The Fate of WEVD

[Sapoznik <Sapoznik...>]

Today's New York Times carries the story about the final fate of New York 
station WEVD. Sam Norich, chairman of the board of the Forward Association  
has announced that as of September 1, 2001 Disney/ESPN will assume all 
programming of WEVD, making it the flagship station of their national sports 
network.  Ownership  will, for now,  remain with the Forward Association.
Disney reserves the right to purchase the station in the future, until which 
time the station will continue using its historic call letters named for one 
time American Socialist leader Eugene Victor Debs.
Part of the change will see longtime WEVD employees replaced by new ESPN 
staff. The Forward Hour, the venerable WEVD Yiddish offering and the last of 
the station's historic Jewish shows, will be shopped to another local AM 
station and will continue broadcasting.
The station which once contested its license suspension by the FCC noting 
that "WEVD must survive as the one place where Capitalism cannot lay its 
brutal paw..." and would not be reporting "...the results of polo matches" 
will now be the flagship of the nation's major sports network run by a huge 
conglomerate corporation.
How the irony  gods must be laughing.....

Henry Sapoznik
Co-Producer "Yiddish Radio Project" National Public Radio/All Things 
Considered
Spring, 2002 
Author  "Klezmer! Jewish Music From Old World to Our World" (Schirmer Books)
Founder/Director "KlezKamp: The Yiddish Folk Arts Program"
KlezKamp 17: December 23-28, 2001 www.livingtradtions.org


 



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