WBAI Local Programming Still Off The Air

3

The court battle rages on between Pacifica Foundation and local WBAI employees. After a hearing yesterday a judge ruled that Pacifica could not fire its employees but allowed programming from the national Pacifica network to be piped into the New York City facility. Another court date was set for October 18.

The Brooklyn Daily Eagle reports that staff showed up to the station Thursday and all the locks had been changed. Staff members broke into the station and said they found the place in a shambles.

Pacifica claims the station’s debt is out of control and it cannot even make payroll.

Employees claim the progressive leaning station is being shut down because it aired anti-Trump programming

3 COMMENTS

  1. It’s a sad case.

    WBAI is a cultural institution with a massive legacy in its history and archives. It was instrumental in the civil rights and Vietnam War era, and a pioneer in talk radio, radio drama and much else. But in recent decades it has become, as a former star personality there told me years ago, “a fog horn for the left.” And worse, “boring.”

    Somewhere along the way, the station also managed to have its signal down-powered by a third when moving from one master antenna on the Empire State Building to another, and is now on a relatively disadvantaged signal on the shorter 4 Times Square tower.

    The best thing for Pacifica to do at this point is to sell the asset while the market value is still high, pay off corporate debts and put its other stations on endowment footing.

  2. Sooooo … there’s no money to pay staff, but a judge thinks they cannot be terminated.

    Of course, if they aren’t paid – then DOL Wage and Hours will take action.

    Perhaps as a public service they should have ran programming on how to balance a checkbook?

    (There are others in NYC that could have stood to listen to that …)

  3. This station has been troubled for years yet they find a way to blame Trump. SMH! At least it seems someone told the Judge that the licensee has full authority over what is aired not the employees or a Judge.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here