What Happened to Access Central???
By Andrew Herzman
There are 2 sides to every story...but this is my version:
Access Central Radio
Access Central used to have a radio show on WGBB 1240am. I took the
timeslot over from Mike Frankson who used to broadcast the L.I. Music
Zone before he moved down to Florida. When I took over the show, a guy
who called himself "Red" came by the station and said he was
interested in radio and wanted to watch me do the show. I didn't see
any harm in it, so I said yes. Big mistake! After the show, Red
offered to get advertisers for the show. I made a deal with him that
we would split the income 50/50. The next week he came back with an
audiotape full of ads and money. All well and good. Then Red tells me
he has to talk on the radio because he LIED to the advertisers and
said he was the co-host of the show! He said if he didn't say anything
on the radio, the ads would be no more. So, in order to cover for his
lies, I let him say a few words on the radio. Every show he talked
longer and longer, until he was even playing a "pick of the week" song
and everything. OK, all well and good...but then he gets the idea that
the audio engineer is somehow riding his microphone "low". Red goes
over my head to the radio management to complain about the engineer.
Word gets back to me that he told management that the show was half
his because he paid for half! Yes, he did get to keep half of the ad
money and yes he did appear on the show, but the show was 100% under
my name. Red then started to take lessons on how to work the audio
board at the station. Well...it ended up where Red took all the ads
and the timeslot and I ended up with nothing. Sly, eh?
Access Central TV
After what happened to me at WGBB, I posted a warning to the
"longislandmusicscene" list on Yahoo, warning others to be careful if
they do business with Red. It just so happened that the
owner/moderator of that list, Richard Hughes, was on vacation at the
time I posted that warning. Because others before me had attacked Red
in a personal matter (which is against the list rules), Rich took it
as me joining the Red bashing bandwagon. I got a very nasty e-mail
from Mr. Hughes that said I was placed on "moderated" status and that
he was very angry that he "had to" do this while he was on vacation
(as if there was a way in hell I could have known when he takes his
vacation). When Rich Hughes got back from vacation, we e-mailed each
other and he admitted that my post was written professionally and was
"borderline" when it came to his rules. I then asked to be taken off
moderated status, and Rich refused. I didn't think that was fair after
Rich himself said I really didn't break any rules to begin with. I
wanted to know if he believed in free speech since he felt he needed
to moderate me. His reply was, "Free speech isn't, never has been,
and never will be about some whiny little asshole getting to say
whatever he wants whenever he wants."
He then invited me to have it out with him on another list. His
concern was that there would be no personal insults on his own list,
since that was against the rules of his list. OK, fine and dandy. I
tried to make my point why I shouldn't have been placed on moderated
status to begin with and why I shouldn't be on moderated status now.
Rich only replied by saying that I should stop "whining" and acting
like a child. Needless to say, I started getting nasty out of
frustration. Mr. Hughes also got nasty. When I pointed out that he was
doing the exact same thing that he would punish other for doing on his
own list he apologized. Still, he refused to take me off moderated
status. Of course, I still didn't give up and Mr. Hughes accused me of
throwing "temper tantrums".
Since this all happened on a public message board, other LIMC members
took it upon themselves to gang up on me to "defend" Rich Hughes.
Funny how Rich got angry when he thought I was ganging up on Red, but
found it perfectly OK for his buddies to gang up on me. Here's an
example of what I had to put up with: "Do me a huge favor Andy... Ban
me from your TV show, Ban me from your free services and
Ban me from anything that you are ever directly involved with.
Permanently...Thank You, Todd Shea
So, this all went on for months, and finally Rich got tired of trying
to defend himself from my logic and points, so one day he says that I
am "wrong" and he has nothing more to say. Isn't that very adult of
him? In any case, I still kept posting my protest to get taken off
moderated status . I noticed others on the list were posting things
that were actually against his "rules" and weren't getting moderated
so I pointed that out.
That was the straw that broke the camel's back. Rich said"...at this
point, I wouldn't even let you back on
the list moderated, because you are SUCH A FUCKING PAIN IN THE ASS! So
you're no longer moderated -- you're banned. NOW you've got something
really good to whine about."
That cut me off from promoting the show on his list.
Members of the LIMC tell me that being banned from the list can't hurt
a TV show like ACTV and that there are alternative ways to promote the
show. I beg to differ. The "alternative" (print, radio and TV ads)
ways cost big $$$. The list was free.I think Mike Ferrari from Aural
Fix says it best:"... the members on this list had to sign themselves
up to it, it does not solicit members, you opt-in to it....600 out of
2,000 is a sizable proportion of the local music population, it's just
under a third of the local music population...you know this is a
captive audience so to speak. This is your market, it's local music
makers, fans, and businesses and media."
I was banned from a list that reaches about 1/3 of a captive target
audience. The damage was, and still is, enormous.
When I posted a protest on my own website, Mr. Hughes again tried to
control my speech by telling lies to my webhost provider in a futile
attempt to censor my words:
"Dear iHost,
I'm having a problem with someone who has a website on your server.
offending site is www.accesscentral.tv, run by an Andrew Herzman.
I run an e-mail list for Long Island musicians, and am the President
the Long Island Music Coalition, an organization that works to promote
bands and musicians here on Long Island.
Recently, I had to remove Mr. Herzman from my e-mail list, as a result
his unwillingness to follow the rules as well as his increasingly
bizarre and abusive behavior.
Mr. Herzman is now using his website to libel both myself and the
Island Music Coalition. He has posted my image and my e-mail address
permission, and has devoted an entire page that I consider to be
link for the offending page is http://www.accesscentral.tv/future.htm
.
Acceptable Use policy, and force him to remove the offending page,
I'm forced to take legal action to preserve my good reputation and the
reputation of the LIMC.
Thank you for your help in this matter."
Sincerely,
Richard Hughes
The worst thing about this whole mess is that the entire local music
scene has not cared at all about this injustice.
The Long Island Music Coalition
The LIMC's mission statement says in part: "The LIMC realizes that a
successful music scene is one where the various components of the
scene realize their interdependence upon one another and come together
to promote the larger good."
remember,the world is waiting patiently for your show to end,and for
you to disappear forever.The local scene will be better off when you
"Why not blame Al Quiada or George W. Bush or Jimmy Hoffa for the fact
that nobody cared about your lame effort?" -Hank Porter
to promote my high-quality show on the list. The response and
cooperation I got from Rich Hughes, the President of the LIMC is the
exact opposite of their mission statement. The list does nothing to
encourage people to say their true feelings and ideas.
"Free speech isn't, never has been, and never will be about some whiny
little asshole getting to say whatever he wants whenever he wants."
Look at what his brainwashed followers do: "...we beg Rich to
moderate us so we don't post something we'll regret. I've done
that....I'm a liberal" -Liz Smith
They beg him to control them!!! It's like a cult! Why would
a "liberal" beg Rich to moderate them?
He banned me out of anger, because I refused to let him control me.
Then he turned around and blamed it on "rules" I never broke. He is
a very dangerous man and doesn't know how to be fair with the power
he has. He still tries to control me by lieing to my internet
provider saying I broke his rules (rules he can't name).
He will not stop until his list and power is gone. He has proven it
over and over again. He would rather have my show off the air rather
than let me promote it on his list. He will NEVER allow me back on
his list...not beacuse I broke his rules...because I stood up to him
and wouldn't allow him to control me.
I say the truth. That's why Rich tries to have my website taken
down. He doesn't want the truth to be known. If it were lies he
could have a lawyer make me take it down. Instead he lies to my
Internet service provider in a futile attempt to have it taken down.
Rich banned Mike Frankson for speaking up...because he is afraid of
losing his power over people and can't tollerate anyone questioning
his motives.. He really is a very dangerous control freak and will
not stop hurting good people or the work they do for the scene.
I say Rich Hughes should run his list like an American and allow
other ideas and suggestions rather just his. When others are allowed
to contribute with their own minds, will the scene really grow and
prosper. Destroying other people's ideas, work and TV shows is the
exact opposite of what the scene should be about. People need to
stop giving him absolute power over them. It's wrong.
I tested Rich's true motives by giving him the option of saving a TV
show that helps the scene in exchange for allowing me to promote it on
the list. He chose to let the show go under rather than admit he was
wrong and look "weak". Anybody who truly wanted to help the scene
would have done ANYTHING to make sure my show wouldn't go off the air,
yet Rich and his buddies actually enjoyed the fact that it went
under....because, in Rich's mind, it was competition to his show and
his power.
Any decent man would value and respect other people's opinions and
work, instead of punishing them for it. Rich uses that list of his
as a weapon to control people...not as a tool to help the scene.
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