WBAI Local Station Board Programming Committee WBAI Conference Room 388 Atlantic Avenue, 3rd fl. Brooklyn, NY 11217 7pm, Wed., Oct. 19, 2016 I. DRAFT AGENDA 1. Call to Order (1 min.) 2. Sign-in Sheet (1 min.) 3. Selection of Pro Tem Chair and Secretary (3 min.) 4. Explanation of structure of committee as per motion (2 min.) 5. Discussion of Bylaw text re. programming (10 min.) 6. Discussion of Current Structure (15 min.) 7. Discussion of Current Problems (including presentation of motions re programming changes by PNB Prgmmg Committee and WBAI LSB, and the PNB Programming Operations motion (20 min.) 8. Discussion of Possible Solutions (20 min.) 9. Motions (15 min.) 10. Next meeting date (5 min.) II. RELEVANT DOCUMENTS 1. LSB Motion on Programming Committee & Program Changes Adopted by the Local Station Board, 9/14/16 In light of the emergency posed by WBAI's extreme financial crisis, I move that the Local Station Board take up the following motion under the emergency provisions of Robert's Rules of Order for non-quorum meetings (10th edition, p. 337). Whereas, the station’s staff is essential to fulfilling the Pacifica mission and are a tremendous resource to the station, and deserve respect for their time, expertise, and commitment; and Whereas, the Pacifica bylaws in Article 7, Section 3 (G), state that the Local Station Board must ensure “that station programming fulfills the purposes of the Foundation and is responsive to the diverse needs of the listeners (demographic) and communities (geographic) served by the station, and that station policies and procedures for making programming decisions and for program evaluation are working in a fair, collaborative and respectful manner to provide quality programming”; and Whereas, the bylaws in Article 7, Section 3 (K) require that the Local Station Board (LSB) must “perform community needs assessments, or see to it that separate ‘Community Advisory Committees’ are formed to do so”; and Whereas, the bylaws in Article 7, Section 3 (J) also mandate that the LSB “actively reach out to underrepresented communities to help the station serve a diversity of all races, creeds, colors and nations, classes, genders and sexual orientations, and ages”; and Whereas, a number of programming changes have occurred over the past 2 weeks absent any consultation with or in some cases notice to affected staff; and Whereas, no community needs assessments appear to have been involved in determining the changes; With the passage of this motion, the LSB will have created a Programming Committee that shall include at least three boardmember-volunteers to be identified immediately after the passage of this motion, and where the purpose of the group will be to examine the station’s processes for program decisions and program evaluations. Membership shall also be open to any staff-person or listener upon attendance at the beginning of the second meeting if they were present at the inaugural meeting, but if attendance begins with the second meeting or thereafter, membership shall be granted at the beginning of the third consecutive meeting attended; and said membership shall be lost upon the third consecutive unexcused absence and re-established upon attendance at the third consecutive meeting; and The Committee shall be convened within 3 weeks by a volunteer boardmember to be identified after the vote on this motion and shall report its progress to the LSB at its next meeting and/or by email prior to that date, if warranted; and further The General Manager is directed to provide the LSB, by September 28, 2016, the list of all members of the Community Advisory Board and dates of appointments from January 2011 to present, as well as an explanation of the appointment process, including any public notices, in each phase. ======================================================== 2. PNB Programming Committee Motion on Recent Program Changes Adopted by the PNB Programming Committee on 9/7/16 The PNB Programming Committee is aware that programming draws listeners and listeners become supporters, and that there is an urgent need to draw in new listeners and additional dollars for all our stations. Nevertheless, management of all Pacifica stations must comply with the Bylaw requirement for fair and respectful collaboration pursuant to Article 7 Section 3, G (below); and The PNB Programming Committee believes that the program changes implemented at WBAI since August 2016 – all of which lack any or adequate consultation should be undone and the manager should create a process to be discussed with staff and That this motion shall be distributed to the PNB with the recommendation that they reaffirm our position, and be copied to all General Managers upon its passage. http://pacifica.org/indexed_ bylaws/art7sec3.html Article Seven, Local Station Boards, Section 3: Specific Powers and Duties ======================================================== 3. PNB Motion on Programming Operations Adopted by the Pacifica National Board 6/2015 Whereas the Pacifica Bylaws require that each Local Station Board (LSB) “work with station management to ensure that station programming fulfills the purposes of the Foundation and is responsive to the diverse needs of the listeners (demographic) and communities (geographic) served by the station, and that station policies and procedures for making programming decisions and for program evaluation are working in a fair, collaborative and respectful manner to provide quality programming”, be it hereby resolved that The Executive Director (ED) shall be required to direct each station’s General Manager (GM) to provide, by July 15, 2015, a written station programming report to their LSB and to the PNB that includes the following: · the process and problems if any by which programs are evaluated, moved, removed, and added, including how audience support (financial and otherwise) is measured and incorporated · the process and problems if any of producer development and training · the process and problems if any which interns are integrated into station programming · the process and problems if any which preemptions are decided upon and applied · the process and problems if any which programs are made national · the process and problems if any which themes and staffing of special national programs are identified · the use of the internet in promoting station programming, including station website innovations, I-tunes, Tuned-in, tumblr, twitter, facebook, and blogs etc. · the use of audio-video live streaming on station websites for real-time coverage of actions and events that are news in the making. The Pacifica National Board (PNB) also requires that the ED direct each GM to obtain and provide a written report to their LSB and to the PNB, by August 1, 2015, from the station’s Community Advisory Board that lists its membership, describes its functioning, and reprises all work done with regard to community needs assessments since March 2013; and further, that The PNB directs that each National Board Member who serves on a station Committee of Inclusion shall provide a written report prepared by the committee to their LSB and to the PNB, by July 15, 2015, that lists its membership, describes its functioning, and reprises work done this year. These reports and any structured responses thereto, including minority reports, from local station boards shall be the basis for discussion on the PNB Programming Committee.