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WBAI (99.5) Programming is TOO BLACK?
The changing of the guard at WBAI (99.5 FM) has picked up speed, with longtime program director Bernard White put on 10-day suspension, which he says really means he’s fired. “This is a termination,” said White in a note to his supporters after he was ushered from the building Friday.
“I am not allowed in the building,” he said, “and I am unable to retrieve my personal belongings that I have accumulated over my 29-year association with WBAI.”
Critics of White and former station manager Anthony Riddle, who was offered a reassignment last week, say these moves are necessary to rebroaden WBAI’s audience without compromising its original mission as a free-speech alternative to commercial media. Read more: Staff changes raise static at WBAI