AU President Benjamin Ladner promised continued interest and involvement in solving WAMU's recently revealed financial and morale problems at a 90-minute staff meeting Wednesday afternoon, Chief of Staff
David Taylor said.
WAMU, National Public Radio's D.C.
affiliate, has had operating deficits in each of its last three fiscal years, depleted a cash reserve fund of $4.39 million and reduced staff morale to an all-time low under executive director Susan Clampitt, The Washington Post reported Monday.
Ladner told the staff that the station was
not in jeopardy, said Ruth Thompson,
senior director of marketing and commun-ications, who was at the meeting. People
not on WAMU's staff were not allowed
in the meeting.
"The station has run up some red ink, the University will help cover that," Taylor said. "And indeed, that has been the case in the past ... When those situations do occur, the University is there to backstop."
Ladner was open to the audience's suggestions on how to rectify the problems, WAMU News Director Kevin Beesley said. However, no time table was set, he said.
"He was deeply concerned by a lot of the emotional testimony that some people gave and it was quite an emotional meeting in many ways," Beesley said.
The station did not provide a healthy work environment, said AU alumna Ashley Philips, a former intern and associate producer.
'There's a high turnover rate and it seemed that no one liked what they were doing," Philips said. "Nobody loves their job, but
most people have a reason to stay. I felt
like increasingly, there were more complaints and fighting between different departments
and between upper management and
the people under them."
Philips said she left the station in May after two years in its news and public relations departments, and wasn't interested in finding a job there after graduating.
Beesley said that short staffing and
limited resources are the biggest problems
facing WAMU.
"We have four reporters to cover the
capital of the world's most important
country," he said.
A few years ago, plans to expand the
newsroom and staff were made, yet they
currently have not been realized, Beesley
said. Because of that, greater demands were placed on the existing staf, which led to higher levels of frustration.
Diane Rehm, the flagship voice of the station and a 30-year employee, told The Post she blames Clampitt for the budget crunch and morale crisis.
"I have literally never seen such low morale as I have seen in the past year," Rehm told The Post. "...I figure if they want to fire me, they will, but I think what Susan Clampitt has done to this station is truly sad."
Some staffers objected to a quote by Program Director Mark McDonald in Monday's Post, in which he said that the station's content quality has improved, though some of his staff was hesitant to make changes.
"I can say that the newsroom staff now works harder, have more demanding and interesting assignments, do breaking news and can be heard on our air more than once a week," McDonald told the Post. "I'm delighted to say that they have risen to the challenge, but some reluctantly."
Some staffers took that to mean that they were not working hard enough in previous years and confronted him Monday.
"The news team knows that I have the highest admiration for their work, both past and present," McDonald told The Eagle.
In an open letter on the station's Web site, Clampitt said the Post article was "biased and one-sided" and defended her fiscal plan for the station.
"Like many public radio stations, WAMU's financial position has experienced both red ink and black over its 42 years of existence," Clampitt said in the statement. "Always, however, the station's financial viability has been - as it is today - secured by the financial strength of American University of which we are a part."
The station was founded and is licensed by AU, Taylor said. In fact, its offices and transmitter used to be located on the main campus until the station was relocated to its current location on Brandywine Street, he added.
"It's a historic tie and an operational tie," Taylor said.
While most of the station's money is raised internally - it just raised over $1 million through its on-air membership campaign-WAMU is not financially independent of AU.
The University provides services of human resources, benefits, facilities maintenance, payroll and public safety to the station.
While Taylor said neither WAMU's current nor past financial problems directly correlate with the University's new $200 million fundraising campaign, AU has a responsibility to fund the station when in need.
As part of the fundraising campaign, "A new AU," the University plans to raise $20 million for WAMU, according to the campaign agenda.
The money will, "extend support for programming and special projects to WAMU ... now the top news and talk-radio station in the media-intensive Washington, D.C. area," the campaign agenda said.
While financial and morale problems currently surround WAMU, some are not concerned about their future.
Rodney Huey, vice president for communication at NPR, said he considers this an internal matter for WAMU, but praised the station as one of the premier public radio stations in the country.
"I'm sure they'll find ways to resolve this," Huey said. "There are too many people there who care about public radio. I am confident they will continue to provide a vital community service."
Ladner will continue to facilitate discussions at WAMU, whether in person or in small groups, Taylor said.
"He indeed wants to deal with the full variety of opinions and suggestions that any of the staff may have on any of these issues that may be one of the causes of concern," Taylor said.
