First of all, let me wish you all a very happy and healthy new year! May 2015 bring you all the peace and progress that you deserve, and then some!
After four months of serving as Interim Program Director, I want to share with you some thoughts about current and forthcoming programming changes, since already I’m receiving some feedback, both positive and negative, about forthcoming alterations to the program schedule.
It’s taking a lot longer than I had anticipated, and it’s still a work in progress, but I believe some of my initial goals of strengthening local programming while making sense of the daily and weekly broadcast grid are slowly beginning to take shape, after many meetings with producers, staff, board members, and others.[1]
While we are still far from achieving each of the above-mentioned goals, I think the changes implemented so far are on the right track.[2]
Our new and revised Morning Show is already reaping the benefits of the addition of a number of people now accompanying Michael G. Haskins everyday from 6:00 to 8:00am, including Christy Thornton on Mondays, Pamela Brown on Tuesdays, Mimi Rosenberg on Wednesdays, Ed Morales on Thursdays, plus Kazembe Balagun, Jed Brandt, and others, joining me on Fridays! Combined with a number of new partnerships we’ve established with independent, grassroots digital media outlets such as City Limits, The IndyPendent, NACLA, Black Star News, Jacobin Magazine and others, along with regular reports by journalists Bob Hennelly, and Les Payne, and with news by Linda Perry, I feel the show is well on its way to putting WBAI back on the morning drive map in NYC radio!
My plan to re-create the successful program strip “Talkback,” a live-call-in show, this time from 10:00am to 12:00noon, Monday through Thursday, is half-way there with John McDonagh on Wednesday and John Kane on Thursday. I hope to fill out Monday and Tuesday shortly with some very strong local voices reflecting the diversity of NYC, although it’s been a challenge for me to lock in some of these personalities!
My long-term plan to jump-start the daily, award-winning WBAI staple started by our late Program Director Samori Marksman, Behind the News from 5:00-6:00pm, is also moving forward with the addition of Serge Argueta on Tuesdays, who is hosting BTN-Long Island, and the return of Doug Henwood, with a news and political economy focus, on Thursday. Again, I am hoping to lock in a few other talented local hosts in the coming weeks in order to provide consistent news and analysis during our afternoon drive time, something that has been lacking in recent years.
I’m still working on programming cutting edge music and culture shows during the evening timeslot from 10:00 PM to Midnight, with the goal of highlighting the dynamic, diverse music scene in New York City of which WBAI continues to be, and dare I say, MUST be a part of if it’s going to be true to its community radio mission. I hope to have more on those changes shortly, so stay tuned (and thanks for your patience)!
I understand that some of you will not be able to tune into your favorite shows anymore, at least temporarily. I am also clear that change is never going to be greeted with universal support. Ultimately it is a process that is constantly evolving, that includes a lot of give-and-take during one-on-one sessions with existing producers, as well as with outsiders whom I’ve attempted to recruit to the station. We’re doing this work while always taking into consideration, indeed respecting people’s time constraints, availabilities, skill sets, experience/expertise, existing and potential audiences, and many other factors! Making it even more challenging is the fact that we’re working with no financial resources to remunerate people for their hard work and time commitments.
But I do believe ultimately, these changes will make a dent in improving our on-air quality, and in turn our longer term ability to build new audiences, and hence, strengthen our fund-raising capacities, both on-air and off, and of course, on-line through our website, our social media channels and our mobile offerings.
In the coming weeks, before the Winter membership drive kicks off on February 2nd, I hope to consolidate a lot more of these programming goals. For now, I thank you for your input, vigilance, patience and support these last few months. They have been very much appreciated.
MAMA
Mario A. Murillo, Interim Program Director WBAI Radio
_________________________________________[1] In my first staff meeting in early September, I laid out the key issues related to programming that I wanted to address while in this role as IPD. They included: 1. The need to re-organize the program clock to make it more understandable, fluid and consistent; 2. Strengthen our coverage of local issues and include more listener input through on-air phone-calls and social media interaction; 3. Morning Show revamping to improve current news, public affairs and cultural content, by bringing in new, creative, young voices to the airwaves/webcasting and expand partnerships with independent media outlets; 4. Address our afternoon drive programming by bringing back local voices where possible, from Talkback style shows to Behind the News style shows, but with local hosts; 5. News Programming – make it more available and consistent throughout the day; 6. Music, arts and cultural programming – we can and should be doing so much more; 7. Social Media and On-line Expansion by creating a WBAI YouTube Channel, a WBAI SoundCloud Channel and expand the website with more programming content and improved archives.
[2] Programming Changes Starting January 2015 (those that are now in effect; I am still working on finalizing other changes that will be rolled out shortly, all of which are currently pending, as I await people’s confirmed commitments):
Monday
Against the Grain with Sasha Lilley (from KPFA), 5:00 to 6:00am, (formerly Wednesdays 9-10:00am);
Counterspin at 5:00pm and This Way Out at 5:30pm are temporary holds at this timeslot until I can finalize local hosts for a daily Behind the News show to complement Tuesday (Behind the News LI with Serge Argueta) and Thursday, (Behind the News, with Doug Henwood). Please stay tuned!
Wednesday
Guns and Butter with Bonnie Faulkner, 9:00am to 10:00am (formerly on Fridays at that time)
Talkback: New York, We and Thee with John McDonagh, Malachy McCourt, and Corey Kilgannon, 10:00am – 12noon – Live listener call-ins featuring discussion of developing news stories in New York City and beyond with guests;
Sound Archaeology with Allan Evans, 2:00 to 3:00pm – This is a special four-part series that makes up the afternoon arts and culture line-up.
Explorations with Michio Kaku, 9:00 to 10:00pm (formerly on Saturdays at 2:00pm)
Thursday
Talkback with John Kane, 10:00am – 12noon – Live listener call-ins featuring discussion of developing news stories in New York City and beyond with guests;
Joy of Resistance with Fran Luck, 9:00 to 10:00pm (and every third Thursday, Rape Declaration)
Friday
Economic Update with Rick Wolff, 9:00 to 10:00am (formerly on Saturdays at 12noon);
Flashpoints with Dennis Bernstein (from KPFA), 5:00 to 6:00pm (temporary);
Global Black Experience with Imhotep Gary Byrd, 6:00 to 8:00pm (formerly Saturdays, 5-7:00pm);
Saturday
Radio Free Eireann, 12noon to 1:00pm (formerly 1-2pm);
Science, Health and Healing with Dr. Majid Ali, 1:00 to 2:00pm (formerly Wednesdays at 11:00pm);
Equal Time for Free Thought, 2:00 to 3:00pm, formerly Saturdays, 3-4pm;
New World Gallery with Chico Alvarez, 3:00 to 6:00pm, (formerly rotating Sundays, 3-6pm);
Afrobeat Radio, 6:00-7:00pm, (formerly Saturdays, 4-5:00pm);
Sunday
Con Sabor Latino with Mickey Melendez and Nando Alvarici, 3:00 to 6:00pm, (formerly rotating Sundays, 3-6pm);