Ballad For A Radio Drama

And the ballots are in. Or at least arriving in the mail now. I have been following this Pacifica Foundation WBAI Local Station Board 2007 elections radio drama for a while now. WBAI 99.5 Pacifica Radio is a listener sponsored, community, non commercial radio station in the New York City area that supports free speech and gives an alternative voice to the people. And from hearing all of the drama rama stories, their administration seems to reflect and mirror a microcosm of a current administration as Pacifica network seems to have a history of turmoil and division amongst its members that goes way back in time with its listener sponsored board and its behind the scenes or not so behind the scenes stories on how its radio station functions. And it is seemingly a continuation of a story told many times, many ways, many years ago. And now the candidate election endorsements and recommendations are being posted on all of these yahoo groups and social web 2.0 software that I have subscribed to and have been reading and watching lately in an attempt to follow this radio drama online. And the discussions and emails are so many that ones inbox can fill up quickly so much that it sometimes becomes seemingly impossible to follow them all. So the following are some email excerpts that I received today from that New Pacifica Yahoo Group and some of the many tons of email groups that are to be found in the ongoing WBAI radio drama. If you happen to be interested in following this drama also, you can visit Pacifica Foundation to learn more. Is it possible to help save WBAI and the world? What would be left without the voice of WBAI. Power To The People. Peace on earth and goodwill to all mankind. And what does this have to do with a No Police State?

Hello All,

If you haven't already received it, you soon will receive your ballot for the WBAI Local Station Board (LSB) 2007 election. Please don't lose your ballot -- vote!

I'm endorsing --

And...

All of the above-named candidates are sincerely committed to helping to right the station by hiring station management that will strengthen & revitalize programming, restore the listener-base and rebuild financial stability.

And...

This is a critical election for WBAI. I believe it is absolutely essential that "So and so" candidates take a majority of the seats on the Local Board if WBAI is to survive, and perhaps even Pacifica itself. As I wrote to you a few weeks ago, WBAI is bankrupt. It is paying its bills by borrowing money from the Pacifica National Office which is borrowing the money from other Pacifica stations. This whole house of cards could come down if the problems at WBAI are not solved quickly

And...

and that is one of the causes of the current bankruptcy. Other causes are overall mis-management, waste, poor staff morale, not enough good programming, and competition from other alternative media sources, both on the radio and on the internet

And...

Again, please vote -- Every vote matters. With "ranked choice" voting just one vote can determine who wins the last seat on the board.

Thanks, and best regards,

And...

Dear WBAI Listener-Member,

The ballots flutter in like moths to the flame of our electoral
candle .... They began arriving yesterday. If you'd paid $25 or more
to WBAI in the past year, you should receive your ballot any day now. If you don't receive it within a week, please call the Local Election Supervisor Dale Ratner.

This year, the elections are VERY important toward the future of
WBAI, and whether the station will continue to exist and be
strengthened, or whether it will be bankrupted by a bunch of "So and so" in the mis-named "So and so" faction who are doing the dirty work of the "So and so" in Washington, whether they are aware of it or not.

And...

I am recommending that we all vote for the following "So and so" candidates for the WBAI Local Station Board, and in the following order (the order is very important in this election):

And...

Hi all. I do a weekly show on WBAI, Thursday evenings... Aside from the fact that we need more programming that more people want to listen to,... and I've been doing my show since 1995 - and I barely know anything about the candidates who are running for LSB. How can we expect the listeners to know? How can we run a station well where it's so easy to game the voting system?

And...

Thanks for speaking this aloud. I agree with most of what you're saying though I am not completely in agreement with you on the topic of national programming..... But I agree with you all down the line in regard to "So and so". The way the LSB currently operates warrants its swift abolition. It seems to operate as the long arm of everything corrupt at WBAI and Pacifica.

And the list goes on and on.