WBUR
General Manager Jane Christo Announces Resignation
BOSTON - Jane
Christo announced today that she is leaving her post as General
Manager of WBUR effective October 15, 2004. Ms. Christo informed
the staff of WBUR of her decision during a meeting held earlier in
the day.
"I am eternally
grateful to the listeners, corporate and individual contributors,
the staff of WBUR, and Boston University for the opportunity to
have been part of building something very special over the past 25
years. However, the present controversy regarding my leadership of
WBUR has become too large a distraction. I have decided to step
aside so that the focus of the staff and management at WBUR can be
returned to providing our listeners with the very best in public
radio news programming. I am extremely proud of the significant
contribution that WBUR has made to public radio here in New
England and nationally. I am confident that when concluded, the
internal investigation will show that the allegations of improper
conduct against me are baseless," said Jane Christo.
Jane Christo
served as General Manager from January of 1979. The WBUR Group
operates and manages a total of four public radio stations in
Massachusetts and Rhode Island: 90.9 WBUR-FM in Boston, 1240
WBUR-AM in West Yarmouth (MA), 1290 WRNI-AM in Providence (RI),
and 1230 WXNI in Westerly (RI). WBUR consistently rates among the
top ten stations, commercial and non-commercial, in the Boston
metropolitan market.
On Your Way Down
"Sunrise to sunset,
Since the beginning, it hasn't changed yet.
People fly high, begin to lose sight,
'Cause you can't see very clearly when you're in flight.
Well, it's high time, that you find,
The same people you misuse on your way up.
You might meet up with on your way down."
Allen Toussaint (1972) as sung by the late Lowell George of Little Feat
when Christo gets out of prison the station should hire her as a consultant.
now they need to get rid of the cowardly, heartless and brainless "senior" managers. bye, bye boys. you're next.
Do we get Chris Lydon back?
She gave herself a week to pack up her stuff? Christo should be fired the same way she laid off so many of us: "today's your last day" out of the blue. Karma exists.
I love how we're all posting as "anonymous". C'mon everybody, come out of the closet and CELEBRATE OPENLY!!! (I will if you will)
I have a lot more to say on the topic of WBUR... but there's not enough room on blooger to say it all. I just feel bad for the people who still work there b/c there might lose their jobs too. I like dinosaurs.
the irony of an anonymous poster calling anything "cowardly" is going to make my ears bleed.
Jane Christo fired me from WBUR in 1981. I guess that makes me one of the first. I had no idea so many would follow in my wake. I like to believe that what goes around, comes around. Sometimes it just takes time.
Whoever said let's come out of the closet and identify ourselves, you go first and I will follow. I'm not ashamed to say I was fired by Jane. It was her loss, not mine.
Jane's longevity and accomplishments should be acknowledged, but I tell you, I quit my WBUR management gig right before she became GM way back when. And word was she was about to be axed, but managed to do the masters work and survive. Amazing run Jane!
Yes, yes, I remember that too (see comment above). But she did not get axed then. Amazing. I admit that she is an amazing person, but she was scary. She would take you in and you would feel special and loved, then she would turn cold and spit you out. She is cold-hearted and ruthless, something about her that I never could understand. She is not human!
Sure she was hard and driven. Remember,
she made Wbur the Nation's best Public Radio Station. Helped create many new programs. Changed the station's format to news and information. From 12 employees to over 100, the list good things go on and on. Be sure to consider the many positive things she did for us.
The Albanian husband thing explains a lot about the Mideast covereage over at BUR!!!!
MEDIA LOG ARCHIVES
Dan Kennedy is senior writer and media critic for the Boston Phoenix.
