Protests at WYPR Continue on Monday, March 3
March 3, 2008
Today about 10 total people came and went during the noon to 1 p.m. protest outside WYPR public radio station offices. The WYPR members and listeners are calling for the return of The Marc Steiner Show and investigation of management practices at Baltimore-based public radio station WYPR.
WYPR is housed in a rectangular multi-story building on the 2200-block of North Charles Street in Baltimore. Today was a sunny and breezy midday on this slowly reviving, yet gray and dirty street, cars rushing through. In the last year or two a few new businesses have popped up.
Passing cars honked their support for the return of The Marc Steiner Show, said one protester. One woman stopped and asked for more information.
These people outside WYPR offices on March 3, 2008 represent about a month’s worth of continuous protests.
Now this online blog (like all the blogs out there) is supposed to be opinionated. So I have to chime in and say: A month of protests outside WYPR shows a chorus of determination to change things. When will the major media ring in this story? Some organizers helping to orchestrate the protests have created a Web site at www.savesteinershow.com. In addition, over 600 people have signed an online petition for the return of this valuable news and reportage show.
The public wants to have its say in public radio.
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1.
Sandy | March 4, 2008 at 3:20 am
Hooray for those people who make it a priority to be there everyday. Please know that you speak for me, too, as I cannot be there during that time.
2.
william | March 4, 2008 at 2:11 pm
is there any news on how the CAB is planning to move forward?
3.
TCC | March 4, 2008 at 6:12 pm
Perhaps this is something that has been addressed elsewhere, but I haven’t seen it. When (and after) WYPR launched, I recall discussion about the uniqueness of its “community-based” licensing and that it was unique in not having a larger parent organization (e.g. a university, a quasi-public organization, etc.) I know that the FCC accepts and documents complaints based on programming issues, general management…and perhaps those are avenues worth pursuing. But based on the way in which the broadcast license was awarded, could these complaints also have a greater impact? In other words, could management behavior result in action by the FCC?
My worry, prior to the Steiner situation coming to a head, was that management seemed to be building a statewide broadcast asset that was less about serving public radio listeners and more about creating something that would have cash value and would intrigue commercial broadcasters.
4.
Joanna | March 4, 2008 at 6:17 pm
TCC, I really like that point.
I found myself yesterday asking, Why does everything have to expand and grow in terms of business? I understand that conventional wisdom in business is that if you aren’t growing, you are dying. And I think that Tony Brandon embraces that idea. But does this maxim make sense for public radio? Is it good for WYPR to be a statewide radio station? Does it’s program become diluted and less crucial to the communities it serves because it is trying to serve so many communities? What is so wrong with serving one or two communities REALLY well?
5.
Asa Strong | March 8, 2008 at 4:01 pm
Another avenue to pursue might be the Center for Public Broadcasting. I’m sure that WYPR gets some of its funding through this federal government sponsored entity. If it’s our tax dollars being used, we ought to have some say in how it is spent.
6.
Mark Jeffries | March 11, 2008 at 10:21 pm
*Corporation* for Public Broadcasting, elitist snob moron. *All* public radio stations get some CPB funding. I thought you WYPR listeners were all such great intellectuals!
7.
saveWYPReditor | March 12, 2008 at 1:50 am
I think what the above poster means, Mr. Jeffries, is that because WYPR receives funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), WYPR also has to follow some licensing and other funding rules.
For instance, at the Feb. 20 WYPR meeting of its Community Advisory Board (CAB), WYPR handed out documents stating that they could lose all CPB funding if it did not create a CAB. It turns out that WYPR did not create a CAB for the first five years of its existence. In addition a CAB member stated that WYPR eliminated the Marc Steiner show without once consulting its main institutional mechanism for ascertaining community feelings and thoughts.
WYPR’s failure to create a CAB in a timely fashion, and maybe also their failure to consult the CAB on a major policy decision, are grounds for losing CPB funding. In this respect, not “all” public radio stations have to receive federal CPB support.
8.
Sandy | March 12, 2008 at 2:04 am
Mark whoever you are, are you seriously coming onto a blog and calling someone a moron for not knowing that the C in CPB means Corporation and not Center? Way to reveal the baseness of your spirit!
9.
Mark Jeffries | March 12, 2008 at 10:36 pm
Perhaps you can tell us why you think that because you have a tote bag that says “WYPR” on it that you know more about running a radio station than professional broadcasters? Are any of you professional broadcasters? Are any of you entrepreneurs? Have any of you run a business? Have any of you ever had to meet a payroll? Do any of you even *work* for a living–and no, “tenured college professor” is not working for a living.
10.
Jessica | March 13, 2008 at 1:13 am
Excuse me, but the people in here do not need to be professional broadcasters in order to question the way things are done.
Do I not, as a reader, have a right to criticize when a newspaper starts shutting foreign bureau’s and cutting staff? According to you, NO, because I am not a journalist.
Do I not, as an American, have the right to criticize my government if I disagree with its foreign policy? According to you, NO, because I am not a member of Congress.
Besides, being a professional doesn’t exactly guarantee you know the right way to do something. Example: Kenneth Lay, Jose Canseco, Lewis Scooter Libby, State Senator Bromwell, Southwest Airlines, etc. I can go on if you like?
We all have the right to question the way WYPR is doing things and we all have the right to withdraw our support of WYPR if we disagree. You seem to behave as if we are somehow outside of our rights in doing this.
I really think you should think about your attitude and why you are such an angry person. You completely discredited yourself with that college professor crack. It is fine to come in here and disagree, but you can have some respect for other human beings, you know.
11.
Emil Volcheck | March 20, 2008 at 4:24 am
Let’s be cautious about trolls. The poster “Mark Jeffries” may be a pseudonym,
not a real person, who is just writing to incite discussion.
Jessica is right: this poster is not credible.
Emil Volcheck, Charles Village
12.
david eberhardt | February 23, 2009 at 7:37 pm
For what it’s worth-I sent this off- and made phone calls as well.
Please pass to those who would have relation to this?
I note that the radio station, WYPR in Baltimore, continues to flaunt the federal requirements for an active CAB- Community Advisory Board- they will tell you they have one- which they do-but since the controversial firing of Marc Steiner a year ago they have done little to nothing to chose grass roots, Baltimore members or to have well attended, meaningful meetings. Often there are more persons from the Save YPR movement at the CAB meetings than Board members.
How then can they continue to receive any federal money?
cc Sen. Mikulski, Cardin
CPR