By:Anne Marie Allocca
Murillo, who is also a professor at the School of Communications at Hofstra University, urged the members to listen to the station to get a perspective about what's going on in the community and around the world. He noted that the listeners talk about things that affect their lives and share stories and experiences. Murillo explained that this public access station gives residents airtime to speak about issues that are relative to their own neighborhood. "You can speak to a manager at the station and say, 'Look I want to do a program about the problems facing Elmont,' " says Murillo.
He admitted also that people have a preconceived notion that Long Island is a wealthy suburb of New York with people living in beautiful, huge mansions in the Hamptons, so we tend to overlook that Long Island is a very diverse, complex web of communities. "My goal is to try to figure out what you like to hear and what kind of media you pay attention to and what things are a concern to you," continues Murillo.
After his opening remarks, Murillo took questions from the association members. Recording secretary Rosemary Haig asked Murillo to comment on the Patriot Act. He responded the Patriot Act is a complicated issue. Given what happened on Sept. 11, Murillo said he understood the need to create a more secure environment. "We have to find a way to close the border to check people coming in and out of the country and to make sure that certain kinds of people are not trying to plot out some events. There is clearly a justification for it. The question is the actual method that is being carried out. Is it legitimate to ask librarians around the country to tell the government what book is being signed out?" wondered Murillo.
He also questioned the validity of neighbors becoming a network of snitches to make the country more secure. He spoke of detaining immigrants for months at a time for minor violations and wondered if these measures were making our world safer.
Murillo urged the members to listen to WBAI and become involved in their community.
