Director) Bernardo Palombo-----INDY Carolyn Birden---------INDY (Pacifica National Board Director) Steve Brown-----------INDY Jennifer Jager----------INDY James Ross------------INDY (Pacifica National Board Director) Shawn Rhodes---------INDY R. Paul Martin---------INDY (Treasurer) Andrea Fishman-------INDY (Vice Chair) Alex Steinberg---------INDY Seth Goldberg---------INDY (Secretary) Max Schmid-----------INDY Robert Gold-----------INDY Bob Lederer-----------JUC Lisa Davis-------------JUC Tibby Brooks----------JUC Nia Bediako-----------JUC (Pacifica National Board Director) Sara Flounders--------JUC Vajra Kilgour----------JUC Lawrence Lucas-------JUC Berta Silva------------JUC Ray Laforest----------JUC Omowale Clay--------JUC Tony Riddle (WBAI Station Manager, board member ex-officio )
Attachment:
Members of LSB 2007-2008-1pg photo flyer.pdf
Description: Adobe PDF document