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From the Blog of former station manager Norm (Mac) Beeker: Friday, August 13, 2004 (I don't make up this stuff!)
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
................ In a different life, I worked for a radio station in Yellow Springs, Ohio. My experiences weren't positive, and they certainly didn't end positively, but my distant admiration for the station and community remains. It's a small town full of good people who care deeply about many important issues, and the station was connected to that community in a way that would make community radio pioneer Lorenzo Milam proud. I just had to learn to realize that "distant" was the key word in my admiration, for like a Monet painting, up close, it's a mess. After working briefly for WYSO in 1990, I came back to the station as General Manager in 1997. I was hired to implement a difficult and controversial set of programming and operational recommendations, promised support from the licensee, Antioch University, and after several instances of dishonesty, I decided I'd had enough and asked to have my contract bought out early. It was disappointing on many levels, but leaving the station was one of the happiest days of my life. An ugly chapter had closed, and I was beyond grateful to get out with my sanity intact.
The community of Yellow Springs reacted to the set of changes as I predicted they would. It was somewhat ugly, with lots of overblown rhetoric and even a death threat thrown in for good measure. It's a community that doesn't lack passion, even if some had a passion for my head on a platter. The changes did what they were intended to do, which was to keep the federal funding from being pulled at a deadline just six months after my start date, and I remain proud of what was accomplished in a short period of time.
Implementing change at that pace was challenging, and that we were able to do it in a fairly hostile local climate was particularly satisfying. However, adversity reveals character, and the people I was working with showed their character during this difficult period. Regarding the truth, I was literally told that I "need to be more flexible" about how to define that word. At that point, I wanted and needed to get out, despite my initial desire to be part of the community and part of building a healthier community-oriented public radio station. I just didn't have a dog in that fight and was acting like it. My biggest failure at WYSO was that I couldn't match the passion of the community for the station. So, time to go.
My time at WYSO seems so long ago. My life and professional career have gone through various stages since then, and I'm certainly not one to look back. But I do keep in touch with several people from my public radio days, and a few weeks back, a former colleague from a station in Columbus sent me a link to a blog from a colleague from WYSO. That opened up an interesting trip down memory lane, and sadly, made me realize that the situation had deteriorated even more after my departure over seven years ago.
My successor in Yellow Springs took that initial planning too far, and basically implemented a complete purging of local programming. In thinking about WYSO, I hear people like Steve Schwerner, a volunteer jazz host, whose program was a beautiful on-air course through the history of a musical form that generally doesn't appeal to my ears. I learned so much. Lunch in the Pub was a wonderful community-based Celtic music program, and Women in Music was an expression of the beauty of under heard women's voices. Great shows?! Not at all, but certainly the type of programs that have made public radio great. All gone now, as is my successor.
Of the people that I worked with at WYSO, there was one who seemed to intuitively understand the heart of the station. Vick Mickunas was the afternoon jock, mixing some great music with insightful interviews focused on books. Like many of the best public broadcasters, he made up for a lack of a "voice made for radio" with hard-work, dedication, and most importantly, a true love for his programs, Excursions and The Book Nook. He'd actually read the book before doing an interview, and approached his work with a focus that was admirable. He was also a great support during my brief tenure, which is still appreciated.
In looking at his blog and information, it was truly disappointing to learn that Vick was removed as part of this purging, and along with the dismissal of Bob Edwards at NPR, it simply reinforced my belief that public radio as an industry is heading down a dangerous path to irrelevance. It was certainly a loss for the station, but also for the community, and for the craft of public radio. The vast majority of the many talented people I worked with during my time in public radio are out of the business. That's a loss for society, in my humble opinion.
Vick has rebounded, is doing a column for the paper in Dayton, and even blogging away on the Internet. He should be on WYSO, but that's for someone else to decide. He's now sharing his thoughts and life on his blog, but more importantly, he's continuing to share his passion for literature. I flew over that cuckoo's nest once, which was more than enough for me. Vick lives there and wants to stay. Here's to the cuckoos, safely at a distance. www.vickmickunas.com posted by eBeeker at 1:24 PM |
Posted by Vick Mickunas on 8/31/04; 9:41:34 AM
from the dept.
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