RAINA DOURIS IS THE NEW HOST OF WORLD CAFE • REMEMBERING KEN BADER • MEMO TO PACFICA

Raina Douris | Photo by Britney Townsend

World Cafe has looked to Canada again for a host for the program. Raina Douris is the new host of World Cafe starting on October 7^th. She is only the third host in the program’s three decade history.

Douris, now age 33, is an important voice in Canada’s indie music scene. At the CBC she was the host of Music’s Mornings and CBC’s television program Music Backstage Pass.

Before joining the CBC, Douris was a host at Toronto’s leading Alt Rock station CFNY 102.1 The Edge and at CIND Indie 88. When Douris was an intern at The Edge she launched Indie Online on the station’s website. Indie Online gave exposure to many Canadian artists at the state of their careers.

Douris succeeds Talia Schlanger, another former CBC radio host who announced she was leaving World Cafe earlier this year. Schlanger’s last show will be Friday, September 27th.

KEN BADER, NOTABLE EDITOR & REPORTER, DIES AT AGE 70

Ken Bader

One of public radio’s Greatest Generation, Ken Bader, was a friend and mentor to many folks in the public radio system. 

He was a longtime editor, producer, reporter and writer for The World, Monitor Radio and several programs at WBUR. 

Bader died on August 24^th of complications from pancreatic cancer.

His brother, Jeffrey Bader, told The Boston Globe [link]:

“[Ken] was a profoundly principled and ethical person. Both of our parents were lawyers. They were, I would say, extremely ethical and principled people. My father set an example in life and you absorbed it. And Ken fully absorbed it.”

After receiving a Master’s Degree in Educational Media from the University of Iowa in 1976, Bader spent more than a decade as a writer, editor and producer at the Voice of America and at NPR where he was a producer and film critic for Performance Today.

Bader joined Monitor Radio in 1989 where he became news himself. He was involved in Monitor Radio’s “Condoms and Cucumbers” incident. Monitor aired a report about AIDS prevention that included the audio of a safe sex training session that featured putting condoms on cucumbers.

Officials of the Christian Science Church, the sponsors of Monitor Radio, we’re not pleased. They told everyone who was involved with the report to apologize. Bader refused to do so and soon was out of a job.

Bader moved on to WBUR in 1992. In 1997 he became Senior Editor for The World, PRI’s ambitious daily global news program where he stayed over 14 years.

During his time at The World, Bader met Lisa Mullins, one of the program’s hosts. Mullins is now an anchor for WBUR’s broadcasts of All Things Considered and a guest host of Here & Now.  The couple stayed together for over 27 years.

Sue Schardt, Executive Producer at Margin Media [link], who worked with Bader at Monitor Radio, added these thoughts:

"I was the first hire at Monitor Radio to manage relationships with station affiliates across the country.  One of my earliest formative experiences was handling the fall-out from what we (still) refer to as ‘the condom cucumber caper.’”  

"Ken, with the morning show host Dale Willman, took a stand against what they felt was editorial interference by management.  They lost their jobs, and their principled journalism set a standard that, really, has endured throughout my career." 

"Listening to other’s stories at Ken’s memorial in Boston, it struck me that the Ken Bader’s of the world — journalists who are decent people; who go after the truth with dogged, unwavering conviction — are treasures.  They're holding the front line for us all."

MEMO TO PACIFICA: “PLEASE GO AWAY, NOBODY CARES WHAT HAPPENS TO YOU ANY MORE”

We’ve been reporting about Pacifica radio for over five years. This is a lonely beat because the embarrassing organization has become a clown show. Even the clowns don’t care what happens.

Pacifica is devaluing radio and actually hurting the causes it says it supports. It is irrelevant and insignificant and almost no one, anywhere, cares if it continues to exist.

We’ve noticed that when we cover Pacifica, our page-views drop by 30%. Even people who work in public media have given up on a future for Pacifica.

Pacifica’s dysfunction was on full display at its National Board meeting on Thursday, September 18, 2019, at around Midnight ET. Below is a one-minute unedited audio clip from the meeting. As you listen to I ask yourself this question: Would you donate money to these people?