[WXBH-Discuss] wxbh bummer

[John Hicks]

My apologies for the drama. I really believe we are poised to do great 
things and that Mark is reading far too much into Thursday's meeting. No 
action transpired at the meeting that affects radio. Mark appears to be 
upset that some discontent that had been brewing (and that he was aware 
of) rose to the surface and was voiced at the meeting.

I believe we all have voiced approval of the idea of having two studios: 
one in the Brick House and one in our coverage area (and the Buechel 
location is ideal for that). The discontent was heard at the meeting is 
that, while money and effort are being poured into the Buechel studio, 
the same can't be said for the Brick House studio. Many of us have 
struggled over the past year to get the BH on its feet so it could see 
the day when radio goes on the air. Now that that day is here, we'd like 
to see a few of the dollars being expended going into a Brick House 
studio. (We need air conditioning and some modest computer and audio 
equipment.)

I'm sure we can work all this out in short order. For one thing, we have 
not really undertaken any fund-raising in recent months. In a city of a 
million people, I'm sure we can raise a few thousand for a modest studio 
in the heart of that city.

Yes, it is about the money. The past few months have been a lesson in 
that. Radio found a single source of funding, and that source was 
willing to fund the Buechel studio but not the Brick House studio. I for 
one am very grateful to that single source. But let's not let that 
source of money skew our operations. The Brick House was founded on the 
principles of DIY -- Do-It-Yourself. Let's roll up our sleeves and get 
that studio built in the Brick House the old fashioned way!

--John Hicks

Mark McKinley wrote:
>
> Friends,
>
> LPFM Community radio: it’s not about the money - it’s about authentic 
> voices having access in their own community to the airwaves. Local. 
> Diverse. Public interest.
>
> This past Thurs afternoon WXBH was positioned for the next plateau: 
> the Brick House Board’s Radio Committee had reached an agreement 
> ($250/month utilities included, immediate move-in condition) for 
> studio space (at Bardstown Road and Hikes Ln) in our broadcast 
> listening area . No more need to pre-record, transfer, download, edit, 
> upload, blah, blah,…..Finally, feasibly within a week, programmers 
> such as the Newburg Youth Council would have a studio in their own 
> community - turn on the radio: on-air!
>
> Transparency: As previously shared at other meetings and with other 
> Brick House Board members including BH Chair John Hicks, our plan was 
> modeled after our mentor, highly successful lpfm sister Radio Free 
> Nashville, WRFN. WRFN operates a studio in its broadcast listening 
> area as well as an urban studio. Hicks responded to me: “Makes sense.” 
> The Buechel studio location not only validates our position in the 
> broadcast listening area for programmers, it positions us within 
> walking distance of hundreds of potential underwriting neighboring 
> businesses - revenue for BRYCC, Inc.

My support for the Buechel studio is more than perfunctory. I strongly 
support it. (I had proposed such a studio in a grant application I 
submitted in February, long before any one else had proposed it.)

> Transparency: As I’ve shared previously with Hicks and others at open 
> meetings, this is no plan to undermine or split off from the Brick 
> House. I’ve continued to support the Brick House - recently writing 
> another check and only last Sunday afternoon working a concession 
> stand at Slugger Field to raise money for the Brick House. Last year 
> alone, the WXBH radio project contributed $7,000 or so to keep the 
> organization’s building afloat, a building without a heating or 
> cooling system and other safeguards to protect studio recording and 
> broadcast equipment.
>
> Rather than celebratory, Thursday evening’s Board meeting was toxic: 
> more than once, Radio Committee members were lectured by other Board 
> members with limited or peripheral WXBH engagement - a litany of 
> biased voices raging that a studio in the broadcast listening area was 
> divisive.
> And then one of the loudest voices, David Morrison, new to the Board 
> this spring, honestly admitted in the meeting: “IT IS ABOUT THE MONEY” 
> - David wants the money that would go to the studio in the broadcast 
> listening area to go to the Brick House. Throughout the rancor, John 
> Hicks was laryngitic, his Makes Sense voice shrilly silent.
>
> Passion fuels our drive. Fanaticism blinds and people drive off the 
> cliff. Jim Jones probably began innocently passionate before 
> eventually blindly dispensing his deadly kool-aid. I hold no personal 
> grudges (or icepicks) against anyone at the Brick House.
>
> IT IS ABOUT THE MONEY - that’s corporate media’s kool-aid. Holding the 
> WXBH project hostage is unacceptable. After 2 years+ actively engaged 
> in the WXBH project, I’m not drinking or dispensing that kool-aid.
>
> Bummer. I guess pissing and spinning will begin. No cheers. - Mark
>
>