WBAI?

[" George Snedeker" <snedeker@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Louis gave a good summery of the conflict over the control of  WBAI. in this
summery, he points to the role of the Pacifica National Board. I heard Ms.
Wash one day on the radio talking like a corporate executive. she talked
about the local NYC station as a bit of corporate property. the conflict
raises a number of questions about the limits of a liberal Black elite
linked to the Democratic party and the liberal wing of the ruling class.
class and race do seem to play a central role in this struggle. it seems
that the Pacifica Board is committed to accommodation to the corporate order
with a liberal mask. we do not need another NPR. it is true that WBAI is
trapped in the web of market relations. this is why its programming is as
eclectic as it is.   this is why they have people like  Garry Null on every
day for an  hour. he draws an audience, but so does Democracy Now, Goodman's
popular political morning program.

I first listened to WBAI in the 1960s when I was a teenager. it was the only
station which provided anything like a radical perspective on political and
cultural matters. its coverage of the Vietnam war was very important. it
also gave people on the left the opportunity to be heard.