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….