Public Radio In Chicago Sells Out

This is a long post, because I am pretty ticked about the end of jazz and blues music on the radio in Chicago.

Here is some more evidence of bad decisionmaking on the part of people who have a responsibility to the public. WBEZ Radio in Chicago, the flagship NPR station, announced recently a change in plans. They are virtually eliminating all music from their airwaves in favor of insipid talk radio shows. WBEZ is the primary source of jazz and blues music in Chicago. There is a college radio station that broadcasts a significant amount of jazz, but its signal doesn't reach all of Chicago. It is disgusting to see this station abandon its legacy and its mission to attract the "American Idol/Reality Show" crowd with a bunch of blather from kinuckleheads that love the sound of their own voice. BAH!

I had an exchange of emails with Torey Malatia, General Manager of WBEZ. I am posting them here for everyone's enjoyment. Torey is a good guy, I think, but this decision is incredibly wrong.

Message One From Me:

Dear Mr. Jones and Mr. Malatia:

I have just received confirmation from a reliable source that you announced to your staff last week that you are eliminating jazz and blues programming. Apparently, this decision was made without the input from the on-air staff that present the fine jazz and blues shows at WBEZ. This strikes me as being a very high-handed and imperious management approach, certainly not something one expects from an "enlightened" institution such as public radio.

I am outraged that you would reach this decision - WBEZ's contribution to Chicago's musical culture has been built largely on jazz and blues and you are turning your back on your mission and your legacy. Now, I must also wonder how on earth you make decisions at WBEZ? You didn't seem to involve your professional staff. You haven't mentioned this to your listeners. Is this about money? Is this about pursuit of the
mass market? I have been sending money to your station for years - don't I get a vote? Isn't public radio supposed to broadcast material that is not presented by commercial outlets? There is plenty of news and talk shows available on the Chicago radio dial. There is very little jazz and blues. You plan to eliminate this fine music is a violation of public trust.

I hope you will reverse this terrible decision. Chicago needs more good music and less quirky chit-chat from egotistical knuckleheads.

Reply #1 From Torey:

Thanks for voicing your concerns about our evolving future plans for two public service radio outlets here in our region. Here's a summary that may help you follow the progression of our annoucements about our planning. These changes are somewhat misunderstood as an elimination of music. This is untrue, although, to be fair, we are planning a major departure from the "music format" radio style with which many are familiar in commercial and non-commercial music stations. And again, I should stress that changes will not go into effect until 2007.

In November 2004 we announced that a seminal change that would take place in the fall 2006 or winter 2007, some 24 months after that initial announcement. It was this: All music would leave 91.5 FM and the WBEZ signal would become all news and information. Meanwhile 89.5 FM would cease being a repeater of 91.5 FM and broadcast a unique stream of music, arts, culture, and public affairs. This was in the press both locally and nationally and we discussed it at our December, 2004 Community Advisory meeting/Annual Board meeting and just about every meeting ever since. The music staff heard the decision first in a private session in November 2004 before staff or board or advisory council were informed. As is true today, they were the first to be invited to participate in new designs.

Since then we have been working toward this goal, openly and agressively. Over time, and with much struggling, we've weighed two designs for 89.5. One is what is called in our industry a "needle drop" music service (a mostly ninterrupted succession of CDs played in sets throuhout the day)and the second is a highly localized mixed cultural service--always including a broad range of music (but not stressing music over other kinds of arts and culture and public affairs). Finally, a couple of weeks ago, we decided the composition of 89.5, when it splits off in winter 2007 will be a mix that leans to public affairs with music, rather than the other way around, as we had initially announced. Our orignal idea announced for 91.5 in November 2004 is still viable and will still happen as scheduled.

Again, the music staff was privy to this decision first, before any other staff or board or advisory council or the general public were informed. We have involved staff in decisions, and informed them of progress as soon as a strategic change was made, and continue to work closely with staff as they proceed with their planning for these services. We announced this change immediately, even though we are talking about a change that won't be heard on the air for a little under a year.

Our process is quite public, often a difficult posture when one knows strong public opinion is likely to be heard immediately.

I hope to hear from you and many members of the community as we continue to plan a unique local service on 89.5, a mixture of public affairs and a celebration of arts and culture throughout our region including, of course, music of every style and type. We certainly are aware that music speaks cross-culturally in ways that discussion cannot. Our goal is to bring us closer together as a community, attempting to build a better place for ourselves and our children. Change is difficult--but shaped with the community and its needs first, this is a change that will yield a major advancement in independent media for our region.

Stay well,

Torey Malatia
President and General Manager
Chicago Public Radio
WBEZ, Chicago, 91.5 FM
WBEW, Chesterton, 89.5 FM
WBEQ, Morris, 90.7 FM

Message # 2 From Me to Torey:

Dear Mr. Malatia:

Thank you for your response. It is kind of you to take the time to deal with an irate WBEZ member like me, and I am sure you are a terrific guy. Unfortunately, I remain irate.

It appears that I was not paying enough attention to the developments at WBEZ. That was a mistake on my part, and I regret the error. The first announcement of your action came to my attention on April 11, 2006 when the news hit some Internet news services that I monitor (specifically www.radioand records.com and and Eric Zorn's blog). Those sources (and other inside sources) claimed that the programming change was news to your staff as of April 5, 2006. I would respectfully suggest that your decision was not publicized adequately last year.

I also remember clearly the promo efforts of your staff during recent pledge drives. Jazz and blues programming was cited as one of the major reasons for supporting WBEZ. I agreed wholeheartedly and sent in my check. I guess that those statements weren't true. In the commercial sector, we call this "false advertising." The FTC takes a dim view of such behavior.

Your decision to move music to 89.5FM is no replacement for the music programming at WBEZ. Chesterton is far away - it is the Indiana Dunes State Park's home town if I remember correctly. I do not receive a signal from 89.5 on my radio dial in Evanston - it is static and noise. So for those of us on the north part of Chicago and in the suburbs, your decision to move jazz and blues to the boonies is the
same as taking it off the air completely. WBEZ has the FM signal that covers the largest swath of the Chicagoland area. Your use of 89.5 as the music station is a clear attempt at heading off public outcry over the radical make-over at WBEZ. I am not taken in by this. In addition, the Chesterton and Morris stations will continue to broadcast lots of public affairs, news, and NPR syndicated stuff. So you are marginalizing jazz and blues programming on marginal stations. Even if I could get 89.5 in Evanston, I am not terribly interested in localized public affairs programming from the Indiana Dunes.

I am sad and disappointed. It sounds like this will happen as you have planned it. Congratulations to you and your staff. I am sure the majority of your listeners won't care much - talk radio is popular with most folks, I guess. I can only vote with my wallet - I am going to take the $500-1000 a year I contribute to WBEZ to another organization that supports American music. And I always have my iPod and I guess I can sign up for satellite radio. It is a shame that WBEZ is dumping its wonderful heritage in the garbage can.

I will be switching off your station for good once you make this change.

You said that "change is difficult." That is true. Sometimes, change is also wrong. I hope your new programming initiative fails and you bring jazz and blues back to the WBEZ flagship.


Here is Torey's response:

Here are some responses woven in, if that's okay. It's just a little easier. I'm out out town, doing this on dial-up, so there is no spell check and my text is going to be somewhat messy. Please bear with me.

Dear Mr. Malatia:

Thank you for your response. It is kind of you to
take the time to deal with an irate WBEZ member like
me, and I am sure you are a terrific guy.
Unfortunately, I remain irate.

It appears that I was not paying enough attention to
the developments at WBEZ. That was a mistake on my
part, and I regret the error. The first announcement
of your action came to my attention on April 11, 2006
when the news hit some Internet news services that I
monitor (specifically www.radioand records.com and and
Eric Zorn's blog). Those sources (and other inside
sources) claimed that the programming change was news
to your staff as of April 5, 2006.

Eric's reporting is excellent, but all reporting by nature must assume a lot. Here's the story: The staff had been part of planning of the new service since November of 2004. Therefore, they were hardly surprised by the splitting of the signals issue. They WERE surprised that we had decided that a pure music format (it was nevr to be only jazz, by the way) was now off the table, and that we would be looking for a public affairs, culture, music mix.


I would respectfully suggest that your decision was not
publicized adequately last year.

Well, that may be (it was in Sun-Times, Tribune; and national press), but it could also be that as any event moves closer to its inception date, interest on behalf of readers grows. It may be just the natural scheme of things that folks are noticing more now.

I also remember clearly the promo efforts of your
staff during recent pledge drives. Jazz and blues
programming was cited as one of the major reasons for
supporting WBEZ. I agreed wholeheartedly and sent in
my check. I guess that those statements weren't true.
In the commercial sector, we call this "false
advertising." The FTC takes a dim view of such
behavior.

Jazz and blues will remain on both 91.5 (in the form of specials and feature production on talk vehicles like Eight Forty-Eight) and on 89.5 FM, as segments within the array of segments. 89.5 will also feature music of styles well beyond jazz, blues, and world music--the current 91.5 FM set of stylistic offerings. Besides, our current sedrvice remains as is until just shy of a year from now (so, even if you pprefer to see your membership as only applied to music--which it isn't, of course-- if your memebrship was for what's there now, you'll certainly get your money's worth). Our announcement was an attempt to signal ahead so that folks had yet another advance warning. Clarity is something we are attempting to provide all along this process.

Your decision to move music to 89.5FM is no
replacement for the music programming at WBEZ.
Chesterton is far away - it is the Indiana Dunes State
Park's home town if I remember correctly. I do not
receive a signal from 89.5 on my radio dial in
Evanston - it is static and noise. So for those of us
on the north part of Chicago and in the suburbs, your
decision to move jazz and blues to the boonies is the
same as taking it off the air completely. WBEZ has the
FM signal that covers the largest swath of the
Chicagoland area.

This may indeed be a valid concern to which I have no satisfactory answer. But before I melt away, here are some details. First, the signal that is currently on the air at 89.5 FM in Chesterton is a non-directional 7,000 watt signal (presently, it merely repeats the signal on 91.5 FM0. By the time the new service is launched on 89.5, we will have increased its power to 50,000 watts directional (to the northwest). This will increase the population covered by the pattern from the present 400,000 listeners who can hear 89.5, to approximately 4.4 million listeners who can get it clearly--including all of the city of Chicago. Evanston may indeed still prove to be a problematic area. The signal obviously loseds energy as it heads north, so our theoreticals on this give a rather uncertain picture for Evanston. It can tell you it will NOT reach Winnetka, Glencoe, Kennilworth, Lake Forest, and up the coastline to Wisconsin.

Your use of 89.5 as the musicstation is a clear attempt at heading off public
outcry over the radical make-over at WBEZ. I am not taken in by this.


Well, if I was trying to head off outcry, the best thing would have been to stick with the original announcement that 89.5 would be a music format. By changing that, I'm certainly worthy of your derision, but I would suggest unworthy of your description of my public relations wizardry.

In addition, the Chesterton and
Morris stations will continue to broadcast lots of
public affairs, news, and NPR syndicated stuff. So
you are marginalizing jazz and blues programming on
marginal stations. Even if I could get 89.5 in
Evanston, I am not terribly interested in localized
public affairs programming from the Indiana Dunes.


Well, this would have been a problem even before. In the music format plans we had expected a good many public service aspects to the region, much of it localized, because that's what one does when one is granted the privaledge of occupying spectrum space in the non-commercial educational band. But you are correct in that now the public service component has been elevated substantially over the music element in the original design.

I am sad and disappointed. It sounds like this will
happen as you have planned it. Congratulations to you
and your staff. I am sure the majority of your
listeners won't care much - talk radio is popular with
most folks, I guess. I can only vote with my wallet -
I am going to take the $500-1000 a year I contribute
to WBEZ to another organization that supports American
music. And I always have my iPod and I guess I can
sign up for satellite radio. It is a shame that WBEZ
is dumping its wonderful heritage in the garbage can.

Chris, if not playing sets of jazz is dumping respect for the art form into the trash, then you and I have a very different view of the possiblities of broadcasting to entice, enlighten, and enrich listeners musically. Yours is certainly valid--music formats are one way to do this. Tried, true, tested. But there are many others, sometimes more alluring to listeners who would otherwise tune away from a music station that they knew wasn't offering their avowed preference. To the non-jazz fan, the thought that she/he might be captured by the embroidery in a Duke Ellington improvised solo verse of Sophisticated Lady might seem impossible in the abstract until it happens, but by accident, because the station is trying other things of interest to that listener. Perhaps we should leave it at that, that we disagree on radio's best methods to do this.

I will be switching off your station for good once you
make this change.

You said that "change is difficult." That is true.
Sometimes, change is also wrong.

Agreed. Change can be terribly wrong. Or it can be transformative in the best way. No one has a crystal.

I hope your new programming initiative fails and you
bring jazz and blues back to the WBEZ flagship.

Fair enough. We'll see how it goes. Mostly, I thank you for caring this much. I respect that, and I hope you sense that in these responses. Stay well, and please keep in touch.

Whew! You can see that Mr. Malatia has answers. I feel that this is a bad mistake, but I will never win this argument.