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Pacifica redux

Heading out on vacation, but decided to throw up one last post before going south.

If you're a dyed in the wool lefty, you undoubtedly remember the Pacifica flap that dragged on endlessly a few years back following KPFA's decision to lock out much of their talent over organizational issues. A similar story may be replaying in Yellow Springs, Ohio. This morning's Dayton Daily News plays it this way:

WYSO host reportedly taken off air

Mickunas accused of insubordination

Dayton Daily News

YELLOW SPRINGS | Vick Mickunas, who for 10 years has hosted an eclectic music program and the popular Book Nook author-interview program at WYSO-FM, was reportedly taken off the air this week by station managers.

In what could prove to be the latest controversy at the public radio station owned by Antioch University, Mickunas was placed on administrative leave after an accusation of insubordination.

Word of the action was circulated in an e-mail sent to critics of the station's management, some of whom have banded together under the name "Keep WYSO Local." They have protested changes in personnel and programming that have been made over the last two years by station General Manager Steve Spencer.

The e-mail was written by Andy Valeri, a Dayton media activist and observer. Valeri said he is not officially a member of Keep WYSO Local, but is critical of Spencer's management.

Tim Tattan, WYSO's program director, declined to discuss the matter, but noted that Mickunas' show Excursions will continue to air next week, as will Best of Book Nook, a rebroadcast of previous programs. Mickunas and Spencer were not available for comment on Friday.

"I'm stunned," said Sharon Kelly Roth, director of public relations for Books & Co., who works with many of the same authors Mickunas interviews. "He is regarded as the best interviewer in the country by the authors who come to town. He's so wonderful at what he does."

The reports about Mickunas came shortly after WYSO concluded an on-air membership campaign that raised about $193,000 for station operations, falling short of a $250,000 goal. Spencer has said WYSO will continue fund-raising in the weeks ahead.

[From the Dayton Daily News: 11.22.2003]

Translation: Steve Spencer, the station's general manager, is a gung-ho NPR type who gutted local programming and inserted expensive syndicated programming into the station line up. Vick Mickunas is the locally respected long-time Music Director who has a national reputation for breaking new acts, and whose three-hour daily show is a unique blend of non-Top 40 music and author interviews (here's a list of who he's had on lately).

A friend in Yellow Springs has filled me in on some of the behind the scene details, and it all seems to boil down to this: overworked but dedicated talent stifled by narcissistic manager who hates everything about Antioch University and local public radio. The skinny is that Spencer's boss was out of the country on vacation, and Spencer decided to move against Mickunas.

What the Dayton Daily News article doesn't mention is that there was supposed to be a day of protest at the station today, but that it was called off after the ever-loyal Mickunas heard of it, and made some calls to quash the demonstration.

Mickunas wasn't the first talent forced out at WYSO by Spencer. Award-winning NPR reporter Aileen Leblanc left the station last year after countless shouting matches with Spencer, who has allegedly graduated from anger management counseling. The Operations Manager then left the station in protest, and last week the All Things Considered host left, apparently fed up with management strong arm tactics. This left Mickunas surrounded by management toadies.

Spencer has few allies in the community, and the suspension of Mickunas may have been triggered by this Diane Chiddister article in the Yellow Springs News that was published the same day Mickunas was forced to hand in his keys. One of the things Chiddister has previously reported on is the fact that WYSO's budget has doubled under Spencer, due in large part to fees for syndicated programming and Spencer's habit of taking first-class junkets to public radio conferences around the country. Of course the station's deficit was complicated a couple of years ago when the highly effective Development Director left after disagreements with Spencer, and was replaced by an inexperienced and ineffective replacement who, according to reports, knows how to properly brown nose station management.

Local activists have long had a WYSO protest website up, but as of this morning, it hadn't been updated to reflect the latest station turmoil.

Station management is fighting back, and there are vicious rumors flying around the community that Mickunas was agitated and "acting violent' when he left the station. The only problem with that is the well established fact that Mickunas and his wife are long-time peace and animal rights activists. Mickunas is a local institution, bicycling into town to do his show five days a week. Recently he had had on numerous political guests, interviewing Sam Green about his movie on the Weather Underground, Rita Mae Brown, Joe Conason, David Cole, John Stauber, Tom Tomorrow, Scott Ritter, Greg Palast, etc. The day Mickunas was escorted off campus he had been scheduled to interview Dan Kennedy, the media critic for the Boston Phoenix, and this Monday Nigel Hamilton was going to be on his show to talk about his new book, "Bill Clinton: An American Journey."

If there's anything that gripes me about life in our radically corporatized nation, it's the fact that radio really sucks just about everywhere. Yellow Springs used to be an exception, but it looks like the suits are about to win another one. I'll update this when I get back from vacation, but in the meantime I'm asking other bloggers to take note of this situation. Antioch University is traditionally a hotbed of radicalism, and with any luck, enraged alumni may get the station to back off on Mickunas' impending dismissal, and might possibly get the station back to its roots as a wellspring of local programming and community news.

Posted by at November 22, 2003 12:08 PM

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