PUBLIC LIVES; A Firm New Boss at an Old Voice of the Left

By Lynda Richardson Jan. 17, 2001 See the article in its original context from January 17, 2001, Section B, Page 2Buy Reprints View on timesmachine TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers. WITH the recent firings of staff members and the changing of locks in the night, it has been suggested by dissenting voices that the leftist, noncommercial radio station WBAI is having an Alexander Haig moment. In this case, the general who swooped in to take charge is Utrice Leid, a regal native of Trinidad with a big, booming voice and big earrings of silver and onyx that match the heavy ring on her finger. Ms. Leid, host of the station's popular afternoon show, ''Talkback,'' became interim general manager on Dec. 22, after WBAI's parent group, the Pacifica Foundation of Washington, dismissed the longtime station manager, Valerie Van Isler; the program director, Bernard White; and the union steward, Sharan Harper. Ms. Leid and Bessie Wash, Pacifica's executive director, had the station's locks changed. Then Ms. Leid went on the air in the early morning to announce a change in management, and that she was it. ''The funny thing in my life, it's kind of consistent with my life, is I end up doing things because I am drafted,'' Ms. Leid said with a hearty laugh the other day, poised and relaxed behind a desk cluttered high with papers and books on the 10th floor of a Wall Street high-rise. A few days into her new job, Ms. Leid, 47, proclaimed that she loved it. ''I look forward to being tested,'' she said. ''In every moment that I've been tested, I've found that I've been equal or even superior to the task.'' Sign up for the New York Today Newsletter Each morning, get the latest on New York businesses, arts, sports, dining, style and more. Get it sent to your inbox. To say that there is tension at WBAI is to put it mildly. Turmoil over the firings has divided listeners and staff members at WBAI, one of five affiliates of the tiny nonprofit Pacifica network, which was founded in 1946 by pacifists and conscientious objectors. There have been protests and vigils. Staff members hint darkly about a hit list, and speculate about who may be next. Ms. Leid seems impervious to the unpleasant things said about her, that she is vindictive, for instance, and that her participation in the shake-up is revenge against Ms. Van Isler for not hiring her as program director last year. Ms. Leid says changes are long overdue, because the station needs to broaden its audience and become more relevant. ''It's best to describe what it used to be,'' she said in the teacherly tone she used on her talk show to analyze a speech or quiz her listeners on vocabulary. ''It was depressing. It was suffocating. It was frustrating. It inhibited creativity. It was badly managed and horribly organized. At the same time, it was also rife with great possibility and potential.'' But does it strike Ms. Leid as odd for a station that has prided itself on its democratic functioning to have security guards now? She explains that the security detail is merely a volunteer force, friends of hers and the station's. ''It became clear to many of us that it was planned that the station would be seized and occupied,'' she said. ''That was the plan, and in some cases, there were utterances about destroying equipment and doing harm to the station. We are in a heightened state of awareness because of this crisis, which is a case of manufactured dissent.'' DRESSED in a pinstriped shirt, a dark navy blazer and gray slacks, Ms. Leid is a large woman with milk-chocolate-brown skin and short-cropped hair. She is clearly comfortable with herself at center stage. As a girl in Trinidad, she represented her Roman Catholic school in debates and essay contests. She was also picked to present bouquets to visiting royalty. Ms. Leid was one of nine children, with seven brothers and one sister. She grew up expecting to be involved in business like her parents. Her mother owned a restaurant in Trinidad, and her father owned a variety of businesses, including a movie theater, a grocery store and a bar. Her interest in journalism began in 1973, after her father died of a heart attack. She went to be with her grieving mother in Trinidad, which was shakily recovering from a coup attempt. During her yearlong stay, she researched how people were reacting to the coup attempt, thinking it would make a good book. But one day, machine-gun-toting men appeared at her home and confiscated her 700 pages of notes, saying her project was subversive. ''It was kind of scary to have men surround the home,'' she recalled matter-of-factly, making one wonder if she might have scared them. Returning to New York, Ms. Leid found a job as a receptionist at The Amsterdam News. But after a six-month stint at that black-owned newspaper, she had grander dreams. Along with an Amsterdam News colleague, she began a small news service to provide news media outlets with articles with an African-American focus. The news service lasted about four years. Ms. Leid, who is single and lives in Brooklyn Heights, has always been drawn to nonmainstream news media. She said they offered a chance to do journalism that might otherwise not get done. In 1984, she helped create The City Sun, a black-owned newspaper, and was its managing editor for eight years. She said she left in part because the paper was lying about its circulation figures to get better advertising rates. Since 1993, Ms. Leid has worked at WBAI. She concedes that these are not normal times. But she is convinced that things will settle down soon. Meanwhile, she is unapologetic. ''I've never been concerned about whether people like me or don't like me,'' she said, ''but I will not allow anyone to disrespect me.''