Last year, WAIF was embroiled in controversy as many claimed that WAIF leadership—like UFO-believing Donald Shabazz or union member Michael Woods (who allegedly used union-busting techniques against WAIF programmers)—were accused of stacking the ballot box to protect their own interests in terms of programming and board representation.  At the time, I was actually a WAIF co-host with Derrick Blassingame.  Shabazz kicked us off the air for completely contrived reasons—and even CityBeat did a cover story on the WAIF scandal.  Anyway, this week WAIF finds itself amidst poor planning again, as the station has lost its signal.

Reportedly, WAIF is having a problem with its transmitter, which means that the station is off-the-air.  And for a grassroots, community station like WAIF, being off the air is a huge threat to WAIF’s ability to maintain any kind of relevance—especially during the heart of an important election season!

It is too bad that what could be a great tool for community involvement has become obsolete due to the kind of leadership that would drive several interested programmers out of the station (the exclusions were not limited to myself and Derrick—and to the disappointment of my naysayers, I lost my spot more due to Derrick’s clash with Donald Shabazz than anything, since I was his co-host.

I know people like Derrick Blassingame and Joe Wessels—though sometimes opposed to one another’s vision for the station—each recognized the wonderful gem that WAIF is for Cincinnati.  But like so many things with Cincinnati, we found ourselves once again talking about an unrealized “potential.”

So instead of embracing those excited about media, disbarred lawyer and UFO believer Donald Shabazz just tried to bully people and exclude them.

Now, no one can even hear WAIF as the station is effectively off-the-air.

One must wonder how long it will take them to fix the situation, and whether it’s even worth the trouble anymore.

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