I know that this post is somewhat out of place, but I can’t help but comment on it.

More than I actually listen to music throughout my day, I listen to the local NPR station, WYPR. Supposedly that acronym should stand for Your Public Radio. Yesterday, I turned on the radio at work in the morning, and at 12, waited for the always illuminating Marc Steiner Show to come on. It didn’t. I assumed I must have been accidentally picking up DC’s WAMU (88.5). I wasn’t.

Photo credit: Steve Ruark, Special to the Sun
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In something reminiscent of the Colts leaving Baltimore in the middle of the night, WYPR had decided to fire Marc Steiner, a founder of the station, without warning. A half-assed excuse of “ratings” was given as the reason for his termination.

In Baltimore, the name Marc Steiner is synonymous with Public Radio. By hemorrhaging this connection, WYPR has effectively stunted or stopped the growth of public knowledge of Baltimore City politics and news. They have also broken my heart. Where else can I turn for in depth, accessible, coverage of candidates’ positions before election day? Where else can I listen to well moderated and well planned discussions of things I didn’t even know I was interested in before I turned on the radio? These things, and many more that I’m not cognizant enough to list right now, were the reasons I became a member of WYPR. The destruction of these things will be the reason I reconsider staying a member of WYPR in the future.

For more information, please visit Marc Steiner’s blog.