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-   -   Occupy WBAI (80's movie come to life) (https://www.gothic.net/boards/showthread.php?t=26126)

Despanan 03-29-2012 06:35 AM

Occupy WBAI (80's movie come to life)
 
We just need a Cusac...

So yeah, Me and 23 other occupiers occupied 95.5 WBAI last night.

We're demanding the current Program Director be kept on. The Occupy/radical Programming they've been doing needs to continue, and 12 seats need to be added to the WBAI board of directors, and they must be filled by people under the age of 35.

http://tickateeboo.files.wordpress.c...das071310.jpeg

Despanan 04-02-2012 12:35 PM

No responses? You guys suck.

Anyway, we totally did it:

http://desmond.yfrog.com/Himg612/sca...=640&ysize=640
http://desmond.yfrog.com/Himg863/sca...=640&ysize=640

http://static.ow.ly/photos/normal/xjT4.jpg

There were about 30 of us. Wed. night with the help of some sympathetic staff we stormed the building, got on the air and issued our demands:

Quote:

Originally Posted by OccupyWBAI
Ladies and Gentlemen,

We have Occupied WBAI.

Who are we? Concerned listeners no longer content with passivity. We occupy in honor of the grand tradition of the Pacifica network as an active source for free speech and new voices. This station is the main media outlet to take the time to listen to and amplify our voices, rather than to exploit them to further the cycle of corporate greed. However, we feel it’s time to offer our favorite station some “tough love”. As the tide turns across this country and around the world, so must the tide turn at WBAI. We demand:

That 12 new seats be added to the Board of Directors, each filled by a person under the age of 35, to add youth energy and strategy for the growth of the network.

That a staff committed to this goal be maintained and cultivated.

That WBAI sustain and expand its dedication to social progress by continuing to provide an outlet for the voices of the 99%.

If you, the listeners and supporters of this station, stand with us, call the station and make your voice heard. The Board of Directors will be meeting at 388 Atlantic Avenue at 7pm. The revolution needs the youth; we're here, and we ain't goin' nowhere.

Here's the Livestream of us in the booth during Burn Baby Burn, (watch it if you want to see me do some REALLY dorky dancing and then rant for a little while)


I also got brought on as a guest on the Progressive Radio Network during the occupation:

http://prn.fm/2012/03/29/occupied-territory-032912/ (Skip to about 36 minutes in)

Overall this was really cool, and extremely effective. The WBAI staff did this sort of stuff to their bosses in the 60's and 70's and it was really neat to connect with longtime activists in this manner. It was also absolutely HILARIOUS to see old-school hierarchical liberalism come face to face Occupy's lateral structure and culture.

MissCheyenne 04-02-2012 01:38 PM

How much difference to your cause do you think this occupation will have made? Is it something you'd think would be worth doing at other stations or even to the same one again? If occupying the station hasn't had the desired effect, how would you go about changing your approach during further action?

Despanan 04-02-2012 02:21 PM

I'd say it made a pretty big difference.

Tghe pro-occupy program director is probably going to be fired despite the occupation, and I don't know if we're actually going to be able to get any seats added TO the board, but judging by the listener's response we're likely to sweep the board elections next year.

As of now, we've brought some serious attention to the station, so at the very least we've secured Ocupy-related programming ON the station.

But beyond that, engaging in creative direct action like this is just what the movement needs. Occupations of other media sources are good ideas IMHO, but they need to be more planned and less spur of the moment in the future. I would LOVE to Occupy Fox or MSNBC or CBS, but we'd need employee support for that, otherwise we'd be arrested pretty quickly.

If nothing else we've shown that occupy is both committed and autonomous of mainstream liberalism, which is good because mainstream liberalism is pretty much useless.

MissCheyenne 04-02-2012 02:30 PM

Do you think it's possible to get employee support to occupy some larger orgainisations or do you think the employee base in those places will be too loyal to the company as a whole? Do you think their bias will prevent you from further action on a wider scale?

AshleyO 04-02-2012 02:54 PM

I'm still not sure if it's anything other than symbolic.

Fruitbat 04-03-2012 03:14 AM

Awesome. Can you just take over the board of directors or are there too many "you'll only get them out in a coffin" types in there?

I'm going to occupy my local media server administrator, and protest my rights.

Despanan 04-03-2012 04:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MissCheyenne (Post 692349)
Do you think it's possible to get employee support to occupy some larger orgainisations or do you think the employee base in those places will be too loyal to the company as a whole? Do you think their bias will prevent you from further action on a wider scale?

Depends on the individual media outlet, and how sympathetic the employees are. MSNBC would probably be less likely to throw us in jail than Fox.


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