Jennifer Jager Candidate Statement

AND THEN CAME THE COUP.

During that time I listened with pain and agitation as one programmer after another was thrown off the air. I joined the fight against the coup. I went to and helped organize demonstrations, raised money, and conducted other actions in an attempt to save WBAI. It was a tough fight.

But we won. WBAI was restored. I was elated and went back to listening again. And then a strange thing happened. Producers were being thrown off the air without due process again. People who had struggled together were now being accused of racism. A hostile and secretive veil was thrown up around the station and its business, including finances and budget.

Déjà Vous (all over again)?

I almost stopped listening to WBAI the moment that they fired Robert Knight and Gary Null. Instead, I decided to run for the Local Station Board to fight to make WBAI what it should be -- an open-minded progressive radio station that treats its listeners and its staff with respect.

We need to restore sanity to WBAI, as the means for regaining financial integrity. This month, there isn’t enough money to pay rent and salaries. Management is trying to cover the shortfall by endlessly fundraising, further alienating listeners. Marketing expensive premiums to a smaller and smaller group of listeners is a recipe for failure. We must act creatively to bring in a wider audience to help finance the station, but without dumbing down WBAI’s political voice.

Meanwhile, the budget process is a joke. It is so politicized that every item becomes a war. Instead of grappling with big concepts, like "Do we want WBAI to be dominated by expensive premiums, becoming the Home Shopping Network of the Left?" and"How can we strengthen the News department?,” nothing of substance is actually discussed.

I know something about budgets. I've run a small business for years, and I’m the Treasurer of the No Spray Coalition, which fights against NYC’s toxic pesticides spraying.

If elected, I pledge to be a truly independent voice on the Board, help elect constructive people to the Pacifica National Board, and return WBAI to the principles outlined in the Pacifica Mission Statement. I will work with all individuals on the LSB to bring transparency to governance of the station, especially concerning budget and finance.

This country is fast sliding into overt fascism, and we need WBAI to be our voice -- ALL of our voices – in opposition. As a devoted listener to WBAI, I pledge to do all in my power to keep the station on the air as the strong and independent voice we need it to be.