24611: Hermantin (news) Crew pushes WLRN change

[sak-pase@bimini.ws]

leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>


Posted on Thu, Mar. 31, 2005

SCHOOL BOARD

Crew pushes WLRN change

A WLRN advisory board wants to move slowly before changing its Creole 
broadcast, but Miami-Dade Schools Superintendent Rudy Crew said he intends 
to move quickly to expand the program.

BY MATTHEW I. PINZUR

mpinzur@herald.com


Despite misgivings from a community advisory board, Miami-Dade Schools 
Superintendent Rudy Crew said Wednesday he will try to force the 
district-owned public radio station to expand its Haitian Creole broadcasts.

The advisory board and independent fundraising foundation for WLRN have 
resisted Crew's programming ideas, objecting to some of his specific 
proposals as well as the broader issue of who controls programming on 
WLRN-PBS 17 and WLRN-FM (91.3).

One of the most contentious issues surrounds Radio Leykol, the nightly 
Creole broadcast of school information. Crew, eager to reach parents in 
academically struggling Haitian neighborhoods, wants the 10-minute program 
returned to the 30 minutes it had until 1999. A handful of Haitian parents 
at the meeting stressed the importance of expanded Creole broadcasts.

''We are a community with a very distinct culture and language,'' said the 
Rev. Jonas Georges, senior minister at All Nations Presbyterian Church in 
North Miami Beach. ``Radio is a part of the culture.''

The Community Advisory Board, which makes recommendations to WLRN 
management, defended the station's 1999 decision to trim the program, saying 
it had dismal ratings and was poorly received among Haitians.

The School Board owns WLRN's licenses, and Crew told The Herald he will push 
for an April vote on his recommendations -- regardless of whether the 
advisory board endorses them. ''This is not going to be something I let go 
of,'' he said. ``We need desperately to be able to reach parents and 
communities.''

Crew has already delayed the WLRN overhaul twice to talk with opponents, but 
he grew impatient as the advisory board voted unanimously to defer the issue 
until another, as-yet-unscheduled meeting.

''Making a decision in 20 minutes with three people talking doesn't do 
anyone any good,'' said Melissa Bert, chair of the advisory board's Issues 
and Outreach Subcommittee, who said the group should schedule meetings with 
Haitian community leaders before moving forward.

The advisory board and the Friends of WLRN foundation have expressed grave 
concerns that Crew's actions -- regardless of individual merits -- would set 
a dangerous precedent and invite abuse and interference from the board.