Firings strengthen Pacifica control of New York outlet

Originally published in Current, Jan. 15, 2001
By Stephanie Lash

The Saturday before Christmas, at around 7:05 a.m., Bernard White was awakened by his doorbell. Greeting him on his front steps was a messenger with a package containing two checks and a letter from Pacifica Executive Director Bessie Wash terminating his employment as program director at Pacifica's largest station, WBAI in New York. If he entered the studios, the letter said, he'd be arrested.

Moments later, the same procedure was repeated at the home of Sharan Harper, executive producer of WBAI's Wake Up Call, the show that White hosts each morning.

Those actions were just two in a plethora of changes at WBAI that some are calling the "Christmas coup." Since the November firing of General Manager Valerie Van Isler, Pacifica volunteers and activists have mounted protests and spirited campaigns to retain a degree of independence from Pacifica's national management in Washington.

Current sought Pacifica's comment on the events, but Pacifica spokeswoman Angela Jones said she could not reach Wash.

Station supporters were already protesting Van Isler's firing when word came that more changes were on the way. Late Friday night, Dec. 22, newly appointed interim General Manager Utrice Leid, accompanied by security guards, changed the locks at the Wall Street offices of the station. The next day, armed guards controlled access to the studios, and several station volunteers and employees were notified that they were not allowed on the premises. Volunteers and listeners have organized several meetings and rallies, some attracting hundreds of people. They are banding together to fight what they see as Pacifica's takeover of the community station.

"The Pacifica network has succeeded in transforming three stations--Washington, D.C., Houston and Los Angeles--that are now less politically radical, less critical of the status quo, and have less public affairs programming," said Andrea Buffa, the executive director of the San Francisco-based media watchdog group, Media Alliance. "It looks like they're trying to assert their control over WBAI."

Pacifica used similar tactics at Berkeley's KPFA. The firing of General Manager Nicole Sawaya in March 1999 led to protests and such community rebellion that Pacifica ultimately retreated. Many observers wonder if New York's listening audience can mobilize a similar defense in a huge city without Berkeley's left-friendly government.

"It's difficult, but not impossible," said Ralph Engelman, a professor of journalism at Long Island University, of the protesters' task. "The [national] board is exploiting significant differences within WBAI. They're adopting a divide-and-conquer approach more than they did in Berkeley."

Those inside the station agree. "There are inside collaborators and opportunists," Harper said. "The door was open for Pacifica to come in."

Protesters object to the way Pacifica took control. All three fired employees claim that the national office did not comply with the standard termination process, complete with performance reviews and written warnings. Van Isler says she never received an evaluation or review before being given two days to choose whether she would be fired or transferred to the Washington office. She has submitted a letter of appeal to Pacifica's board and filed a formal grievance with Wash.

United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America Local 404, which reps many WBAI staffers, has filed grievances to the board and Wash on behalf of Harper, the station's union steward. Harper says that the union contract was violated when she was fired without the appropriate steps.

"I have not been told the cause of my firing," Harper said. "I have no disciplinary record. The grievance demands they produce documentation of my disciplinary record, but there is none."

Harper said she's not certain if she wants to return to the station if her petition is successful. But White, who has been working with his lawyer to contest the firing, says his 20-year history at the station makes him feel obligated to care for its future.

"My belief is that Pacifica has taken over," White said. "What I would like is Pacifica to leave, and Utrice is the embodiment of Pacifica at WBAI. I think she needs to leave because it would show a reversal of a precedent. Pacifica needs to accept our proposal of procedures on how we handle internal problems. Then I'd either go back or go through the process of selecting a program director."

Van Isler expresses similar sentiments, noting that she spent more than 20 years building the station and adding that the staff has written a memo to Pacifica asking for her reinstatement. But her fears about the future of WBAI are paramount, and they echo other observers' fears that changes at the station are not over.

Blaming Amy Goodman?

Leid has gone on WBAI's air since her appointment, answering listeners' questions about the situation, and has repeatedly blamed the three firings on actions of a "Svengali" in the station.

"It is about an individual who is out of control, and has been for years at this station, and whose actions have now resulted in the termination of Bernard White and Sharan Harper," Leid said on WBAI's Talkback on Jan. 1. "I am saying that our problems started with one individual . . . but no one for some reason has been able to confront that individual squarely and say, 'You are largely the reason we are in this mess.'"

Most observers close to the station say Leid is referring to Amy Goodman, who hosts Democracy Now!, Pacifica's most popular national show.

"I am still profoundly concerned that the line of sight is the threats against Democracy Now! and Amy Goodman," Van Isler said.

Goodman, who was banned from the building the weekend the locks were changed but who has since been able to produce her daily show, said that the situation has produced "a very chilling atmosphere." She is one of more than 25 station employees and volunteers who signed a statement opposing the "illegitimate takeover" of WBAI.

"We deplore the Foundation's coming in secret in the middle of the night at the start of a holiday weekend to change the station's locks, and the illegitimate installation and imposition of new station management," the statement reads. "We deplore the racial divide-and-conquer strategy now being used, and we deplore the scapegoating of any staff member or listener."

Pacifica said it's normal procedure to change locks following a change in management, and explained that it was done at an early-morning hour to avoid disrupting the station's workday.

Volunteers and supporters continue their fight against Pacifica's strategies, planning meetings and demonstrations. Karen Frillman, former chair of WBAI's local advisory board, said she was encouraged by the post-Christmas meeting that attracted more than a thousand listeners.

"There's been a very deep affection for the station," Frillman said.

But some question whether they can successfully return WBAI to its former self.

"I wonder whether current leadership, given their general orientation as corporate liberals, really care about these demonstrations," Engelman said. "They've dismissed programmers and listeners of Pacifica stations as white radicals of the '60s. I don't think they will respond very much to these protests, unfortunately."

	.	To Current's home page
	.	Earlier news: Pacifica's internal conflict engulfs Amy Goodman, November 2000.
	.	Outside links: WBAI and Pacifica Foundation sites.

Web page posted Jan. 20, 2001
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