This post is more a press release from WYPR than a blog or article, because it does not present any context or even opinion. Public officials such as WYPR management cannot give reasons for their actions and then change them as the wind blows. They cited ratings, but their ratings claim has been debunked by The Baltimore Sun as false.

If WYPR management gave out false reasons, they are not suited for holding a public office or the community's trust. That is the real story here. WYPR is not a private corporation, nor even a publically-owned company, but a non-profit that collects millions from its membership.

www.saveWYPR.wordpress.com will be covering this issue Monday through Friday.

"Not a team player" is management-speak for "disagrees with the boss".

Not even a clever public relations spin campaign can correct WYPR's grave mistake. The firing of Marc Steiner has seriously tainted the station's reputation and the financial ramifications will be fully realized in their April fund drive. Maybe then they will wake up and repair the damage.

The cliche" He may not always be right but he is always the boss". Mark Steiner who I consider to be a premier talk show host had to know of the conflict with his superoirs. He chose to be unbending in his responce. Therefore when you take on Cesear you better be prepared for the outcome.

There are two reasons I stopped listening to WAMU and started listening to WYPR when I moved to Frederick: Mark and Steiner. Now I've switched back.

Wow, is management of WYPR idiotic. So they finally admit they basically lied to their listeners about their reasoning, figuring we could be treated like fools and wouldn't know better. Now that this plan backfired, they want us to believe this bunch of hogwash? Come to think of it, why should we believe, or trust, in anything they say?

Very convenient to hide behind 'personnel records', except that the only person that could possibly be protecting (Marc Steiner) has explicitly allowed them to make those records public.

Well as I explained to Mr. Brandon, they've seen their last dime from me. Their arrogance is appalling ...

It is interesting as someone who read this blog yesterday that the blog has been updated to include some context for WYPR's latest admission.

Great! The context is that WYPR is now changing its story, from a rating's issue to some undisclosed, hidden, unmentionable "secret" issue. WYPR is a public organization which accepts donations, receives tax benefits, and operates under special licensing. WYPR management is running its organization like a private corporation without any shareholders. They are correct that there are zero "shareholders" per se; rather in fact there are many more stakeholders, many of whom are being stonewalled and ignored on the issue. The issue is this and only this: How is WYPR managed and why have they made this programming change?

Furthermore as The Baltimore Sun reported, WYPR ratings have fallen by 17 percent station-wide from Fall 2005 to Fall 2007. By their own standards, WYPR management should be fired. Marc Steiner should be brought back. And WYPR should implement some improvements.

www.saveWYPR.wordpress.com

So this is where The Sun has decided to hide the ongoing controversy over Marc Steiner's firing! Chris Kaltenbach has done some good reporting on this issue and it's unfortunate that he's not getting a better spot than this blog to report on what is still a very hot topic in the community.

Marc Steiner was fired by a corporate station manager, Tony Brandon, and a corporate executive board of directors who don't have the first idea of what it means to serve the community. First Barbara Bozzuto claimed Marc was fired for poor ratings but now she admits in her letter that the ratings claim is false (which Mr. Kaltenbach disproved in The Sun earlier). The Board and Mr. Brandon have lied to the community, the listener-members and Marc Steiner. Why should anyone believe anything they say? We wonder what other shenannigans is going on at WYPR.

Marc Steiner was fired because he was the voice of a community Mr. Brandon and the board want to ignore. Marc's show was too focused on that community and that is something the moneyed interests who have control of WYPR would not tolerate. That is why Marc was fired, Barbara Bozzuto's crass innuendo notwithstanding.

Listen to Dan Rodrick's show and that could not be more clear. There has been no lively discussion, no critical issues examined with intelligence and probing questions. What is really cause for concern is that at least two of Dan's shows seem to have originated in The Sun. This highlights what media consolidation and control mean for Baltimore.

Tony Brandon and the board of directors of WYPR have much to answer to the community for over their firing of Marc Steiner. We will do everything we can to get Marc back on the air where he belongs.

This is transparent--if someone will not reveal the "facts" in public, there is little reason to believe they exist in private. I think that WYPR is trying to cover up for the bone-headed move they know they made. It's OK, just bring him back, all is forgiven!

It should be apparent that Barbara Buzzuto has abandoned the "falling ratings" rationale for firing WYPR's main asset, Marc Steiner, only because the station has been caught in a lie. And to whisper about unstated personnel issues while refusing to say what they are -- notwithstanding Mr. Steiner's public authorization to the station to state the reasons -- Ms. Buzzuto is engaging in the worst form of character assassination by innuendo. She should be ashamed of herself.

Why won’t Barbara Bozzuto admit that The Marc Steiner Show was dumped for ideological reasons? She is now admitting that the ratings argument was a smoke screen. But she is intentionally vague, claiming it is a personnel matter.
Actually, though, Bozzuto and Tony Brandon are trying to turn YPR into a conservative radio station. Marc would not abide by such a ridiculous notion and got the ax.
Look at the shows she mentions in her letter: “The Signal, Maryland Morning with Sheilah Kast, Digital Cafe, Sports at Large, Backstage at the BSO, and Postcards from the Walters.” You will note, first, that there is no interaction with the listeners in any of these shows. Second, you will note these shows raise no ideological issues—the immorality of the war, the need for income redistribution, lobbyists writing legislation in D.C. or the need to save the planet from climate change.
Listening to the Dan Rodricks show confirms the ideological argument. He has not discussed the war and its implications on any of his sixteen hours. But he has spent time on cakes, civility and play for children. These are the bland issues that YPR management now demands, and Dan is following orders.
Rodricks had a show on gangs in Baltimore. His guests were a federal and a city prosecutor. Marc Steiner would have had on community people, and questions would have been raised. Why do we have gangs? What can we do in the community to keep children away from gangs? Instead Rodricks’ guests only talked about jailing people. And besides Rodricks is a very boring host.
Terminating The Marc Steiner Show was a major policy decision. And according to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting requirements, YPR management must consult with the Community Advisory Board about major policy decisions. This was never done. THE CAB is the liaison with us the listeners. We also must be consulted about major policy decisions. So the only way to rectify the situation is to re-instate The Marc Steiner Show. Then if management wants to terminate the show, it must consult with the CAB. The CAB would then convene a public meeting. YPR management would explain its reasons for wanting termination, and we the listeners would not countenance such a decision. It is essential that our public radio station maintains its original integrity and brings the voice of Baltimore.

Barbara Bozzuto, Board President at WYPR, suggests that there were "other issues" that caused Marc Steiner's firing. She states there were day to day problems and that somehow Marc was preventing the station from movinig ahead. Still no specifics despite Steiner's call and permission ffor the board and management to put their cards on the table.I have no doubt there were issues between Steiner and management at WYPR. Marc has made that clear. Bozzuto provides no information about the issues. My guess is that the board of WYPR, comprised of professional, white, well-off people had a culture that reflected their experiences, backgrounds, race, class, etc. That culture does not deal well with opposition from people they consider to be subordinate. I suspect the board and manaagement of YPR does not see itself as having some attitudes, values, that are part of their particular culture. Someone taking a different point of view, challenging their authority as well as some of their judgements is unacceptable Steiner tried to represent WYPR's constituency. The Board's lack of respect for WYPR's Community Advisory Board is strong evidence that WYPR's leadership did not take a community voice seriously. I think the board at WYPR should take a serious look at its culture and ask themselves why they ignored their strongest link to the community and why they were infuriated by Marc Steiner. Everything Ms. Bozzuto said in her letter seems to support Steiner's view about why he was fired. He had a vision that the commmunity should have a voice, that it was important to pursue membersip, and he stood o principles that were consistent with what public radio should be.

Where are the comments to this blog post? I sent 1, and I know another person sent one. There usually are comments from readers on every Critical Mass blog.
http://saveWYPR.wordpress.com

ms bozzuto's reply IS inadequate, as was another board member, jack machen's column on 3/6 on the ed page- where he also defended the board's firing of marc steiner.
if they see this they will credit my remarks to obscurity or wrong headedness or grandiosity but i think many will recognise what i say when i say:
in the struggle between left and right, violence/non violence, yes, even good and evil- i think we will eventually win.
it may not b in baltimore or on this planet- but we should keep on a strugglin, just as in the civil rights days song:
keep on a walkin, keep on a talkin, walkin down to freedom land
there are good people who will fight and take action despite the bad
the wrong, we always have with us

These comments from Bozzuto are typical of her ( and Brandon's) condescending treatment of the listeners and the CAB...sure there were personnel issues, just trust them, we don't need to know the details...they are doing us this fantastic service, we should all be so grateful (of course Brandon makes over $130,000 of our dollars)...they have destroyed our trust-we can't accept this as a reason to completely change a major part of wypr programming.

Whay are there no coments after the first week of March?
Has this issue been so forgotten, or are the messages not being posted?
Is the issue of Marc Steiner' precipitous removal under the most suspicous of circumstances by an unresponsive management so transitory that we can simply ignore the fat that serious socially pertinent subjects no longer will be aired in Baltimore?
If so then Balitimre will get just what it deserves.... a coultural wasteland not worthy of supporting or saving.

I wonder how the pledge drive is going? This is the first year since Marc saved WYPR that I will not be contributing, and I know many others feel as I do.