St. Louis community radio station KDHX has recently undergone a significant staff shakeup, dismissing ten of its volunteer air staff last week and announcing that an additional 12 would need to enter “mediated discussions” to keep their roles.
The upheaval started earlier this year after the firing of longtime talent Tom “Papa” Ray in March and the suspension of host Paul Stark. KDHX Community Media Board of Directors President Gary Pierson stated that the changes aim to diversify the voices aired on the station. Pierson emphasized that some DJs “were not supporting that vision” of combating societal issues like racism and sexism through more inclusive programming.
However, news of the latest reduction sparked even more controversy and resignations. Some of those let go claim it was because they signed a letter of no confidence in KDHX executive director Kelly Wells. The letter urged the board to dismiss Wells, citing multiple issues. These included the neglect of station facilities like the Stage at KDHX and the Folk School, as well as the lack of a Community Advisory Board meeting for a three-year period, which put at risk financial backing from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Art Dwyer, a host with the station since its 1987 inception, resigned on-air during his Friday evening show. Jeffrey “Dr. Jeff” Hallazgo also indicated he might follow suit. These changes have led to financial repercussions for the station, as some listeners have withheld donations. Despite this, Pierson remains optimistic about the station’s upcoming fundraising drive, believing some will respond positively.
KDHX played music that made me laugh and introduced me to new artists. The DJ I liked were reliable. The ones who played music I did not care for, I could turn off. They were the diversity that someone else liked. I had learned knew which artists to seek from other music services or go to their concerts and buy their discs. I no longer live in Saint Louis but the station makes me feel in touch with home. Yesterday and todayKDHX did not make me laugh. I cried. This is so sad to see.
The irony in this situation is the station is advertising on its website for new volunteers between the ages of 18 to 40 to apply for DJ volunteer positions…in the name of “diversity”….By excluding anyone who doesn’t fall in that age range makes it obvious to me that Kelly Wells and Gary Pierson are not serious about KDHX being more inclusive…It is obvious to me they are threatened by the senior KDHX programmers and fired them so they can bring in a new younger group of programmers they can control and have follow their “new vision” for KDHX…Their “new vision” is control and power for Kelly Wells and Gary Pierson..Every other reason or excuse…racism, sexism, etc. for the firing of the veteran volunteer programmers is a smokescreen to hide their real intent…,
I’m disappointed that station leadership fired so many programmers in the name of diversity. I remember a shake up a few years ago when a lot of minority employees were let go, it was covered by RFT. Left me with a lot of questions about the leadership at kdhx.
Surely there’s a way for older, experienced programmers to mentor the next generation. Music is intergenerational and multicultural by nature, KDHX should embrace that.
Neither Gary Pierson nor Kelly Wells are a part of the community, and they have no interest in being a part of it. Pierson would not be so optimistic if he actually took the time to listen to the community or actually read the hundreds of comments on the station’s FB page stating exactly how diametrically opposed the community is to the actions being taken against the very volunteers that are responsible for building KDHX in the first place. Take for example the KDHX post announcing a “Bold New Vision” for Kdhx, which at this point has garnered 605 comments, without one single comment having anything positive to say about the plan. Then there is Pierson’s announcement about the firing of Andy Coco and Drea Stein, which has received 636 angry comments, with none in support of the move. There is great cause to doubt the veracity of Gary Pierson and Kelly Wells, as their words are completely belying of their deeds. They have established a totalitarian state in which no dissent is tolerated, and those in dissent are swiftly and harshly punished. Pierson’s refusal to allow any public comment at the supposedly open meetings of the Board of Directors is fully illustrative of this. They speak of transparency, and yet hide their actions behind a mask of obfuscation.They speak of community involvement, as they refuse to accept any input from that community. They speak of a renewed commitment to the community and then turn around and state that the current community will not support them, and that they must therefore seek out a new community.
They began this renewed commitment to the community by Justin Tom Papa Ray, a man that devotes 36 years of his life in volunteer service to the station, in addition to co-signing the loans to get the station started, and took out additional loans at his own expense to keep the station afloat in hard times. His passion and loyalty ere rewarded by being dismissed out of hand. Andy Coco, and Drea Stein have a similar legacy of dedication to KDHX s well, and once again were rewarded with dismissal in the face of their years of service. Perhaps in the next article that you write about this situation, you could interview some of those that have been dismissed and treated like garbage by the current management rather than just talking to Pierson, who will only paint himself in the most positive light possible.
You hit the nail on the head. Add to that that most of the djs who were dismissed & djs who have quit were amongst the group of djs who play the most diverse musics. And not one o fthem have a racist bone in their bodies. As you indicate, the problem is the fascist administrators who have attempted to steal the station. KDHX was once one o fthe best radio stations in the country. It boasted a long list of dedicated, incredibly knowledgeabe; djs who put a lot of effort into programming great, informative shows. I was exposed to lots of music on KDHX that i never heard before.
Kelly Wells is the very person that African-American employees/volunteers cited when speaking of racism and harassment at the station in 2019. Somehow she survived that, but now she slanderously projects the same -isms upon the volunteer DJs. Kelly and Gary Pierson are weaponizing diversity, equity, and inclusion to clean house of people whose commitment to diversity, equality, and inclusion is unquestionable. Shame, shame, shame.
“…(S)OME will respond positively…”? The “some” means corporate sponsors.