Submitted by Noreen (not verified) on February 22, 2008 - 1:25am.
I am one of those people who could not make the meeting last night. Many thanks to those who did.
Ever since Marc's dismissal I have felt a loss as many have expressed here. Not only do we have the loss of Marc's show every day - his intellect, his common sense, his good humor and civility - but also the loss of WYPR as a trusted institution. Maybe it never was "our" public radio station, but I always believed WYPR respected its listeners and at least on some level programmed with an eye toward the needs of our community. After reading about the things that have gone on behind the scenes over the last few years and now to hear Tony Brandon's dismissal of the events of last night indicates that he holds the station's listeners in low regard indeed. What is this guy doing in public radio? It's certainly not "my" public radio station now.
Like many others I have written to the station to complain about Marc's firing. I, however, have not demanded that his show return. It's not going to happen. Brandon is not going anywhere and if he were to back down and put Marck back (which he won't) then a few months from now he would come up with some other reason to get rid of him, or make his work life so miserable he would quit. I would not wish that situation on my worst enemy. I believe Marc himself said in the beginning that this is not about him, this is about how public radio is run and about who makes the decisions. I agree with Jack in that we need to look to the future and I too am excited to see what Marc will do in the months ahead.
I am glad there are protests and people are speaking up. I would encourage those leading these actions to change the focus from Marc's show to getting the station to include listeners in decisions and have a voice in the station they ask us to support. Perhaps then something can be salvaged from all this mess.
I am one of those people who
I am one of those people who could not make the meeting last night. Many thanks to those who did.
Ever since Marc's dismissal I have felt a loss as many have expressed here. Not only do we have the loss of Marc's show every day - his intellect, his common sense, his good humor and civility - but also the loss of WYPR as a trusted institution. Maybe it never was "our" public radio station, but I always believed WYPR respected its listeners and at least on some level programmed with an eye toward the needs of our community. After reading about the things that have gone on behind the scenes over the last few years and now to hear Tony Brandon's dismissal of the events of last night indicates that he holds the station's listeners in low regard indeed. What is this guy doing in public radio? It's certainly not "my" public radio station now.
Like many others I have written to the station to complain about Marc's firing. I, however, have not demanded that his show return. It's not going to happen. Brandon is not going anywhere and if he were to back down and put Marck back (which he won't) then a few months from now he would come up with some other reason to get rid of him, or make his work life so miserable he would quit. I would not wish that situation on my worst enemy. I believe Marc himself said in the beginning that this is not about him, this is about how public radio is run and about who makes the decisions. I agree with Jack in that we need to look to the future and I too am excited to see what Marc will do in the months ahead.
I am glad there are protests and people are speaking up. I would encourage those leading these actions to change the focus from Marc's show to getting the station to include listeners in decisions and have a voice in the station they ask us to support. Perhaps then something can be salvaged from all this mess.