Open Letter to WHYY
last week, I learned that our local public radio station, WHYY, had fired 17 staff members with little to no warning in an effort to balance their budget,/a>. At the same time, no executives took salary cuts, which is a little disconcerting not onlybecause WHYY’s president/CEO, Bill Marrazzo, the largest salary in the industry, one which “outstripped that of chief executives at WNET and WGBH, with five and six times WHYY’s revenues”, but which also “exceeded the compensation of the heads of the Public Broadcasting System and National Public Radio, networks that serve stations countrywide” (Philadelphia Inquirer). The reason for the enormous pay? “WHYY board members, including chairman Jerry Sweeney, said Marrazzo is worth the money because he put the station on sound financial footing, has strong ties in the business, civic and cultural worlds, and has expanded WHYY’s services to the community.” Presumably the kind of sound financial footing that leads to staff layoffs and reruns.
This morning it was even MORE disconcerting to hear the familiar sounds of WHYY’s spring pledge drive, asking listeners like me to dig deep and pony up to keep WHYY’s programming on the air. And while I rarely have THAT much to give, and in fact stopped giving unrestricted dollars to the station because they didn’t stand up for a reporter attacked by right wing ideologues, I usually try to sling a few bucks earmarked for “You Bet Your Garden”. Not this year. I can’t do it. Instead, I wrote them a letter, which I am publishing here:
I am not a person of means, but every year I try to give something at least once to WHYY. Usually, I earmark my $25.00 contribution to “You Bet Your Garden”, one of the best shows WHYY has to offer. It’s not a lot of money, but at the same time hard to part with, considering my substantial obligations to my mortgage, my child support, home equity loan, and my student loan (to name a few).
This year however, I am not giving to WHYY. I read in the paper last week that as many as 17 WHYY staff were laid off with practically no notice, but executives did not take a pay cut. It’s my understanding that Bill Marrazzo makes nearly a million dollars a year, which is not only the highest pay for a public radio station president, but more than the presidents of the entire NPR network and PBS! The article I read in the Inquirer stated that board members believe he’s worth this much for putting the station on “sound financial footing”. Really?
I submit that running repeats of morning shows like “Radio Times” every night, repeats of “Car Talk” during the weekend, and shedding 17 staff does not count as “sound financial footing”. I was listening to the pledge drive this morning, and I have to admit, it was kind of disgusting.
Make no mistake: I like WHYY a lot and listen regularly. I contribute what I can when I can. But at this point, I cannot in good conscience support the station: my feeling is that my money probably goes more to offset Bill Marrazzo’s salary than anything else.
Instead, I will be supporting WPEB 88.1, a community radio station here in West Philadelphia. They’re small and struggling, run by volunteers, and no one is making 3/4 of a million dollars in salary.
Please pass this email along to the appropriate officers at WHYY. Thanks.
Sincerely,
Brendan Skwire
That’s WPEB 88.1, a tiny radio station in West Philly, and I encourage you to support them as well, as a funder, a member (i hope to join later this week), and as a volunteer. They’re looking for DJs too.
When Bill Marrazzo has a salary more in line with reality, I’ll start giving to WHYY again.
April 30th, 2009 at 3:02 pm
Educated by your last post, I sent them a similar (though less polite) communication myself yesterday. I have been a WHYY subscriber for years and it really aggravates me to know that my donations go to pay someone’s salary who literally makes more than 10x what I do. When I get around to it I am going to call and ask for my 2008 donation back.
April 30th, 2009 at 3:39 pm
[...] News Sources wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptlast week, I learned that our local public radio station, WHYY , had fired 17 staff members with little to no warning in an effort to balance their budget,/a>. At the same time, no executives took salary cuts, which is a little disconcerting not onlybecause WHYY’s president/CEO, Bill Marrazzo, the largest salary in the industry, one which “outstripped that of chief executives at WNET and WGBH, with five and six times WHYY’s revenues”, but which also “exceeded the compensation of the heads [...]
April 30th, 2009 at 4:10 pm
see, i don’t know exactly what the donations go to, which is why I said “my feeling is that…”
I emailed WHYY about reporters’ salaries, no response yet.