(This article derives, in part, from a September 23, 2009 WJFF Board of Trustees meeting. Under normal circumstances, it would have been published within 24 hours of the meeting. Instead, for four days, I’ve fretted and edited.
WJFF has touched each of us whether we know it or not. Its in-depth interviews of local, national and international activists have broadened and influenced our local debates about casinos, dams, flooding and the advent of hydraulic fracturing. During the lead up to the Iraq Invasion, while other journalists cheered the fear mongers, we listened to WJFF and heard 85 year old Robert Byrd lead the filibuster against granting the President preemptive war powers. In a shaky voice, he outlined the Constitutional limits of Presidential power and Congress’ obligations. We had no doubt the moment was historic and potent.
But WJFF’s contributions have been individual and personal as well. The kids, including my youngest son, who participated in The Station’s Youth Radio Project will never forget the safe haven where their creative juices could erupt in wonderful and often unpredictable ways.
It has been, quite simply, an integral part of our evolution as a region.)
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“In 1986, WJFF founders Malcolm Brown and Anne Larsen put an ad in some of the newspapers around Jeffersonville. It asked if there were folks in the area that were interested in having a public radio station, and if so, would they come to a meeting about it at the Lake Jefferson Hotel. This was the beginning of WJFF. Station lore has the number of people who came to that initial meeting growing and growing. (It’s up to over a hundred by now) but in actuality, somewhere between 40 and 50 people arrived at the Lake Jefferson Hotel that first night. But hundreds of community members were involved from that day forward in getting the station on the air February 12, 1990….” (WJFF “Soundings” newsletter, 2005 retrospective.)
Twenty-three years later, on September 17, 2009, the following email was forwarded by a friend who has no station-affiliation, “There have been internal issues that the volunteers, the Community Advisory Board (CAB) and Board of Trustees (BOT) of our community radio Station, WJFF, have not been able to iron out.” The writer then asked community supporters of WJFF to attend the Board of Trustee’s meeting on September 23rd.
Regular listeners of WJFF knew that Walter Keller, host of First Class Classicals (one of the station’s longest running shows) and his production assistant, Bill Jumper, had been either “fired,” “suspended,” or “dismissed” after their August 29, 2009 show. (In fact, Mr. Jumper resigned.)
In a letter to Community Advisory Board (CAB) member, Matt Frumess, WJFF’s Board of Trustees President, Steve Van Benschoten wrote, “…the two volunteers had “[violated] one of the cardinal rules of the station. On page 9 of the volunteer manual,” he stated, “you will find this injunciton: ‘Volunteers may not use WJFF airwaves, events, listserve or links to discuss station politics.’ The rule is there to prevent an on-air person from using their program as a bully pulpit to present their case…. We simply can’t have this. That is why they were suspended.”
Furthermore, Mr. Van Benschoten explained, Walter and Bill had run afoul of WJFF-procedure, “We have a process in place at the station for grievances to be mediated. If a programmer feels that the Program Committee is wrong in their assessment of his or her performance, they can take the matter up with the Board of Trustees (BOT), bringing supporters and arguments to bear on their side of the isue. Instead, Walter and Bill chose to seize an opportunity on-air, in violation of station rules, to thumb their noses at the procedures WJFF has set in place to establish a rule of fairness and justice. We simply can’t have this. That is why they were suspended.”
(Breathing note: Not only is the Program Committee appointed by the BOT, but WJFF’s new 2008 “conflict resolution policy” describes the grievance process somewhat differently, “Volunteers who feel they have been treated unfairly in mediated dispute or who feel unjustly accused of violation of WJFF regulations may present their case to the Board of Trustees provided that…They submit their argument in writing to the Board of Trustees. The Board may or may not decide to hear from the complainant or complainants in person.“) (I was unable to find this document online for linking purposes.)
During the Board of Trustees meeting on September 23, 2009 and in subsequent emails, several volunteers disputed Mr. Van Benschoten’s contention that a forum exists where the public, volunteers and station management can openly discuss their differences. Others expressed a need for change in the way Trustees, the Station Manager and members of the various boards are selected or appointed. “It’s in-grown and self-perpetuating,” one volunteer said and several echoed.
According to the station’s by-laws, most members of The Board of Trustees are appointed by currently-serving Trustees and no more than three Trustees are elected by the active volunteers at the station.
Further, The Board of Trustees determines the number of Trustee vacancies to be filled during any given election cycle, appoints members to standing committees, approves the Community Advisory Board and hires the Station Manager.
“I don’t know what we can do,” wrote one volunteer after the BOT meeting where she was not afforded an opportunity to speak. “I want to try and work through the differences in a diplomatic fashion, but we are not even being allowed a forum…can’t talk on the list serve, can’t talk via email…. It’s a scary situation….Winston [Station Manager] and Steve can argue that we were there to discuss a ‘personnel’ issue (which isn’t always open to discussion), but they both knew through my emails that I had other concerns – lack of communication, lack of leadership, the feel of the station changing etc. Walter and Bill are the underlying symptom of a much deeper problem….I do know that there are people who have stopped listening. This is not due to the Walter/Bill issue but the fact that we are sounding too homogenized – where are all the community voices?”
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So what did Walter and Bill say on-air during First Class Classicals that simply could not be borne by station management?
Walter led off by referring to a recent change he’d made in deference to the Programming Committee: “We don’t have the international weather.”
Bill Jumper: We’re going to change a lot of things at First Class Classicals because this program has come under some pretty serious criticism from the WJFF Programming Committee. They are saying that the paramount concern is the audience so what we would like to do is ask our listeners out there… to ask you to let us know what you think of the aspects of the program as we’ve been doing it. And, if we have some good reports for the programming committee we would like to have some of those to do… otherwise you’ll see some probably pretty signifcant changes here at First Class Classicals here on WJFF.
Walter: Thanks, Bill.
Bill Jumper: Please participate. Please send in your cards and letters. Please call the station and let them know what you think of First Class Classicals.
Walter: Thank you, Bill. What is the number on the voice box for people to call?
Bill Jumper: There is no voicebox anymore.
Walter: Oh. There’s no more voicebox? (Gives WJFF’s phone and address information.)
Walter: I will say this… that each of us individually and collectively have had very positive feedback about how the show begins.
Bill Jumper: We have had some but we just need more of our listeners to participate. To let the station manager know what you think about this program. Because you are our first concern. It’s why we are all here. We aren’t doing this for the station manager or the programming committee, so please give us a response and let us know if we’re pleasing you. If we’re not, by all means we will change anything you’d like us to change This program has been singled out for some very severe criticism, in my opinion by the program committee.
Walter: I will second that…
Then, at the top of the next hour, Bill said, “We just wanted to remind you that we need your support. We’ve received some information from the Programming Committee that they want to substantially change some of the thngs we do here at First Class Classicals. And so we would like your input and, as is true of us too, the paramount concern is you the listeners so please give us your support. (Provides station contact information.)
(Breathing note: During fund drives, this kind of conversation occurs on most of The Station’s on-air shows. In the midst of WAMC fund drives, personnel frequently allude to bean-counters, program decisions and hatchets, “So now’s the time, if you want to keep this program, you have to step up,” or words to that effect.)
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In response to Walter’s suspension and Bill Jumper’s resignation, CAB member, Matt Frumess wrote, “At the last regular CAB meeting…, Walter Keller read a directive from the Programming committee… [which] included… some specific things involving the content of his show. These things included shortening his international weather segment and instructions to begin playing music as soon as the local weather was done. Frankly, Walter was less perturbed by these items than were many members of our board.
“The meeting ended after several of us expressed our concern about the station management micro-managing our station’s shows and, in general, meddling with the content of ongoing shows….All of us who listened to Bill’s short requests were surprised by how innocuous they were. We had all expected to hear some sort of tirade….By this time, word had gotten out that Walter’s show had been cancelled and emails and listserve entries hit the fan; nearly all respondents were appalled by the heavy-handed behavior of the station management.”
Mr. Frumess then laid out four conclusions reached unanimously by the CAB:
- “that Walter and Bill be reinstated immediately… We feel that….there was nothing said that was so egregious that it should have elicited the immediate and inappropriate reaction it did.
- that given the extraordinary contributions made to the station by both Walter and Bill, the heavy-handed manner in which they were treated sends a dangerous message to all the current and prospective volunteers at the station… As the CAB, representing a devoted listening audience, we expect the station management to maintain its community orientation and ts commitment to diversity, free speech and fair play
- globally, that the recent behavior of the station management is being seen as a threat…to the integrity of WJFF as we know it….diversity requires freedom for programmers and staff to express themselves as they see fit…unless they stray dramatically from the shows original proposed content or violate the law or specific station standards…
- that the removal of the voicebox call-in line was inadvisable and should be restored. The station needs a safe harbor mechanism for listeners to call….With our mission to serve a broad-based community, we need any source of feedback we can get.”
(Breathing note: Walter Keller and BOT President, Steve Van Benschoten both attended the CAB meeting described here by Mr. Frumess. Mr. Van Benschoten was aware that Walter had agreed to the Programming Committee’s recommendations and had begun to implement them. Nonetheless — and without making his intention clear at the CAB meeting — the Station Manager was directed to call Walter the next morning and inform him [after nearly 20 years on air] “that he and Bill Jumper were indefinitely suspended for violating station policy.”)
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In a letter written after the September 23rd BOT meeting where Walter’s suspension was discussed in Executive Session, Mr. Van Benschoten wrote, “I’m pleased to announce that the Board of Trustees’ voted to reinstate Walter Keller to the airwaves and that Walter has agreed to the conditions… I also want to inform the volunteers that the Board of Trustees has accepted Bill Jumper’s verbal resignation from the station, and (as he requested) a written acceptance of his resignation has been sent to his home. There were many issues that were left unsaid and unanswered at the Sept. 23rd meeting due to the time limits unexpectedly imposed by the Jeffersonville Library. At our next meeting, most likely in the Village Hall adjacent to the library, we hope to have much more time to hear from all who attend. There were many issues that were left unsaid and unanswered at the Sept. 23rd meeting due to the time limits unexpectedly imposed by the Jeffersonville Library. At our next meeting, most likely in the Village Hall adjacent to the library, we hope to have much more time to hear from all who attend.” (Breathing note: If you want to receive meeting notices, you can sign up for the WJFF newsletter.)
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Breathing opinion: WJFF must be cherished as a valuable community resource. Its capacity for a full-breadth of discussions cannot be lost to us in a time when its service area faces the challenges of hydraulic fracturing, multiple casino developments, increased job losses and failing revenue streams. It would be helpful to have WJFF’s alphabet soup of committees, volunteers and concerned members of the public convene in “town hall” venues throughout the listening area. The community of current listeners, those who’ve drifted away and those who haven’t found 90.5 yet, must be given an opportunity to help formulate the way forward.
Hopefully, the currently in-grown system which has
- Trustees appointing themselves and standing committee members
- approving CAB’s members and chairperson while also
- hiring and tactically directing the duties of the Station Manager
will be replaced by a more inclusive, elective process.
Since its inception, WJFF has reflected the rough-hewn, down-to-earth flavor of the village streets and sharp winters where it lives. Despite some of those villages being more gentrified than they were twenty three years ago, we’ve learned through hard times that no set of hands is less than another and that all voices and visions must be actively sought. Otherwise, we face a future scored by the divisiveness of “them and us.” Given WJFF’s legacy to us — that a strong community can build anything it conceives — such an outcome would be a terrible waste.
As would forgetting this phrase from WJFF’s Mission Statement, “Radio Catskill… aims to involve the community in preserving and transmitting its own cultural heritage and artistic expressions….”
To paraphrase a question raised by one volunteer after the BOT meeting was cut short, “How does replacing Walter’s homegrown First Class Classicals with a canned program sponsored by British Petroleum (BP) involve or preserve the ‘community’?” We’re a (*%@$%*^@!)-ing hydro-powered radio station!”
A highly-charged debate about hydraulic fracturing is taking place in WJFF’s listening community. British Petroleum will receive 32.5% of revenues generated by Chesapeake hydraulically fracturing the Marcellus Shale. For the BOT or Programming Committee to say, “You can’t blame us; canned programs come with sponsorship embedded,” is, politely-speaking, insufficient. Please see an earlier Breathing article, “Tom Paxton’s We Didn’t Know.”