#wbai

1966.

By Lallan Schoenstein

Jerry Jeff Walker & David Bromberg - WBAI-FM, New York City, 1969

Been on a bit of a Jerry Jeff Walker kick lately, so here's a rarity from his early days — right around the time of his classic Five Years Gone LP, I think. Here, JJW is joined by David Bromberg for an hour-and-a-half of laid-back tunes, some ramblin' folk blues, some beautifully melancholy meditations. I don't know what time this was recorded, but it's got a hazy, after-midnight kinda vibe.

This is the December 12, 2018 edition of Off the Hook, the hacker-produced weekly FM talk-radio show I’ve been part of for a decade.  I was the head producer on this episode, and in it we talk about a few different news stories, but beginning at 20:55 in the file we talk about the Tumblr purge which goes into effect today.  Special guest Dr. Kit Stubbs, educator and hacker, joins the panel (this week consisting of XioNYC, myself, and Gila) to discuss the cultural shift, not just on Tumblr but elsewhere, and its effect on the LGBTQIA+ communities as well as people in all lines of work and of life.

This is the final thing I’ll be posting to Tumblr, as I’m leaving this site in protest of the change.  This has been a fun place to doodle and keep up with cool folks and their work, but I don’t feel right sticking around anymore given Tumblr’s part in making things worse for everyone.

You can find me elsewhere on Twitter, Mastodon, Reddit, and all sorts of other places and email me here.  You can keep up with my artwork and projects via my website and my blog, which I’ll have to begin using regularly again.

Jay Smooth is a DJ who until recently hosted the longest-running hip-hop show in New York: The Underground Railroad, which has been airing on the progressive non-commercial station WBAI since 1991. Today, he announced his resignation. He evidently quit in protest of WBAI’s hiring of Leonard Lopate, a former WNYC host who was fired earlier this year for what the public radio station termed “inappropriate conduct.”

Since Celeste Katz - @CelesteKatzNYC - joined Conde Nast's Glamour in the spring 2018, she has written extensively about the midterm elections, voting, and public policy. She's also a host for WBAI 99.5 FM and Sirius XM radio. She previously worked forNewsweek, New York Daily News, and The Providence Journal.

How did you come to work in journalism?

From a young age, I gravitated toward a lot of things that end up making for a career as a reporter: I was curious, I asked a ton of questions, and I enjoyed writing about what I learned. I was also naturally competitive. Working at my college paper, The Brown Daily Herald, was a huge lesson in how exciting it was to be part of a news operation - from getting to meet and listen to different kinds of people to breaking stories and scrambling to meet deadlines. I considered other lines of work, including law and diplomacy, but I have never once doubted I ultimately made the right choice. You've basically covered everything - all beats it seems. Why politics?

Aside from the human drama of campaigns and elections, government and public policy affects everyone's life and well-being, so it's critical that we have reporters serving as watchdogs over our institutions and the people who run them. It deeply offends me when anyone tries to intimidate or take advantage of others, so fighting for transparency and investigating corruption is personally meaningful to me.

What is your current beat and what do you cover?

As the only staff writer at my magazine who's devoted full-time to covering politics, the midterm elections took up the major part of my attention. Women had a historic year both as candidates and voters, so there was no shortage of stories to write. At the same time, I never say I only write about "women's issues," which is a pretty generic and nebulous phrase. The Supreme Court confirmation proceedings, for example, affected the entire country; but I was interested in looking at it through certain lenses, such as the implications for abortion law, the #MeToo movement, and the political futures of the women lawmakers on the Judiciary Committee.

You've also been regularly hosting radio shows. What do you like about radio?

I've been appearing on radio as a guest for a long time, so it's been great to move into hosting over the last few years. I love the question and answer side of reporting as much or more than the writing, so doing interviews - whether on live shows or podcasts - is really fun for me. I also like interacting with callers. They ask great questions, and talking to them on air is a good lesson in reacting to both praise and criticism in real time.

  What kinds of stories are particularly interesting to you? I have a longstanding personal dedication to reporting on voting rights and particularly on voter suppression. Perhaps unfortunately, there is a lot to write about there, as the 2018 midterms proved. I also like to write about problem solvers, particularly when they are coming up with unique new solutions to longstanding issues or helping people who are disenfranchised in American political or economic life. Aside from investigative work, which I find intensely rewarding, I also enjoy writing profiles for the challenge of trying to understand what makes someone who they are and explaining that in a compelling way. People (including me) always like to read about other people and what motivates them. 

What advice do you have for people who would like to send you a pitch?

Take a moment or two to look at the focus of my work before pitching me. Just because a reporter writes for a title that covers entertainment AND politics AND sports does not mean that he or she writes exclusively about those things. Also, it's best to start with an email that specifically explains why you think this story is right for me and my outlet. Don't be afraid to follow up - especially if the pitch is exclusive or timely - because reporters are stretched thin and emails do get lost or end up in spam. At the same time, pressure tactics like endless phone calls or texts won't endear you to anyone. 

What are some common mistakes that people make while trying to pitch you?

Everyone goofs up once in awhile, but it's still annoying to get a pitch addressed to another reporter. If you want Mary to consider a story, write to her, not me. I also don't care for pitches that tell me right off the bat that some other outlet has covered a story - if it's already out there, what's new to it for me? Sorry, but no beat reporter wants to eat someone else's leftovers. 

Anat Gerstein, Inc. focuses on nonprofits. Provide some tips about how nonprofits can best send pitches to you.

The way to a reporter's heart is often an exclusive. Even if a group is going wide with news about some program or initiative, the odds of my covering it are dramatically improved when someone takes the time to figure out an angle or an interview that I can have first and that will have meaning for my particular readership or listenership.