CPB Closes Book on WYPR Audit

Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) Vice President Greg Schnirring wrote this blog editor that “at this point, the CPB considers the matter closed.”

Schnirring responded in a Sept. 25th, 2009 letter after Take Back YPR provided extensive documentation to the CPB and CPB Inspector General Kenneth Konz that WYPR’s own response to the CPB audit was misleading.  In fact, WYPR contended in their official response to the CPB audit in WYPR Station Manager Tony Brandon’s letter (included in the final audit report) that WYPR always had a Community Advisory Board (CAB) .

CPB itself has not always been totally accurate.  CPB government affairs official Tim Isgitt wrote to Maryland Rep. John Sarbanes in July 2009 and implied that the CPB Inspector General never audited WYPR.  Take Back YPR has been trying to discover what CPB’s response to the audit was through our Congressional representatives.  Mr. Isgitt, in response to Rep. Sarbanes, attached a CPB Inspector General’s letter to Rep. Sarbanes that dismissed Take Back YPR claims concerning WYPR.  However after this July 2008 letter, the CPB Inspector General did go ahead with a full audit of WYPR later that year.  They published it in March 2009 (Report 903).  Click here to find it.

CPB COO Vincent Curren also came to WYPR last year and told the WYPR board and public witnesses that the CAB regulations were a “mistake.”  He characterized them as 1960s idealism.  Mr. Curren declined to respond to this blog’s request to clarify his remarks.

Mr. Curren, his official CPB page here, is what happens when corrupt administrations appoint people to positions of public authority who undermine public laws.  They go and tell boards of directors that the laws do not matter.  In the financial services sector, this has created a national catastrophe: the current recession.  In public radio, well, you decide what it means.

The CPB currently is run by Patricia Harrison, a former state department official who helped the last president sell the Iraq war to the American people.  She is a long-time Republican with a background in public relations.  Ms. Harrison has no professional experience in public radio. 

We are far away from the 60s, Mr Curran is right on that.  Maybe these are Frankenstein Eisenhower times, except without Eisenhower’s honor and dignity, and even more of the military-industrial complex.

WYPR does have a CAB now.  Their next meeting is Thursday, Nov. 12, 2009 at 6PM. Location: The Baltimore Museum of Art in the Garden Room. Enter the BMA at the staff entrance on the West Side of the building.  Anyone can go and get involved.

WYPR Board and CAB times are available on their Web site.  Linked here. Better than WYPR remains Marc Steiner on his show on WEAA (89.9 FM, 5-7pm). The gold standard is Democracy Now!

WYPR Losing Money, Downsizing All But Fundraising

Max Obusewski attended the September 2009 WYPR Board and Community Advisory Board (CAB) meetings and offers this report. WYPR lost $173,000 over a three-month summer period, according to WYPR financial data presented at the WYPR Board meeting. Two staffers became part-time workers, voluntarily, according to WYPR management. Salaries at the station are frozen.

Obusewksi reports: The board meeting was at the Family Tree on September 23rd, 2009. Once I entered the meeting room, I was given an agenda, the very personable Alexandra Price, Director of Development, said Hi. Shortly after 3 PM, Deborah Callard opened the meeting and acknowledged me. Then she welcomed Eva Simmons-O’Brien as a new board member.

During the governance report, the most interesting facet of his report began when Jack Machen indicated there was no need for board members to sign the Conflict of Interest policy statement. Of course, a number of board members, including Barbara Bozzuto, said it is essential that board members sign the conflict of interest policy. Machen said not necessary from a legal standpoint, but he was over-ruled by the board.

The discussion of the financial situation at YPR was very somber. There will be no new shows or news stories. Because of the recession/depression, underwriting in the radio business is way down. And YPR’s situation is no better. Nationally, ads are down 15%, in Baltimore radio 23% and at YPR 11%. This is to “operate with extreme caution.” “Strict cost controls are essential.”

Board Member Mr. Grief asked about salaries. “They are frozen.” “Some furloughs.” Two people voluntarily downsized to part-time.

The woman who heads the sales department said the sales staff is very discouraged, but determined. The hope is that the tide will turn in 2010. Brandon said Alexandra will give a report on the latest update of outreach for grants.

Rodney Stump is the new chair of the Friends Group, as Gary Levine now sits on the board. He indicated he wants to closely with the CAB members.

Dave Bowen, chair of the Finance Committee, gave a bleak report, as WYPR lost $173,000 in the June, July, August period. However, he said this was “good” as the summer is a down time. And it was added that YPR still is above budget when subtracting costs from revenue. My guess, though, is that the budget was severely cut back from previous years. One basis for this guess is that YPR listeners are constantly barraged by pleas for donations. Then Tony Brandon put his spin on the report—membership is up, grants look good and underwriting was great.

Cindy Amitin was there from the CAB, and she gave a brief report. It seems that the CAB members will be given a tour of YPR in the near future. Membership and ascertainment committees are set up. A CAB member will now attend board meetings. [This was one of our complaints.] Stump will attend the CAB meeting.

Cindy indicated that Doreen Bolger wants to step down as chair. However, the by-laws state that the chair and the vice-chair must have served at least a year on the CAB before assuming either role. Machen asked the board to vote to amend the by-laws, and to my shock the board members did.

Take Back YPR worked with the CAB over a period of several meetings to finalize the CAB by-laws. In a period of two minutes, the by-laws were changed. This is an indication of the current power relationship. Management needs CAB, so that it can get CPB funding. But the CAB must be toothless.

Tony Brandon then addressed two issues—audit and finances. He observed that all is going well with matters raised by the audit. There were no questions from the board. My assumption is that the board members have been warned not to discuss this subject in the company of members of the community.

However, the meeting adjourned to go into executive session. So I left. The next meeting is November 11 at 3 PM.

The CAB meeting was the following day, Sept. 24th., at 6 PM at the BMA. After we introduced ourselves, Doreen handed out the minutes from the June 22 CAB meeting. It seems Brandon did not post am announcement of this meeting on the web site, so it was not an official meeting. Nevertheless, the minutes were approved.

It was noted that attendance must be taken, as a member who missed a percentage of meetings would be dismissed from the CAB.

Besides Doreen, the only old member of the CAB in attendance was Peggy Olbrecht. There were nine other CAB members at the meeting. Ross spoke about the Friends Group. They meet at YPR, the second Wednesday of the month.

Amitin gave a brief report on the board meeting. Does the CAB want a board member here? There was an amendment of the by-laws. And the audit concerns would soon be alleviated.

The CAB said it was not necessary for Tony and others to come to a CAB meeting at this time, as they are working on getting up-to-speed. Doreen was very upset with the change in by-laws without any consultation with the CAB.

Edouardo Hayden, convener of the Ascertainment Task Force, said there were email problems. So not many people responded. I have a list of brainstorming ideas the CAB did on June 22 on the following subjects: environment, urban planning, diversity, religion and health care.

I then raised several issues. I would like to find out if the loan is now unsecure. If yes, then we the people should get back ownership of the station from the folks who guaranteed the loan. It was unclear if the CAB would get me an answer.

I said I was shocked when the board amended the CAB by-laws. I informed the CAB that Take Back YPR is calling for another audit. Since Cindy did not inform the CAB about the dire financial situation, I did. The next Cab meeting is at 6 PM on November 12, 2009.

WYPR Hides CAB MEETING

WYPR failed to publicize and disclose that the WYPR CAB scheduled and held a June 22nd, 2009 Community Advisory Board meeting.  The information came out at the September 2009 CAB meeting, which members of the public and TAKE BACK YPR were able to learn about and attend.  According to comments by CAB Chair Doreen Bolger, CAB did inform WYPR President Tony Brandon about the meeting.

WYPR’s failure to publicize this meeting–surely they will claim it was a mistake–prevented the public, WYPR donating members, and former WYPR members from attending, participating, and observing station activities and deliberations.  It is part of a clear pattern of deception by WYPR management.

All their “mistakes” and omissions and sometimes direct actions continue to shield WYPR and management thinking and decisions from public view.  In fact, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting Inspector General’s report (March 20, 2009) found that the station has violated open-meeting and public notice requirements before.  The report tasks the station with reading the law and fulfilling it, or lose CPB funding  WYPR ’s “mistakes” and omissions and actions always benefit secretive WYPR management and hurt the public.  Sherlock Holmes is not needed to draw conclusions here.

We will be posting a report about the Sept. 2009 WYPR BOARD and CAB meetings on Sept. 29th, 2009.

Public Radio Explosion (1989-2009)

Public radio funding from membership has expanded greatly, according to Corporation for Public Broadcasting data, despite the dominance of television in the 1990s, and the 21st century rise of the Internet.

According to the CPB Fiscal Reports of 1999 and 2007, the average public radio contribution rose from 1989 to 1999 from $48.82 to $73. The number of contributors nationwide almost doubled, from 1,225,000 to 2,414,000.

More recently from 1997 to 2007, public radio contributors have increased from 1.9 million to 2.5 million, by 600,000 people. The average contribution has jumped from $71 to $114.

Despite all the pleas on WYPR, WEAA, and other public stations for funding, public radio listeners nationally, at least, are responding robustly.

WYPR is a slightly different sort of public radio station. For one, their membership contributions in 2008 and 2009 seemed to have remained flat. Furthermore, as station president Tony Brandon told the WYPR Board in May, the station receives 52 percent of its revenue from underwriting, and about 33 percent from members. The average NPR station, according to the NPR’s online financial overview (click to link), receives just 20 percent of revenue from “businesses via corporate underwriting,” and “31 percent from listeners in the form of pledges, memberships, and other donations.” WYPR is much more dependent on business advertising than a typical NPR station.

Writer William Hoynes says that public television especially, and public broadcasting in general, are consciously trying to drive up their membership contributions by tailoring programs to attract a more affluent membership base. In his article “The PBS Brand and the Merchandising of Public Service” (from the book Public Broadcasting and the Public Interest), Hoynes finds that public television has consciously been tailoring its appeal to increasingly affluent audiences, in order to boost membership dollars, and insulate themselves from the political winds in Congress that might tamper with their funding. Hoynes hypothesizes that public television’s targeting of affluent membership is a greater motivator for programming decisions than the influence of corporate underwriting.

Looking at WYPR, one can see how the replacement of The Marc Steiner Show with Midday by Dan Rodricks also fits into Hoynes’ analysis of public broadcasting motivations. This programming change has made WYPR news more friendly and comforting. As the WYPR Web site describes Midday, news is balanced with “good manners” and “gentle laughter.” Steiner (now on WEAA, 88.9 FM) often focuses on how issues impact the lower and middle classes. Rodricks tackles public policy issues too, but often less passionately, and with his signature cynical tone. The controversies of the day just are not as pressing on Midday.

Never mind that, for instance, Wells Fargo is being charged by the city in federal court right now with having targeted African-American Baltimore residents with deceptive subprime loans that have blown up in many people’s faces. (Click here for news link). Never mind that the city is too dangerous, a subject Marc Steiner is covering well on his WEAA show currently (click here for link). Baltimore has a great arts, writing, and music culture (and thankfully WYPR’s The Signal covers it, and it too is linked).

Does WYPR’s homegrown programming reflect the diverse experiences and points-of-view of its wide audience? The homegrown line-up of Maryland Morning, Midday, Tapestry of the Times, and The Signal, does it challenge us as well as entertain?

WYPR CAB Announces Future Meetings

When WYPR’s “new” Community Advisory Board (CAB) met on May 27, 2009, the CAB Chairperson Doreen Bolger said that the CAB would try to meet again in June.  It did not happen.  Considering the “new” CAB had only three members from its previous membership, maybe this signaled the new CAB would act like the old one: very few people in the future would show up.  Well, WYPR.org has announced further CAB meetings.  The schedule for 2009 and 2010 is below:

2009-2010 WYPR CAB Meetings:
Thursday, September 24, 2009, 6pm
Thursday, November 12, 2009, 6pm
Thursday, January 14, 2010, 6pm
Thursday, March 18, 2010, 6pm
Thursday, May 20, 2010, 6pm
Location: TBA

Looking at this schedule, one can see that the CAB is on course to meet quarterly, one time each season.  The CAB already met in Feb. and May 2009 (winter and spring), and the two other 2009 dates fulfill summer’s end and fall’s epiphany.  The 2010 schedule also follows a seasonal timeline.  This construction would meet the “regular” requirement of the Federal Communications Act in its three-prong CAB requirement.  The other two stipulations are regular attendance by CAB membership, and diversity of the listening community reflected in CAB membership.

WYPR is under a requirement to complete documentation of compliance with this and other relevant laws as a result of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) Inspector Generals audit of WYPR.  WYPR needs to fulfill these legal requirements in order to continue to receive their annual, taxpayer-supported grant.  For more on that, read CPB IG Report 903, by clicking here.

The grant is over $300,000 per year.  Though WYPR station President Tony Brandon told the WYPR Board in May that the station is doing fine in these recessionary times–and in fact has amassed a $100,000+ war chest to make it through the summer–I heard  the station air a non-scheduled pitch for funds again in late June.  Is the station hurting, or not?  One cannot tell, really. However the station certainly seems intent to ensure this annual CPB grant.

This new CAB schedule reflects, in many ways, WYPR’s desire to meet regulatory compliance.  Does it reflect an independent CAB? Well, their next Sept. meeting will tell.

At the CPB Web site, it says that the CAB must “be distinct from and independent of the governing body” of the radio station in their online “Interpretations” of the Federal Communications Act Section 396 (k)(8).  Click here for the law.  Will the new CAB develop?

The CAB in 2009 has yet to really debate any substantial radio issue, station policy decision, or propose a single idea.  It remains in formation stage.  For more on the CAB’s last, May 27 meeting, click here.

Karen Holser Rocks the Midday Mic

I tuned into the Dan Rodricks show on June 10, 2009 and was surprised to hear Karen Holser host, and in fact host a good show: The first hour was on Sheila Dixon, her legal troubles, and governing Baltimore; the second was on the so-called “doctor shortage” in Maryland. I especially liked the callers and how they brought perspective to these topics. Rodricks rarely seems to take callers, or evince interesting opinions from them, which is my scant experience on the three or four shows that I have listened to with him.

I caught Holser again for her second hour on Thursday, June 11, from 1-2PM. She had a lively discussion of farmers’ markets and the importance of farming, fresh produce, and related public policies. She had multiple guests on, and interesting callers. One caller pointed out that suburban development, more parking lots, rain that cannot reach the soil because of pavement development, and the pollution related to our modern, car-dependent cities and suburbs all relates to the loss of local farming and healthy environments. I guess buying from farmers’ markets is one way to keep life grounded, local, and more healthy. However the caller’s implied point was that unchecked development will make such efforts moot over time.

Holser is very engaging, but more important, is very engaged. She did not run away from callers who introduced new nuances and themes to the way she framed the topics; rather she hosted multiple guests while handling multiple callers and produced a show with breath and unexpected insights. And she has an energetic, upbeat voice. That’s good radio.

WYPR should feature Holser more, especially with a call-in format, because there is not just enough Baltimore and Maryland news on the air (or in the air) these days. This especially is true with the collapse of The Baltimore Sun–a collapse that is not just about the loss of advertising revenue (typical media framing), but how billionaire speculator Sam Zell of Chicago purchased the Tribute Company with enormous debt financing, really trashed the spirit of journalism there, and recently drove the entire chain into bankruptcy, and The Sun with it.

The 2009 newspaper crisis has its roots in corporate conglomeration, debt financing, and product debasement; and in this way it resembles the 2008-2009 banking crisis–sans the taxpayer bailouts–at least so far.

In the same way, the collapse of the free Baltimore Examiner was not the collapse of a hometown paper trying to make it (typical media framing). Rather, it was the collapse of a link in the chain of a new right-wing publishing project, which is funded by Denver-based billionaire Philip Anschutz. Anyone who ever read the editorial page could have spotted it. Check out the editorial page and story choices of The Washington Examiner, which Anschutz also has bankrolled. Read a Media Matters article on Anschutz here, or a Business Week article on him here. This blog does not shed a tear for the loss of such “news.”

In the context of this news hole, the Baltimore City Council and Maryland Legislature could use some weekly radio coverage. Holser did seem to bring some of that typical media framing to her show-topic openings on June 10, but she also displayed flexibility in letting guests and callers widen the purview, and parsing that with wit. She might be a great radio personality to pick up this slack.

WYPR Board and CAB Meet in May

WYPR’s Board of Directors and newly reconfigured Community Advisory Board met on May 27, 2009, at 3 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. respectively. Overall WYPR displayed a reinvigorated management process where multiple voices from the board of directors were heard during the meeting compared to one year ago. The new community advisory board (CAB)–which drew 19 CAB members–also displayed some vim and vigor as the CAB debated with itself and with WYPR Board member John Machen what it’s role could and would be.

The CAB appeared to decide their role would be two things: They would be a diverse representation of the community that could give WYPR advice–as CABs are intended to be in the federal regulations requiring CABs at public radio stations. They also will help introduce community leaders of various types to the WYPR news department, under an initiative proposed by WYPR President Tony Brandon that he calls “ascertainment.” Brandon’s ascertainment sounds like a positive idea, and it includes having the CAB steer in 100 + community leaders per year from around the WYPR coverage area to be interviewed by the news department, in order to expand WYPR’s contacts in the community, as well as voices and topics covered on air. Brandon says this ascertainment process is similar to federal requirements in place before 1996. President Bill Clinton and the U.S. Congress passed the Telecommunications Act of 1996 that deregulated media; alongside NAFTA, FDA reform, and the end of Glass-Steagall, media deregulation is another corporate-conglomerate-benefiting gift that gift-horse Bill Clinton has foisted upon the public.

The CAB plans to meet in June again, open to the public, and 10 minutes per meeting are reserved for anyone from the public to comment, said CAB Chair and BMA director Doreen Bolger, who is looking to relinquish her position and sail into a less controversial sunset. The 19 members of the CAB included mostly new members (three pre-2009 CAB members attended). We will see if these new members continue to show up to CAB meetings, whether they actually discuss programming and offer advice.

In terms of the board meeting, WYPR is weathering tough economic times pretty well, according to WYPR Board member and finance chair David Bowen and Tony Brandon. Underwriting / advertising revenue is down around 7 %, said Brandon, compared to 20 % to 50 % at various commercial radio stations. WYPR has frozen payroll, but not enforced mandatory staff cuts or work furloughs, said Brandon. The board passed a resolution to praise the WYPR staff for their robust work at WYPR in terms of programming and finances. Bowen and Brandon both say WYPR is building a cash reserve to weather the usual slower summer season and the bad economy.

Brandon told the board that WYPR currently has a $5.2 million debt load, and that 52% of the revenue comes from underwriting. He later told the WYPR CAB that the debt load was $5.3 million, and that 50 percent of revenue comes from underwriting. Brandon emphasized at both meetings that WYPR basically is a stand-alone public radio station, receiving only about 7 % of its revenue from the government, in the form of federal tax dollars funnelled through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Maybe this comment was meant to underscore the commercial bent of WYPR, which relies more on underwriting / advertising than actual membership. In fact, their recent online auction seems like a fundraising tool that does not promote membership, per se. Considering that the original loan to purchase WYPR was $4.2 million in 2002 (according to “Holding Company History and Description: Your Public Radio Corporation” A WYPR Document).  Six years later why has WYPR taken on additional debt? Furthermore, has WYPR only been paying the interest on its loan, not paying down principal?

WYPR’s board voted on two new members–one a local African-American doctor and adjunct professor at Johns Hopkins whose name I did not catch–and another, a long-time volunteer and “friend” of WYPR Gary Levine who attended the meeting. Levine has been volunteering with WYPR since it was WJHU in 1991. He joined the WJHU board in 1998, but did not stay on the board when it became WYPR in 2002. Levine says that many people–especially young people–are obtaining their public radio through podcasts, obtaining their news through who knows where. Levine wants to see WYPR become a more robust multi-platform environment, especially using the Internet.

The WYPR board-meeting agenda had time to discuss the recent CPB audit of the station, but they never did. The presenter of that segment–WYPR board member and local attorney John Machen–said in remarks after the meeting was over that he forgot. Considering that the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) inspector generals’ office found WYPR in multiple violation of various laws–including open meeting requirements, financial reporting requirements, and not having an existing CAB–well, you would think the WYPR Board might discuss it after the report was released. The report (#903)–published on March 20, 2009 and linked here--naturally would come up at the May 27, 2009 board meeting? Wrong.

Machen did deliver a report on the CPB audit at the later CAB meeting–describing problems found as just a bunch of paperwork in the wrong place. Well . . . that is why CAB and WYPR board members should read things for themselves. Many new CAB members seemed to have done just that. Debate ensued. It was vigorous, multifaceted, difficult to include here without musical accompaniment and the high drama of fictional techniques. That being said, here is Maryland law professor Sherrilyn Ifill’s take on the report (linked here). SaveWYPR.com pontificates also (linked here).

Machen also noted that CPB COO Vincent Curren told him that the CAB regulations that come with the $300,000-plus WYPR receives from taxpayers each year are a “mistake.” This blog thinks that CPB grants (which are backed by taxpayer money) should not come without strings attached that ensure community members and taxpayers have a say. Curren probably wants to be the next U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner–and public radio, the next AIG. If one looks at the financial crisis in the U.S. today, the real “mistake” is believing people like former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan who say financial companies would self-regulate. These financial companies like Citibank and Bank of America recently self-regulated themselves billions in taxpayer subsidies while foreclosing on people’s homes across America. Curren may be a mistake.

Looking ahead, WYPR’s board plans to continue searching for new board members to meet its new diversity goal. WYPR’s new CAB plans to meet in June. WYPR President Tony Brandon’s new ascertainment process is meant to be carried out by the CAB, and sounds promising. Community leaders who want to be involved should contact the CAB (how?) or maybe WYPR itself (www.wypr.org). The next WYPR board meetings will be Sept. 23, 2009 and Nov. 11, 2009.

Take Back WYPR Action and WYPR Fundraising

The Take Back YPR group plans to protest WYPR secrecy in governance and malfeasance in adhering to federal law from noon to 1 p.m. outside the station this Thursday, on May 21, 2009.  WYPR has been found to be in violation of open meetings laws, financial reporting regulations, and for not having a community advisory board (CAB) as required by the Federal Communications Act.  Public radio CABs are designed to funnel community input concerning station practices and programming to the station. These findings, first raised by citizens and this blog, where reported on March 20, 2009 by the Inspector General for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.  Read their report–Report 903 of Fiscal Year 2009–by clicking here.

WYPR’s lack of a community advisory board reflects their management practices, which is closed to the public mostly, and currently means station manager Tony Brandon runs the station, sits on the WYPR Board, sits on the WYPR Board governance committe that oversees the station manager (him), and also is the designated conduit for feedback from the community advisory board being created to communicate with the station and the WYPR board (through Brandon).  If nothing else–bad management practices.  WYPR: the AIG of public radio, subsidies and all.

Furthermore Brandon and his team have lied to the WYPR board at these WYPR board meetings; for instance he told them in January 2009 that the report cited above was just a “routine” audit from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.  Well, the report says otherwise.

Yet since the report has been published and read by many–it looks like nothing has happened at WYPR.  The WYPR board–made up of doctors, lawyers, and various millionaires–are kind of like the Democrats in Congress. They smile, do very little.  Maybe among this dinner party set, the truth is pot luck.  Anyway, the WYPR dinner party–I mean board of directors–meets again on Wednesday, May 27, 2009 @ 3pm at their usual hotspot, The Family Tree (no wet bar included).  The new WYPR CAB meets at 5:30 pm that same day at the station (free bottled water possible; they charge for chips).  For exact addresses, click here.

Kudos to WYPR for bringing on The Story, from North Carolina’s public station: An interesting, diverse show.  No Kudos for The Splendid Table: mindless Yuppie chatter that replaced Justice Talking. I bet it helps WYPR sell those underwriting advertising contracts to the Baltimore and Maryland food industries.  So obvious.

WYPR also is holding another “one day” fundraiser on May 21, 2009.  Brandon and Beinstock have been telling the WYPR board and the public that station finances are great, the fund-drives raising record amounts!  However WYPR is having a one day fundraiser. and they just had an online auction fundraiser a month ago.  Before that, some other fundraiser, it seems, constantly….

Professor Ifill Resigns from WYPR CAB

Open Letter to the Community Advisory Board and Board of Directors of WYPR

by Sherrilyn A. Ifill

Professor of Law, University of Maryland

April 7, 2009

Today I received a copy of a report from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) concerning WYPR. The report is an audit performed by the Inspector General of the CPB in response to requests made by concerned citizens in Baltimore after last year’s firing of radio host and WYPR founder Marc Steiner. I did not receive the report from the WYPR Board of Directors or from any official entity, although it is evident that the Board has been in possession of the report for some time. The receipt of this report, and the findings contained in it, has solidified for me my long-held intention to resign from the Community Advisory Board of WYPR, effective immediately.

As you all know, the CAB only became fully engaged over the last year after the firing of Marc Steiner. Prior to Steiner’s firing, many of us had been CAB members in name only. The precipitous and (many of us believe) ill-advised dismissal of Steiner, and the callous and insensitive handling of it, convinced many of us that WYPR had lost its way, and that the leadership of the Board of Directors of the station did not fully appreciate or respect the central role of the public in informing the direction of local public radio. I became active last February in the CAB order to help provide a conduit for the community to express not only its outrage about Steiner’s firing, but also because I became alarmed at what appeared to be a profound lack of understanding by some members of the Board about the critical role the public plays in public radio. Both the letter and spirit of the federal Communications Act, and the guidelines of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, contemplate the dynamic and active engagement of the public in the operation of public radio. The reason for this is simple. The public airwaves are owned by the public, and regulated by the federal government, which grants licenses to non-profit entities to operate radio stations. Those entities serve as stewards of a critical, community resource. Over the course of several CAB meetings with Board members, it became apparent to me that key leaders on the Board simply did not share this understanding of public radio.

I remained on the Board of the CAB with the hope that I could participate in its revival, and in helping create a structure for the CAB that would strengthen its hand with the Board. At key moments along the way this past year I came to doubt that this could truly be possible. One such moment was when the Board of Trustees provided draft by-Laws for the CAB [later adopted] that named the Station Manager (Tony Brandon) as the CAB Coordinator. Brandon also serves as President of the station. As contemplated in the by-laws, the CAB Coordinator (Brandon) would constitute the sole conduit through which the CAB could communicate with the Board. I expressly objected to this provision when it was suggested in a draft by management. Nevertheless this provision was adopted along with other objectionable provisions. For example, the new by-laws further provide that in some instances, members of the public who wish to speak at CAB meetings will need to make a written or telephone request to speak at the meeting to the CAB Coordinator five days before a meeting. These and other provisions in the by-laws reflect either a refusal to understand or a complete disregard for the ways in which Mr. Brandon’s credibility with the community had been fatally damaged by his handling of the Steiner matter, and demonstrate, in my view, the continued effort of Brandon to manage and control the ability of the community and the CAB to have a real voice in the charting the direction of the station.

The release of the CPB’s audit is confirmation of my intuitions. The final report is dated March 20, 2009. Mr. Brandon’s correspondence with the Inspector General reveals that he received a draft copy of the report on January 23, 2009, and he responded in writing to the findings in the report on February 19, 2009. The fact that this report was not shared with the CAB, even as the Board sought last week to obtain RSVPs from CAB members for a “Meet the New Team” reception to welcome new CAB members reveals the continued and, I now believe, fundamental inability of the Board to communicate effectively with the CAB, or to take seriously the contributions of the CAB. [Update April 9, 2009: It is only now that the report has begun to circulate among members of the community that Mr. Brandon has publicly spoken about it. Knowing that the Baltimore Sun was scheduled to run a story on the audit, Mr. Brandon sent an e-mail to CAB members about the report on the morning of April 9, 2009].

More important still, are the substantive findings set out in the report. The CPB auditor found that WYPR was not in full compliance with the provisions of federal law regarding public meetings, the CAB, open financial records and compliance with Equal Employment Opportunity requirements. According to the audit, “[d]espite these omissions, WYPR certified its compliance with these requirements annual when it applied for the CSG [Community Service Grant].”[1] The auditor concluded that WYPR’s failure to comply with requirements regarding open meetings and public records, “did not provide the public with the informational transparency envisioned under CPB’s guidelines.” [2]

These critical findings are deeply disturbing. They reveal a lack of transparency about key issues, and are indicative of the ongoing failure of the Board to fully appreciate its obligations to the public in the operation of the station. That YPR certified that it had complied with these requirements when in fact it had not, is even more troubling. I find the explanations for these failures offered by Mr. Brandon in his February 19, 2009 response letter to the Inspector General, to be unconvincing. Over the past year, Board members have cited the radio expertise of Mr. Brandon as the reason that they have deferred to his judgment in running the station. Indeed it was deference to Mr. Brandon’s judgment that resulted in the Board’s support for Steiner’s firing. And yet despite this “expertise,” WYPR sought government funding and represented that they were in full compliance with critical reporting requirements when in fact they were not. In fact, the Inspector General’s report revealed that “[d]iscussion with station officials disclosed that they were not fully aware of [Communications] Act requirements.”[3]

As I leave the CAB, I wish to express my continued concern and hopes for WYPR. This station served a critical role in introducing me to Baltimore in all its complexities when I first moved here 15 years ago. Much of this was due to the Marc Steiner show – a program that exuded the spirit of a complex, and dynamic city, and that examined a broad range of local, national and international issues through the lens of an authentic American city. I am so thrilled that Marc continues to capture the spirit of Baltimore in his new program on WEAA-FM, and that the public has an opportunity to continue to engage in the kind of dialogue that Marc brought for so many years to WYPR.

I believe that with an aggressive and proactive Board of Directors and CAB, and with a commitment to transparency and respect for community input, WYPR could regain its footing. I sincerely hope that this will happen. I continue to be concerned about the talented staff at WYPR, who may be unable to fully express their views and concerns about the running of the station, and who most likely possess valuable information that would greatly enhance the station’s ability to respond effectively to the needs and desires of the public.

It has been my observation that there are some Board members at WYPR (and I admit that I do not know the new Board members), who operate in good faith and who understand the particular obligations that public radio has to the community it serves. It is my view that in the past those Board members have been outmatched or overwhelmed by the very deliberate strategy of key Board leaders, who have their own vision of the station – a vision that I regard as being at odds with the public mission of this station, and contrary to needs of the community it serves. I hope that those Board members who have experience working for and with the public will free themselves from the paralyzing deference to “expertise” that appears to account for the passive acceptance of decisionmaking that has fundamentally undermined the “YPR” brand in the eyes of the community, and that according to the audit report has resulted in the station’s failure to comply with CPB requirements. Expertise is often not all it’s cracked up to be. Our country – and indeed the world – is currently living through an economic crisis created by so-called “experts.” It is the obligation of those of us who are entrusted with stewarding critical community resources to ask the proper questions, to search until we find truthful answers, and to demand excellence and integrity from those who hold the public trust. Start with the Inspector General’s report, which indicates the CPB’s intention to continue to monitor the station’s compliance with the requirements identified in the report. These are matters that should be examined closely by the Board over the next year.

It is my hope that the new members of the CAB, along with those who continue to serve, will be diligent and firm in representing the community – in asking tough questions, in listening to the community and in speaking truth to power. My hope that such efforts will yield real change at WYPR is not sufficiently strong to support my continued involvement with the CAB in this effort. I wish you the very best.

Sincerely, Sherrilyn A. Ifill

FOOTNOTES: [1] Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Office of Inspector General, Special Review of Your Public Radio Corporation, Report No. ECR901-903, March 20, 2009 at p. 3. [2] Id. at 4. [3] Id. at 8.

CPB Requests Input; Take Back YPR Meets

The CPB Office of Inspector General (IG) has agreed to accept and consider the official response to their audit from the Take Back YPR Group.  The group plans to submit that response to the CPB IG on May 15.

Take Back YPR will be meeting tonight, May 5, at the One World Cafe to finalize its response at 6:30 PM, part of a series of ongoing meetings dedicated to analyzing and responding to the IG, March 20 report finding multiple violations of law and regulation at WYPR.  The group will meet one more time before May 15.  Stay tuned.

WYPR to date has refused to release its internal governance audit, though WYPR’s board chairwoman and two board members promised the report to this blog and Take Back YPR activist Max Obuszewski.  WYPR station manager Tony Brandon did email the “summary” document for the report, but that only can count as a “switcheroo.”  Of course Mr. Brandon was not party to the promise.  Nevertheless. . . .

Investigation continues.