Journalist Stephen Henderson, host of WDET’s morning public affairs program Created Equal, signed off Friday after contract talks over the future of his show reached an impasse.
The program, which launched ten years ago as Detroit Today, has ended.
In a Wednesday Facebook post, Henderson said he decided to leave after three years of “disinvestment” in his work. In negotiations, WDET management had proposed reducing Created Equal to once a week, without a full-time staffer assigned, Henderson said.
“Budgets are moral documents — statements of our values and priorities, reflections of the things we hold dear and those we see as expendable,” Henderson said in the post. Henderson, who won a 2014 Pulitzer Prize in commentary while at the Detroit Free Press, also hosts American Black Journal on Detroit PBS and is an executive advisor to Bridge Detroit, a local nonprofit news organization.
WDET GM Mary Zatina told Current that contract negotiations with Henderson broke down over compensation and staffing. “WDET proposed to concentrate resources in a once-a-week Created Equal show and podcast,” she said in an email. “We also thought the one-hour version of the show would help us better position Created Equal for syndication. But Stephen chose to leave the station instead of this alternative.”
In a text message to Current, Henderson said WDET proposed cutting the show’s staff to two part-time producers and a host who would be paid for just one day’s work. He compared the plan to the “old disingenuous saw” of doing more with less.
“We know that doesn’t happen,” he said. “You do less with less. That’s why it’s called less.”
Schedule revamp
Henderson’s public split with the WDET, which was covered earlier by Bridge Detroit, coincided with an announcement of other schedule changes that took effect Monday. The station is preparing for an on-air fundraising campaign that launches Dec. 3.
In addition to ending Created Equal, WDET discontinued NPR’s On the Media and is adding Jeremy Hobson’s national current affairs show The Middle, a news release said. And more local coverage and listener call-ins are planned for a longer The Metro show.
In his Facebook post, Henderson described “severe financial difficulties” at WDET that influenced its schedule changes.
Zatina said the decisions were based on listener input and ratings data, adding if listeners in the community like the programming they will become donors.
“Our program changes are designed to bring more listeners and ultimately more donors,” Zatina said.
Apart from salary savings with Henderson’s departure, the moves are “basically budget neutral,” she said.
WDET does face financial challenges. Zatina estimated that the station ended fiscal year 2024 about $300,000 in the red. The fiscal year ended Sept. 30, so auditors haven’t yet reviewed the FY24 financials.
The station, which is licensed to Wayne State University, booked operating and nonoperating revenues of $5.6 million on Sept. 30, 2023, according to an audited financial statement from 2023. That marked an increase from the previous fiscal year, which closed with $4.79 million in revenues. Expenses were $6.01 million in FY23, up from $5.33 million in 2022, the audit said.
The auditors’ report anticipated challenges in FY24 as WDET prepared for “significant changes to its program offerings.” The station planned to invest in “distinct local programming” that was designed to reach “new, younger and more diverse audiences” and may result in a dip in listener revenue, the report said. “New listeners, of any sort, take a long time to convert to members.”
Emphasis on local hosts
WDET began introducing program changes in February by bringing in new hosts from the local community, Zatina said. Since then the station has seen a 13% increase in listeners.
In the news release announcing the new schedule, PD Adam Fox said WDET remains “committed to pursuing stories that highlight the challenges of inequality and the promise of opportunity in our communities, throughout our programming and reporting.”
The Metro, which has expanded from one to two hours on weekday mornings, is a vehicle for that coverage, Zatina said. Hosted by Tia Graham and Robyn Vincent, the show now has more listener call-ins that allow the community to speak directly.
WDET remains committed to talking about the challenges of inequality and the promise of opportunity in its news coverage, music, public affairs programs and events, Zatina said.
“Elevating diverse voices and telling the ‘other’ stories no one else covers is a way of life at WDET,” Zatina said.