R.I.P. Marc Steiner

Yes. Local NPR station WYPR has taken Marc Steiner's talk show off the air, very abruptly, with a year to go on his contract. They blamed sagging ratings.

While that may or may not be the truth, Steiner had his fans and his critics. He did seem full of himself at times, but he put on a good show and created an excellent forum for local issues. Also, Steiner was the key figure in saving the station when Hopkins wanted to get rid of it.

In The Sun, Herbert C. Smith, and occasional guest on Steiner’s show and a political science professor at McDaniel College, said WYPR’s letting go of Steiner was like The Sun firing H.L. Mencken. Actually, it’s more like NPR letting go Bob Edwards several years ago, after he had hosted Morning Edition for nearly 25 years. Were a majority of listeners surprised and confused? Yes. But did we stop listening to the network? No. So, what about Marc Steiner? Are the majority of WYPR listeners and members (like me) surprised and confused? Yes. It's created a lot of buzz around town, mostly in favor of Steiner. And if WYPR and its board had been able to orchestrate such positive PR buzz like this for Steiner in the past, we wouldn't be going through this now.

But will we still listen to the station? Of course we will. And are we eager and hopeful to see what happens next? I’d have answer yes to that too.

The Marc Steiner Show was once the only locally produced news and information show the station had. Now, with a full news department and shows like The Signal and Maryland Morning, they now have a pretty good track record for producing shows. So while it may be the end of an era in Baltimore radio, it may also be a good opportunity for something new.

As for Marc… Well, columnist and commentator Michael Olesker found a job after similarly abrupt but more justified firing a few years ago. And so will Steiner.