WNYC Is Talking About The Squeeze

My Ears Are Burning. Plus: Current Reveals Exec Salaries, 27 Leaders Sign An Open Letter, and The Takeaway Appreciates Their Production Staff

Hello Squeeze Community!

Part two of my series on WNYC is coming soon! I promise! (If you’re a current or former NYPR/WNYC employee, let’s have an off the record chat. Hit reply here, DM me on Twitter, or message me for my Signal.)

For today, I’ve got an update on my reporting and a few listening/reading recommendations.

Also, paid subscribers: you should receive an email from me by the end of the day tomorrow. It will feature an anecdote from my recent reporting on WNYC and a few questions regarding paid subscriber perks.

Okay, let’s hit it!

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Recommendations and Suggestions

1. After news broke that She Podcasts had cancelled its plans for an in-person conference and Content is Queen had postponed the International Women's Podcast Festival due to a lack of industry support, 27 audio leaders and organizers, including Equality in Audio Pact creator Renay Richardson, signed an open letter demanding that the industry “confront the glaring disparities and take meaningful action to address the systemic barriers holding back so many talented individuals.” Do you think the letter will have an impact? Check it out and let me know in the comments.

2. The Takeaway is running a series of full-length “producer appreciation” episodes, in which they celebrate the work of people who make the show. I began listening out of a sense of journalistic duty (in case you’re just joining us, earlier this year I reported on the show’s impending end), but I’ve become genuinely hooked on the series. Each installment goes behind-the-scenes with a different member of the show’s production team, creating a rich portrait of what it takes to make a daily news show sing (sometimes literally). Highly recommend tuning in. The final episode of The Takeaway drops on June 2.

3. In case you missed it, Current has published the results of a study of executive compensation in public media. Yum yum yum.

4. Last November I posted a tweet asking podcast creators to reply with a link to a podcast in which they were featured discussing their work. I’ve managed to listen to 30 of the episodes — about half — and they are wonderful! Check out the thread and learn how your audio colleagues get it done!

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The Update

I posted this on April 7th; it came true about two weeks later.

Over the past couple of months, I’ve interviewed more than twenty current and former WNYC staffers and ten outside sources with knowledge of the organization, or public radio more broadly. I’ve spent the last few weeks sorting through my reporting, following up with sources, and fact-checking details — or trying to fact-check anyway.

It seems that New York Public Radio PR reps Jennifer Houlihan Roussel and Dalia Dagher have decided to ignore my most recent queries. And I get it; who would want to bother themselves with answering emails like this:

Hi there, Jennifer —

Reaching out to NYPR/WNYC for comment on the following:

— Andrew Golis once suggested that Gothamist editors soften the tone of an article regarding the Mast Brothers chocolate company. After newsroom staff discovered that Golis was socially friendly with the founders of the company, Golis backed down from his request,. (Article is here: https://gothamist.com/food/bye-bye-mast-bros-confectionary-scammers-decamp-mount-kisco)

— Andrew Golis threatened legal action against Pineapple Street Studios for reasons related to the show Will Be Wild. Golis settled the case for $5,000.

Thank you.
Skye

What a buzzkill, am I right? Especially for a communications team who has felt repeatedly burned by the press. (A few years ago, the New York Times published two decidedly damaging stories about the station: “WNYC Employees Demanded Diversity. They Got Another White Boss” in 2020 and “It’s the Media’s ‘Mean-Too’ Moment. Stop Yelling and Go to Human Resources” in 2021. According to my reporting, after Columbia Journalism Review published another rough take titled “WNYC Sought Change. It Got Turmoil” in 2022, WNYC finally put a moratorium on editor in chief Audrey Cooper giving press interviews.)

Despite their silence, I’ve learned that management is paying attention to my reporting. Evidently, my story about Andrew Golis came up as a concern in a recent meeting attended by management. Oh, how I would have loved to be a fly on that wall — though, I’d probably have left disappointed, as a source told me that by the time the meeting was over, the group had reassured themselves that another piece in this newsletter wouldn’t pose nearly as great threat as a story in say, the NYT or CJR. They’re obviously not wrong — and if you work at either publication, my DMs are wide open — but I find the fact that WNYC dismissed the value of my audience a tad ironic. After all, had WNYC leadership spent a bit more time thinking about their audience, I probably wouldn’t be writing this series in the first place.

MORE SOON.

Skye

Post Script:

RANGER IS DOING GREAT!