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The WBAI “insider” stood locked out in the cold in front of the New York listener-sponsored station Saturday afternoon. 

“At approximately 11:45 p.m. (Friday) night, in a Pacifica-backed coup, three locksmiths came in and changed the locks,” said the individual, who asked that his name not be used for this story. 

The Pacifica Foundation holds the license to five community radio stations, including KPFA, where staff and volunteers were locked out of the station by representatives of the national board for three weeks during the summer of 1999. The Berkeley lockout occurred after programmers insisted on discussing the firing of a popular station manager on the air. Demonstrations, including one 10,000 people strong, ensued and staff returned inside the station. Listener and programmer lawsuits against Pacifica were filed and are moving forward. 

As the “insider” describes it, at 1:48 a.m. Saturday WBAI talk show host Etrice Leid came on the air and announced she had been named interim station manager in place of Valerie van Isler, whose termination was announced a month ago. Staff had no input into this unpopular decision, the insider said. 

Also on Saturday morning the lead producer of the morning news show and the WBAI program director both received termination notices via Federal Express. 

“They’ve hired a private security firm to be bouncers at the door,” the insider said. 

Programmers were being allowed into the building selectively in order to broadcast their shows on Saturday, the source said. 

Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman, whose show is broadcast nationally from WBAI, said Saturday that she, too, was locked out of the station and did not know whether she would be allowed in on Monday to broadcast her show. “It’s not clear what’s happening,” she said, “It’s a total crack down.”  

The lockout violates the station’s contract with its employee unions, she added. 

Local station KPFA reacted swiftly to the events broadcasting updates Saturday and planning coverage of the situation over the holiday weekend. 

Pacifica management did not return calls for this story. 

For updates call the WBAI listener hotline at (800) 825-0055 or go to the web at www.savepacifica.net.