Steiner fans speak up on Rodricks' first show
From Sun reporter Jill Rosen ...
Sun columnist Dan Rodricks debuted this afternoon on WYPR in the recently-vacated Marc Steiner slot to just a smattering of abuse from his predecessor’s fans.
About two weeks ago officials at the stations, 88.1-FM on your dial, announced Rodricks would replace Steiner, the longtime public affairs talk show host they fired on Feb. 1. Though irate Steiner fans have picketed the station, threatened to withhold donations, the voices of just two made it on-air during Rodricks’ two-hour show, called Mid-day.
He spent the first half of the program talking about religion and politics with Jim Wallis, the author The Great Awakening, Reviving Faith in Politics in a Post-Religious Right America.
During the sedate chat with Wallis, the first caller, a "Craig in Baltimore," told Rodricks that as "one of the better-known members of local media," he "should have respected Marc Steiner."
Though Rodricks did not respond, his next caller jumped in to say, "That last comment was very, very inappropriate."
Worse, a few callers later, an "Arlene from Reisterstown," after beginning what seemed to be a comment about religion, abruptly blurted, "Dan, you’re a scab, this is the Marc Steiner show. "
She either hung up before her words were altogether out or the show’s producers pulled the plug on her.
"Eh, good," Rodricks said.
That was the end of any hostilities and the show concluded peacefully, with Rodricks discussing last night’s Oscars with Sun movie critic Michael Sragow and the City Paper’s Violet Glaze.
Comments
Glad to hear the public giving W_PR what for.
The "Y" is missing since Steiner left.
Posted by: Pete | February 25, 2008 3:30 PM
I listened to some of the show and it sounded like Rodricks hung up the phone on the first caller to mention Marc Steiner. I thought the show was tepid at best, rehashing reporting about the "Rise of Evangelicals" that has already been aired in The New York Times and NPR.
Furthermore, the canceling of the Marc Steiner Show for low ratings is incorrect. A Baltimore Sun article has show that considering the entire station's listener base fell by 17 percent between Fall 2005 to Fall 2007. The Steiner show fell only slightly more than that [Steiner Fans Sound Off to Panel From WYPR, Baltimore Sun, Feb. 21, B1]. By Fall 2007, WYPR had 142,000 weekly listeners and Marc Steiner had 37,400.
Crunching that data myself, one sees that Steiner's two-hour show represents 8.3 percent of WYPR's daily 24-hours, yet draws about 26 percent of all listeners. His show is a plus, it attracts a large share of weekly WYPR listeners and it was wrong to cancel it, big time.
The WYPR board of directors is meeting March 12, 2008. WYPR--do the right thing, consider community input as a public radio station (and any smart private business) should and restore the show.
Posted by: Gregg | February 25, 2008 5:00 PM
Dan Rodricks likes to portray himself as an authentic populist. I've disagreed with his columns before, and I've voiced that disagreement in emails to him at The Sun. The replies were always nasty; one was close to being vulgar. While Dan likes to portray himself in a certain light, he is in fact the poster boy for the sort of liberal described in Jonah Goldberg's new book, "Liberal Fascism." Rodricks couldn't cut it with Chip Franklin on WBAL, and I'm certain he won't find this solo gig any easier.
Posted by: Bill | February 25, 2008 8:49 PM
I never thought anything could be both benign and malignant. Turns out Steiner's replacement has taught me heaps.
Posted by: aberte | February 25, 2008 11:48 PM
I've always liked Dan Rodricks, and I think his show could be OK. Unfortunately for him, his ratings are sure to take a hit. Like many others, WYPR lost me when they canned Marc Steiner. I won't listen to the station for another minute, and won't give them another dollar. (I've been a donor for all 10 years I've lived here.) I'm just sorry Dan aligned himself with a sinking ship ...
Posted by: WildBillFan | February 26, 2008 9:52 AM
I agree with the previous poster's comments ... I discussed this issue with my wife after listening yesterday to the show to see if I could get over the quality of Marc's show would be met. It was the first show, but it was "sedate". Anyway we'll see... My larger point is that to the outside eye, this seemed more a lateral move than anything else. I can't see how bringing in Rodricks increases the ratings especially given the outrage of much of the base despite new listeners in the state.
Posted by: Thomas | February 26, 2008 10:39 AM
Ironic isn't it--one of the reasons I heard for firing Marc Steiner was that his program was too "Baltimore-centric" so when I read that Dan Rodricks (excuse me while I barf) was going to replace Marc I thought--you can't get much more Bawlamer than (yawn) DR. Not only do I avoid DR's Sun column (a dull peacock--if you get my drift) I cringe at the sound of his voice.
Hey Steiner fans--if you still want to get the good syndicated shows, but don't want to give YPR your "rating" signal, there are NPR alternatives out there. Just use "Google" to find out so you can still tune in while deliberately "tuning out!"
Posted by: mo | February 26, 2008 10:42 AM
I've listened to both shows and found them to be much better than anything I have heard on the Steiner show in a long time. I thought today's discussion with the US Attorney and Baltimore City State's Attorney was very informative. I also liked the second hour's discussion of how television programming will change under the new agreement with the writers.
Posted by: Dave | February 27, 2008 6:02 PM
I was terribly disappointed when the Steiner show was cancelled but was just simply appalled when I tuned into the DR midday show. What a sleeper! It was simply bereft of intellectual stimulation. He would have done well to have not chirped in discussing entertainment with DZ. Tony Brandon may be intransigent about his position but he should really cower in shame for a very poor decision! DR would do better to move on and allow other programming in that slot. I will move on to satellite radio to avoid WYPR
Posted by: Patrick | March 2, 2008 6:27 PM