Everyone needs to read this to understand how thoroughly WAMU 88.5’s leadership has decimated the region’s flagship public radio station. It’s tragic. Worse yet, it didn’t have to be this way.

WAMU's local newsroom is working under extraordinary circumstances to deliver the news.

The c-suite doesn't care about local reporting, and is undermining the work. Just read Andrew Beaujon's article: washingtonian.com/2024/04/19/why…

But remaining staff does care and could use your support.

It’s baby squirrel season right now! A busy time for people who rehabilitate injured and orphaned wildlife. I visited City Wildlife for this story on NPR’s Morning Edition npr.org/2024/04/21/124…

'The portrait that emerges is of a media organization in the throes of a dramatic reorganization that has tanked employee morale...'

This piece by Andrew Beaujon is the best, most thorough accounting I've read of the 'garbage mess' that is WAMU.

washingtonian.com/2024/04/19/why…

When WAMU laid off 16 people and closed DCist, the reasoning given was “content strategy word salad,' per one staffer.

Andrew Beaujon cuts through the jargon and nonsense with a deeply reported, excellent look at what actually happened: washingtonian.com/2024/04/19/why…

Amanda is damn good at her job, but WAMU leadership has lost the trust of employees & listeners.

The station will continue to hemorrhage talent until there’s a change at the top.

washingtonian.com/2024/04/19/why…

Today is my last day WAMU 88.5.

It's bittersweet. I believe in the mission of local journalism. &I respect and admire my colleagues - including Margaret Barthel, Elliot C. Williams, kayla hewitt, Matt Blitz, Sarah Y. Kim - so much. But I need to step away from WAMU and the news industry.

Once a month, via a chartered bus, DC Chinatown's remaining Chinese residents leave the city for the suburbs to grocery shop.

Why? There's no familiar, affordable food in their neighborhood.

Photos via Tyrone Turner

wamu.org/story/24/04/16…

For many, the deaths of 6 men in the collapse of Scott Key Bridge is a reminder of the dangers that immigrant workers face every day. So I recently spent time with construction workers in Baltimore to hear about the hard but necessary jobs they do. NPR
npr.org/2024/04/12/124…

NEWS: a group of former WAMU/DCist staffers are launching a 'worker-led, community-based, local outlet.' They want help naming it. docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAI…

Thread: Want to think out loud about what I've seen and experienced since joining NPR a few years ago. I was hired during NPR's 'North Star' era when diversity was established as a priority. I'm an aging rural white man (58 years old). Never graduated college. Didn't see NYC...1/

Good thing people have short attention spans so lazy opEds written by people who have been in positions of editorial power for a quarter of a century blame people who haven’t had that kind of editorial power for what’s wrong (while pretending they’re pointing the finger at…

Many things wrong w/terrible Berliner column on NPR, including not observing basic fairness. Didn't seek comment from NPR before publishing. Didn't mention many things which could detract from his conclusions. Set up staffers of color as scapegoats: loom.ly/QPLdX1w

“The most worrisome thing about the DCist shutdown, however, is the possibility of D.C. becoming a news desert.”

D.C. is home to many national news organizations but most don’t focus coverage on the city itself, writes Alana Parker for The Eagle:
theeagleonline.com/article/2024/0…

Should whales have personhood? Some indigenous Polynesians say yes: npr.org/2024/04/03/124… Morning Edition Julie Depenbrock #Pacific

A dump truck company is now managing DC's compost program at farmers markets, after the gov cut ties w Compost Cab

The decision is puzzling: Compost Cab conceived of the program years ago, & has diverted more than 4.4 million pounds of waste from landfill
wamu.org/story/24/04/05…

I don’t even know what to say. The talent in the WBEZ podcast unit is unmatched. This is such a heartbreaking loss.

Today World Central Kitchen lost several of our sisters and brothers in an IDF air strike in Gaza. I am heartbroken and grieving for their families and friends and our whole WCK family. These are people…angels…I served alongside in Ukraine, Gaza, Turkey, Morocco, Bahamas, Indonesia. They…

sooo let's say there was indeed a worker-led local news outlet covering D.C. in a smart, community-driven way......what would you want it to be called? 👀

This feels like a weird thing for a news org that has no podcast department & just laid off 16 staffers to announce but idk…