Battling radio silence: GayBC founder John McMullen anchored amrathon coverage on September 11. Now he's fighting for his web radio station's survival in the resulting harsh economic times. (media).

GayBC founder John McMullen anchored marathon coverage on September 11, Now he's fighting for his Web radio station's survival in the resulting harsh economic times

September 11 has become a significant date for so many that the full effects of the terrorist attacks have yet to be gauged. For the Seattle-based GayBC Radio Network, a gay-targeted Webcasting service that prided itself on its 14 hours of live original programming a day, the tragedy was a breaking story that had the station broadcasting nonstop up-to-the-minute news coverage 24 hours a day for the first few days.

But two weeks later, GayBC itself became a victim of September 11. The economic domino effect that careened out from Wall Street after the attacks led key investors--who had lost a great deal of money in the stock market--to withdraw promises of support for the station. Founder John McMullen was suddenly forced to lay off his staff and halt original programming on September 25. He is now campaigning to raise funds to stay on the air.

"We're down but not dead," he says, speaking to The Advocate a few days after the layoffs. "We are in the midst of a national crisis, and minority communities want to rally around their core community voices. Now we are needed more than ever."

McMullen started GayBC--then called GLOradio--in 1996 with a weekly two-hour Web talk show and a daily newscast. He soon added live news coverage, including the first report from the police siege of a Miami houseboat where accused serial killer Andrew Cunanan hid in July 1997.

His virtual station rechristened GayBC, McMullen had raised $4 million from high-tech, broadcast, and Wall Street backers by October 1999. More recently GayBC--touting 90,000 unique listeners a month--has been developing a relationship with a nationwide satellite radio network. But that too has been delayed by September's events.

The kind of coverage McMullen hopes to offer is characterized by GayBC's work on September 11. "We had correspondents in New York City and were able to bring listeners information as it was happening," says McMullen, who served as an on-air host during the marathon broadcast. Available worldwide via the Web, the station became "a rallying point for many," he adds. "One listener told us how that morning he was three blocks away from the World Trade Center on his way to visit a friend who worked in a travel agency on the 82nd floor when the first plane hit. His friend died in the attack. We also had Michelangelo Signorile, whose family owns two delis blocks from there, calling in."

The news got worse after GayBC wrapped for the night. When he arrived home, exhausted, McMullen discovered that Mark Bingham, a friend for eight years, had been on board United Flight 93, the plane that crashed in Pennsylvania [see page 18]. "At first we thought it could be another Mark Bingham," McMullen recalls. "Then I saw a picture in a TV report and melted."

Then the financial backlash hit, and McMullen was forced to rerun existing programming. By November 1, however, he promises four to six hours of original programming at GayBC's new Web location, with the help of a membership pledge system including the station's "750 Club." "We are hoping to attract at least 750 of our most dedicated listeners to pledge $75 a month each for 12 months," he explains. "A lot of people who live in small communities, where they can't go down the street to pick up The Advocate or walk into a gay bar, use us as a resource. Now the need for GayBC is more poignant than ever." Listeners may agree: A Tennessee woman, for example, has already sent in a check for $1,000. "We're not going to quit," McMullen says. "I have faith."

Get connected to GayBC Web radio via www.advocate.com

Goodridge is U.S. editor for Screen International.