(Note: a few typos - apparently transmission errors in the email - have been corrected below.)
From rsstein1@gmail.com Sun Apr 8 17:43:04 2007
Date: Sun, 8 Apr 2007 17:42:59 -0400
From: Richard Stein
Subject: Fwd: complaint
Dear Mr. Conant,
Following receiving your message of Mar. 26, I wrote Martin Miller, Manager of WFCR and received a reply which I am forwarding. It seems to me that they are making a good effort to operate democratically. I hope this may help resolve your concerns.
Sincerely,
Richard Stein
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Richard Stein
Date: Apr 8, 2007 5:38 PM
Subject: Re: complaint
To: miller@wfcr.org
Cc: Richard Stein
Dear Martin,
Thank you for your good response. I shall forward this to the person registerg the complaint. It appears that WFCR is making a good attempt to be democratic, and I appreciate the effort.
Best regards,
Dick Stein
On 4/3/07, Martin C. Miller wrote:
Dear Dick,
Thank you for your email.
WFCR has a Foundation Board made up of 17 (currently 16) members of the community. There's one opening. In it's by-laws the following purposes are stated (the complete by-laws are posted at wfcr.org):
Section 1.4. Purposes. The purposes of the Corporation shall be to provide financial support to 88.5FM WFCR Public Radio ("WFCR")and to provide advice and make recommendations to station management and its license holder on all matters related to the overall operations and strategies of WFCR. Governance of WFCR lies solely with its license holder. To accomplish this the corporation will:
(a) Promote the public interest in and knowledge of WFCR by such methods as thought to be appropriate to that end.
(b) Provide the management of WFCR with information about the public's sense of the quality and effectiveness of WFCR.
(c) Generate support for WFCR in the form of outright and planned gifts, grants, loans, and special projects, and receive such gifts and grants for the good of WFCR.
(d) Develop, maintain and operate a facility for use by WFCR in so far as needed.
(e) Approve an Annual Operating Budget for the Corporation.
(f) Review WFCR's mission statement and strategic plans as needed and make recommendations to management and WFCR's license holder.
(g) No later than February of each year, produce an annual report to the senior licensee official responsible for the oversight of WFCR. The report will review the Corporation's prior calendar year activities and review issues related to the overall operation and strategies of WFCR.
(h) Carry out other such activities and/or projects in connection therewith and incident thereto as are not forbidden by the laws of The Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Also it's mission statement is:
WFCR Foundation, Inc. Mission Statement
The mission of the WFCR Foundation is to guarantee WFCR's future as a premier public media organization by enhancing financial support, promoting community interest, and providing advice and recommendations to station management and its license holder. Compare, if you will, to WNYC's Community Advisory Board, which as a community licensee it is required to have.: "WNYC's Community Advisory Board is a volunteer group of interested listeners that meets five times a year to gather public comment and to make recommendations...." (from wnyc.org website)
WFCR has voluntarily created the equivalent of a CAB. The CAB rules and operating practices are similar when compared to WFCR's Foundation By-laws (purposes) and mission statement, and the governance statement of 1997 of the WFCR Advisory Committee - which are posted at wfcr.org.
Again, thank you for your email of concern.
Sincerely yours,
Martin Miller
General Manager
88.5FM WFCR
Richard Stein wrote:
Dear Martin,
As you know, I have been a supporter of WFCR since its inception, and I very much appreciate its good programming. I listen daily and find it one of the best sources of news.
Recently, I received a message from a member of the WFCR Democracy Task Force which I find troubling. This complains about the absence of a Community Advisory Board to permit public input regarding programming. I realize that as a university-owned station, this is not required. Even so, it would seem to be more democratic to have a means for such input. While I have no unhappiness over your programming, there are apparently some who do, and I hope there are means for addressing their concerns.
With regards,
Dick Stein
--
Best regards,
Dick Stein
Goessmann Professor of Chenistry, Emeritus
University of Massachusetts, Amherst