[WXBH-Discuss] Re: [progressivekentucky] wxbh bummer

[Mark McKinley]

Regarding the WXBH posts:  It really is about the money - money for the WXBH 
lpfm community radio project. It’s not about the noise machine that 
distracts attention away from the issue - readers of this list are familiar 
with noise machines and trojan horses. Just so it’s clear -

It’s about the money - money raised for local, diverse, ignored/marginalized 
voices to be heard over the public’s airwaves.

Money that was initially raised came primarily from small donations for the 
radio project. Money that arrived last summer originated from a very, very 
generous WXBH supporter, who wishes to remain anonymous. The funds were 
designated for the WXBH project with restricted uses.

The issue is about money: the empty Brick House bank account last summer 
when WXBH activists arrived as a slate to fill board seats that had been 
abandoned 6 months earlier;

The issue is about money: the empty Brick House bank account today - even 
after a $7,000 contribution from the WXBH radio project account.

The issue is about money:  it’s not about bungling by the WXBH project team 
management - rather the failure of the building’s supporters to raise the 
money that ownership/operation of the current Brycc, Inc property demands. 
The failure to raise money is not due to lack of effort.

The issue is about money:  unfortunately, there is no money currently 
available in the Brick House budget for building improvements.

The issue is about money: other Brick House “collectives” have no money; 
unfortunately, the clamor to keep the building did not translate into 
sustained big money-giving given the reality that no new high demand, high 
traffic programs were initiated as part of the plead campaign.

The issue is about money and management, including contingency planning.  
Money that must be managed responsibly or it will be lost or withdrawn. 
Management based in reality, not just hope.  I’m confident in the 
experience/judgment/skills of the current Brick House Board Radio Committee 
to make decisions that will translate into giving air to community voices.

So, above the static of the noise machine, the issue is simply about the 
money - money donated, designated to get authentic local voices/programming 
on the air; limited money that must be managed responsibly or lost.

LPFM is an important public interest tool to counter the noise machine of 
profit-driven corporate media.

The noise machine from my friend John Hicks should turn attention to 
creating noise in the BH cash drawer to cover expenses for the building it 
voted to continue to own/operate.





>>
>>     Sandie wrote:
>>     > Well, so what's the bottom line? Why on earth would anyone say that
>>     > having a studio in the listening area would be divisive? It sounds
>>     > like another typical backwoods-heads-up-their-butt response that
>>     I've
>>     > become all too familiar with down here [in Kentucky]. As a Yankee
>>     > transplant, I've more than had my fill of this HUTB
>>     syndrome....it's
>>     > one of the main reasons why nothing ever seems to change or get
>>     done.
>>     > So, again, the bottom line is that there will be no studio
>>     UNLESS the
>>     > proceeds go to the Brick House? Whatever happened to
>>     cooperation? Is
>>     > there so much jealousy and fear that one outfit will supercede the
>>     > other that healthy competition isn't even an option?
>>     > Where do you go from here? Is it basically a question of cutting
>>     off
>>     > the nose to spite the face? Something I find also equally
>>     frustrating
>>     > down here, but seems to happen often.
>>     > What can we do to help you, Mark?
>>     > Sandie
>>     >
>>     > */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.
>>     >
>>     > 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
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>"The care of human life and happiness, and not their destruction, is the 
>>first and only object of good government."
>>- Thomas Jefferson
>
>
>