Marianela Tricoche (member of Women Workers for Peace [Bronx Latina group], Bolivarian Circle [Venezuela solidarity], & Vieques Support Campaign; immigrant rights activist; occasional translator for WBAI's Wakeup Call and other programs)

Click here for candidate statement

Marianela Tricoche

WBAI Candidate Statement

1. Why do you want to be on the Local Station Board?

I am running as a candidate for the WBAI Local Station Board because I firmly believe that the station represents a great asset to its listeners by informing them and clarifying the issues of the day in a manner that is not controlled by the corporate world. I have been an activist in New York City for about thirty years in causes such as women’s issues, police brutality, and immigrants’ rights. My passion about these issues is the reason I am running with the Justice and Unity Campaign, to help ensure as a board member that the station remains the voice of the voiceless. I think my activist experience will be an asset to the board.

2. How do you envision the local Board working with Pacifica Foundation, WBAI, and the community?

The Local Board should be a liaison between WBAI and the communities the station serves. As to the Pacifica Foundation, we can have a two-way sharing between Pacifica’s national programming resources and what our producers create locally, and send ideas and proposals back and forth. But I would oppose any top-down decisions from the national organization that don’t allow WBAI to determine the best way to serve the special needs of communities in our metro area.

Also our Board should work together with other groups to reverse FCC rules allowing media consolidation and demand FCC action to ensure coverage of issues affecting communities of color.

3. How could the station better serve its listeners?

I believe the station should establish a closer relationship with the different communities in the New York City area, including sending representatives to their functions to establish a direct dialogue with the members of various grassroots groups, which could lead to having joint activities with these organizations.

4. Describe some actions you would take to increase the influence of the station in underrepresented communities and to increase the diversity of the listening audience.

As stated in question #3, direct contact with different community groups is vital for the station. I also support WBAI embracing a strong affirmative-action program and anti-racist training in order to ensure staff, board, committee, and candidate diversity, which will then help to increase the diversity of the listening audience.

5. What sources of funding, other than listener donations, do you feel WBAI should solicit?

I think that WBAI should explore other avenues of fund-raising, such as sponsoring several parties a year, holding cultural events, selling books, more actively selling t-shirts at community events, seeking out foundations in sympathy with the station, and more fully using the Internet to offer products that fit with Pacifica’s mission.

6. Please state briefly the skills, experience, educational background, work history, organizational affiliations, areas of community service, areas of interest and expertise that you would bring to the Pacifica network as a member of the Local Station Board.

I have been a biochemist for the last thirty-five years. I have a bachelor’s degree in biology from Notre Dame College and a master’s degree in chemistry from NYU. I served as an 1199 Union delegate for three decades. I was on the board of La Pena (a community center in the South Bronx) for about three years, and worked in the Vieques Support Campaign. I currently belong to Workers for Peace, the Bolivarian Circle Alberto Lovera, and several organizations dealing with immigrant rights. I occasionally translate Spanish to English (or vice versa) on Wakeup Call. I also use my translating skills for other progressive organizations. My experience in many areas could enhance the functioning of the board.

7. Do you anticipate missing any Local Station Board meetings due to family or job related problems or inadequate transportation?

No, I have none of the above-stated problems.

8. On which Local Station Board committees are you interested in actively serving? If you are a current Local Station Board member, on which committees do you currently serve?

I would like to join the Programming Committee. In serving on that committee, I would bring my internationalist perspective that sees the importance of maintaining programming that describes political issues and daily life on all the continents, particularly those oppressed by the United States and therefore not covered much by the mainstream media.

Please feel free to contact me at marianela@justiceunity.org.