Ellen from Baltimore, Tim from Waverly and Jo-Ann from Annapolis joined more than 300 fellow callers, listeners and fans of WYPR's freshly canceled The Marc Steiner Show last night to display their anger in hopes that station managers would reverse their decision.
The meeting of WYPR's community advisory board was the first since Steiner was fired early this month and, for many, the first opportunity to publicly vent their anger over the firing of Steiner, the longtime host of the station's lunchtime public affairs talk show.
"I want him back," said Tim from Waverly, otherwise known as Tim Ward, a deliveryman who says he timed his work so that he would be along the Interstate 95 corridor when Steiner's show came on from noon to 2 p.m. Monday through Thursday. "He is Baltimore's renaissance man."
FOR THE RECORD
An article in Thursday's Maryland section about a meeting of the WYPR community advisory board said incorrectly that it appeared that no one from the station's management was there. WYPR President and General Manager Anthony S. Brandon and other station representatives attended the meeting.
The Sun regrets the error.
To register their complaints, people filled the Baltimore Museum of Art's auditorium, which seats about 360. Some picketed outside. Others handed out stickers with slogans such as: "No Marc = No Money."
WYPR, 88.1 FM, abruptly canceled the show Feb. 1, noting declining ratings and what it called Steiner's focus on Baltimore despite the station's reach to all corners of Maryland.
The station announced last week that longtime Sun columnist Dan Rodricks would take over Steiner's time slot. Rodricks is scheduled to start Monday.
If WYPR management hoped that the replacement would placate those angered by the firing of Steiner and defuse the criticism, they were mistaken, judging from the tone of last night's meeting.
"I feel a little bit - not to be dramatic - like I was dumped," Irene Smith, a civil rights lawyer who has been a guest on Steiner's show and a WYPR donor, told the board before she garnered a standing ovation by walking up to the stage and dropping off her mug and hat with the station's logo. "When you're dumped, you hand back the junk."
Former state Sen. Julian L. Lapides said he has yet to hear from anyone who thinks the station's dropping of Steiner was a good move.
"I hope your board will resign in toto and not be a part of this crime," he said.
Various members of the overwhelmingly pro-Steiner crowd called for the resignation of WYPR's board of directors and asked listeners to stop giving money to the station. A number of people said Rodricks isn't a suitable replacement.
It appeared that no one from WYPR management attended the meeting. Steiner was there, standing near the entrance, hugging people and shaking their hands as they walked into the auditorium.
