Community Advisory Board Holds Open Meeting to Discuss the Changes at WYPR BALTIMORE, MD (wypr) - It was the meeting many public radio listeners had been waiting for in Baltimore. Last night was the first opportunity local WYPR listeners had to voice their opinion on the recent changes undergone at the station. WYPR's Sarah Richards files this report.

If you want to know what a disappointed public radio listener sounds like, try this. It's a listener talking about WYPR general manager Tony Brandon.

CLIP:
IC: I don't know if Mr. Brandon realized this, the people in this room, Mark Steiner is WYPR....and the last thing I'm gonna say is thank-you so much of the pie chart, that little light gray area, that would be us-- so good luck with the underwriting portion Mr. Brandon cause you're going to need that.

And it went on. For two hours last night, people angry with the firing of WYPR host Marc Steiner voiced their opinions. People signed up in order to speak before-hand, and the list was long.

CLIP: SFX listing out names

Many speakers were former guests of the show. The meeting was held in a packed hall at the Baltimore Museum of Art. It felt like a Cold War show-down. The two men at the heart of the dispute were both present: Tony Brandon, the radio station's general manager-- and former mid-day talk show host, Marc Steiner. Brandon sat at one end of the hall. Steiner at the other. Brendan Walsh was one of the first people to speak. He was upset that Steiner's replacement, Baltimore Sun columnist Dan Rodricks, starts on Monday.

CLIP: ( )
IC: I know Dan Rodricks, I've talked to the man, I think made a mistake, no one should take another man's job. It's that way. Where I come from in the Bronx, when you take another person's job, you're a scab. So Dan shouldn't take the job.

Since Steiner's dismissal on February 1st, some people have been contacting WYPR to complain or cancel their memberships. Protestors have picketed in front of the station. WYPR's board of directors says it fired Steiner because of poor ratings and the show's over-emphasis on local issues. Steiner says that's not true, and that management was bent on getting rid of him.

CLIP:
IC: I've never been given reason, never said why. First, it was ratings, then I was uncooperative. They've never given one solid reason other than I think people like Tony Brandon and Barb Bozzuto couldn't stand the position I was in, working with me, me being the face of the station, and they just wanted me out for personal and political reasons.

Some listeners complained the station was not transparent in its operations. Others said chairman of the board of directors, Barbara Bozzuto, was out-of-touch with the community. One person likened Steiner to Jesus. Brandon says he is not changing his mind. He says he understands Steiner had a devoted listenership. But he also says the station has many listeners looking forward to a new program.

CLIP:
IC: This is not a forum that gives us usable research. We have 160,000 listeners, there were 300 people tonight. So we're going to certainly listen and assess what we hear, but we're certainly not going to make any decisions from the forum here. I don't think I learned anything that I didn't already know, but I will commit that I'll gonna continue to listen to what everyone has to say and I'm happy to do that.

Jason Loviglio is the director of media and communication studies at the University of Maryland in Baltimore County. He was present at the meeting, and said two questions have emerged.

CLIP:
IC: The question really is what is the station going to do to heal the relationship with these listeners and the hundreds more, thousands more that they represent who came out tonight. The other question is how will Marc Steiner, who will continue to create content for the Center for Emerging Democracy, find a platform that's as broad and as deep as a daily two-hour show over a major air wave.

The community advisory board will take yesterday's comments and make recommendations at the station's board of directors meeting on March 12th. Brandon says none of its recommendations, however, are legally binding.

I'm Sarah Richards reporting in at the Baltimore Museum of Art for 88-1 WYPR.


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