WAMU 88.5, AU's National Public Radio-affiliated radio station, has been criticized recently by some listeners for not offering a more diverse range of opinions.
Stuart Morris, a local antiques dealer and resident of Hyattsville, Md., says he is concerned that the responsibility of the station of providing a range of opinions and issues is being shirked and, as a result, the public is being robbed of exposure to diverse political perspectives.
According to Morris, programs aired on WAMU, specifically "The Diane Rehm Show," consistently feature guests who are representative of the "center to far right of the political spectrum. ... It's almost exclusively not grassroots."
Morris said the more he listens to WAMU, the more obvious "establishment bias" becomes.
Morris and another community member, Windy Cooler-Stith, have begun compiling a record of guests on "The Diane Rehm Show" in hopes of revealing the overwhelming presence of far right, pro-war perspectives offered on the show.
"The pattern of non-pacifists ... as guests is hard to miss," Cooler-Stith said.
The station features too many conservative guests, Morris said.
Kay Summers, WAMU's director of public information, said "The Diane Rehm Show" is known for its diverse range of topics and perspectives. She knows of no prior complaints in regards to a lack of perspectives on the show.
"They work hard to offer a diverse discussion. ... I think they do a great job," Summers said.
The show expanded its popular "Friday News Roundup" segment from one to two hours in length on Oct. 27 due to demands from its listeners, according to Summers.
Morris said he is also concerned about the role of underwriters, such as defense technology companies Lockheed Martin and Raytheon, in the content of WAMU programming and the air space that these companies are given on a supposed listener-supported, commercial-free radio station.
"Guests are never advertised as being organizations pushing for war. It's dangerous as it keeps listeners from entertaining other possibilities," Morris said. "It's going to have a progressive effect. ... They think the ads that they have are as innocuous as if they were selling puppy chow ... but they're not."
Summers said the station does not allow the use of any comparative language that attempts to make a sale. In order to enforce this, the station has no pre-produced underwriting, she said. Pre-produced underwriting means that companies who contribute to the station are active in the writing of the show's materials.
Messaging goes through corporate underwriting and is all done in-house and read by a host who has full understanding of the station's standards, according to Summers.
"There is an absolute firewall between underwriting and the editorial department. ... Underwriting has no say or sway in the content of WAMU's programming," Summers said.
Morris said one would have to listen to the station regularly to make observations similar to his own. However, he says WAMU "should be held more accountable for their content."
"All of the public, those that the radio is meant to serve, are being denied a full range of things to think about," he said.
Although Morris has not found many like-minded listeners, he said he hopes to gain more support in order to have a presence at WAMU's next town hall meeting on Dec. 4.
WAMU quick facts:
-WAMU has more than 575,900 listeners in the greater D.C. area.
-A 2002 study by Extra! found WAMU to be one of the most racially diverse National Public Radio affiliates.
-"The Diane Rehm Show" has been broadcast in Berlin since April 2006.
-WAMU seeks to "shed light on difficult problems and complicated issues" the community faces. In order to do so, they have developed an advisory panel that sponsors forums with the purpose of discussing such issues.
All of this information and more can be found by visiting WAMU's Web site, www.wamu.org.
