A HISTORY REALITY CHECK by Randi Steele, Former Operations Manager, RNI Between the fading memories of some, and the intentional misrepresentations and fabrications of others, a somewhat distorted view of the early days of Radio Newyork International has evolved. In early 1987, when Alan Weiner, I, and others were building the radio ship Sarah, we believed a large programming gap existed in N.Y. area radio. We all loosely described it as Free Form Rock and Roll. That format title was in itself a protest against FCC rulings of the late 1970's when they legislated the concept of Free Form Radio out of existance. This programming concept included the Caroline concept of loving awareness without the preachy political correctness that Pirate Joe ultimately sunk the RNI organization with. Pirate Joe was NEVER to be a part of the original RNI. Our plan was to go on the air the last week of July 1987 with tests, from 6PM until Midnight, of our equipment and programming. On August 7, 1987 we planned to start 18hr/day broadcasting where the entire range of RNI programs would first be debuted. Because of the competitive nature of N.Y. radio, we wanted to make RNI a pleasant surprise and were intentionally vague about our programming concepts and plans. We did not plan on two things; 1, that major publicity would start after only two test broadcasts and; 2, that the station would be silenced after only 4 test broadcasts. The publicity that I'm now accused of "mishandling" was only our pre-planned, pre-launch hype. When the station was busted up, and Alan and Ivan were illegally arrested, the "lawyers" at that time ordered myself and others to shut-up. I had planned a news conference in Times Square at 5pm the day of the bust, where I had hoped that all the "un-indited co-conspirators" would have our say. Dudley Gaffin, Esq. personally ordered me to cancel that gathering. Faced with a sudden publicity blackout, the press went with the only quotes and info they had, the pre-launch hype. Before the gag order, I gave two interviews, one to the Associated Press, which ran nationwide, but not in N.Y., (see Chicago Tribune, July 29, 1987), where I was quoted of the clear violations of the First Amendment, and of commerce, committed by the FCC. The second interview was to Paul Colford of Newsday, where I tried to get him to focus on the constitutional issues, rather than on me personally. That some have forgotten this sequence of events, and others intentionally twist and distort history for their own perverse pleasure, doesn't bother me. What does bother me, however, is that Alan Weiner, for the rest of his life, will be deemed an unfit licensee, while the source of all his problems, Joseph Paul Farrero, (Pirate Joe), is an FCC licensee "in good standing", and owner of WHVW, (AM), Hyde Park, N.Y. If Alan had followed my advice in the early 1980's and had not subjected himself, and his radio business, (WOZI/WOZW in Maine), to Joe's every impulsive whim, RNI wold have it's shortwave license and be operating profitably to this day. Joseph Paul's egotistical need to be "N.Y.'s most powerful pirate", was not satisfied by having 1.5Kw of FM power from his Yonkers, N.Y. apartment, so Alan was coerced to use the WOZW-AM transmitter site to broadcast "KPRC, Pirate Central", on 1616Khz AM. It was Joseph Paul who got Alan to get an "RPU" of 100watts on 1622Khz licensed to his mother's house in Yonkers. When the FCC ordered the 1622 "broadcasts" to cease, J.P. convinced Alan to "keep the frequency warm by playing music". J.P., against Alan's wishes, turned 1622 into, "The station that has nothing good to say about Ronald Reagan". Because of these actions by Joseph Paul, Alan lost his licenses. When RNI returned to shortwave via WWCR, WRNO and R.F.P.I. in Costa Rica, Joseph Paul smelled potential political indoctrination and had to be included. He tried to manipulate RNI's news coverage, causing News Director, Neil Scott to quit. He repeatedly interfered with, and mistreated Dan Lewis, our Mailbag programmer, causing him to quit. He then dragged his politically naive girlfriend, with no broadcast experience or talent, into the organization, and he interfered in the professional operation of RNI, causing me to quit. Joseph Paul Farrero doesn't believe in commercial radio, or so he said at the time I quit RNI. He only believes in profitable radio when the money to be made is his. So what does this righteous political broadcasting radical do with HIS radio station? WHVW broadcasts a conservative country music format when J.P. can't sell time brokered blocks to every sleaze bag opportunist he can find, along with several hours a day of J.P.'s leftist, politically correct, dogma that is lost on a Hudson Valley busily listening to quality programing on FM. The original concept of RNI died in June of 1991 because Joseph Paul didn't agree with it. Alan's attempts to keep it alive have failed because it was those concepts that made RNI what it was, good radio. That Alan Weiner is forever bared from being a station licensee, and the hypercritical Pirate Joe-seph Paul Farrero owns WHVW-Hyde Park, is a grave miscarriage of justice that I can only hope will someday be rectified. As for me, I have a happy life far away from the egotistical back stabbing and jealous competition from many of the low-lifes that infest radio. It's the listening public's loss, not mine. - - - - - - - - - End of Article