January 12, 2006

Change at WDET will injure Detroit \'s cultural future

There\'s a reason why a growing number of Detroiters are feeling a huge void, and it\'s not just the loss of music they mourn. In many ways, it\'s a whole identity. A month ago, the powers-that-be at WDET-FM (101.9) -- and it\'s not just one person -- abruptly canceled the weekday music shows, firing public radio pillars Judy Adams and Martin Bandyke. The station replaced the eclectic music programming that crossed all genres and decades with nationally syndicated talk and news shows from National Public Radio, oddly enough, duplicating what can be already heard with just a turn of the dial to WUOM-FM (91.7), the public-radio station based in Ann Arbor . The abrupt move has spawned a lawsuit instituted by listeners asking for their pledge-money back, as well as an organized protest group that is staging a second rally at 6 p.m. Friday night across the street from Cobo Center during the 2006 North American International Auto Show charity preview. The change has also garnered some national attention, most recently in articles in the Chicago Tribune and New York Times in which newly installed General Manager Michael Coleman has said of the program changes: \"I think public radio needs to be about more than music programming.\"

Subscribe to Today@Wayne

Direct to your inbox each week

Related articles