(Pacifica Radio) WBAI-FM Lays Off Most of Staff (New York)

New Ypork Times ^ | August 11, 2013 | BEN SISARIO

[carlo3b]

... In a tearful on-air announcement on Friday, Summer Reese, the interim executive director of the Pacifica Foundation, which owns WBAI, said that after talks with SAG-Aftra, the union that represents broadcasting talent, “we will be laying off virtually everyone whose voice you recognize on the air,” effective Monday.

[roofgoat]

Ha Ha, that is classic.

[sickoflibs]

Its non-commercial and depends on donations.

Having a progressive POTUS in the WH who has betrayed them (in their eyes) on war has devastated their donations I bet.

Idealism means Planet Earth.

[BCrago66]

One interesting fact is that WBAI actually played a good amount of interviews and commentary by Ayn Rand back in the 60’s. I don’t take too much glee in that independent radio station biting the dust, if that’s what’s happening. The more voices the better, in my opinion. The impulse to censor is typically found on the Left, e.g., the campaign to shut down Rush Limbaugh.

[smokingfrog]

WBAI, the station where Pacifica's flagship program, Democracy NOW!, was founded, has broadcast on 99.5 since 1960

The people have spoken ...

[FreeReign]

Went to school with one of the BAI show hosts. Listened to his show a couple of times and I couldn't believe the misinformation he was spouting.

What a shame folks spreading misinformation are being let go.

[allblues]

I never had the opportunity to listen to WBAI but got a full dose of Pacifica in Berkeley on KPFA, often referred to by normal people as the all comedy all the time station. Which was slightly unfair as they did have some good music programs, but the politics? Oy vey.

[ogen hal]

Any time lefties fail I laugh. Bwahahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

[Larry381]

What nostalgia-
I remember listening to WBAI in the 60's because they were virtually the only station in the world, except for Radio Moscow, calling for a black communist revolution in the US. Usually their studio was standing room only with Black Panthers and members of the CPUSA who were doling out cash to the Panthers to buy weapons. Couple of times I actually was up there and asked by the resident commissar to get everybody coffee. I never did (mainly because they wanted me to pay for it) It would have been fun to drop some dog poop in those coffees.
I was up there installing a sound board and it was great-they treated me like a king because I worked as a manual laborer-It was a gas watching all the raised fists and watching the white announcers inviting the Panthers home for dinner-I remember one white idiot who invited the Panthers home for a meeting and they stayed there for weeks because he was too much of a pussy to call the cops on them.

[Veggie Todd]

Of course the executive at a libtard radio station is named Summer.

[MadMax, the Grinning Reaper]

I love it when reds get unemployed. Less air pollution too.

[Fresh Wind]

The Host on mAss Backwards Max Schmid is intolerable and he has an annoying habit of talking over the shows that he plays. He is every much the obnoxious liberal that all the rest of the WBAI staff is. I lost the ability to listen to him the time he haughtily announced that “We don’t celebrate the 4th of July here.”

If you like Jean Shepherd, there are Schmid-free alternatives:

http://jeanshepherdpodcast.blogspot.com/

General OTR:

http://www.dumb.com/oldtimeradio/
http://www.otr.net/

The master source archive.org has just about everything, but it is frustratingly difficult to navigate.

[AdaGray]

Good riddance.