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Monday, November 29, 2004
DOLLARS AND SENSE AT WBUR. A
business-consulting firm will begin setting up shop today at
WBUR
Radio (90.9 FM) in an
effort to bring the Boston University-owned station's runaway costs
under control.
Grant
Thornton - whose clients
include New Balance - will "review and [make] recommendations
related to station operations, business office functions (including
accounting, budgeting, and reporting), and personnel procedures and
staffing patterns," according to a staff memo by the station's
interim general manager, Peter Fiedler. Media Log obtained a copy of
Fiedler's memo just before Thanksgiving.
The complete text of Fiedler's memo
is as follows:
Dear Colleagues,
As I begin my sixth week at
WBUR, I would like to share a number of my observations and some
important developments taking place at the station.
As you all know by now, I have
been holding individual meetings with members of the staff. These
interviews have helped me learn a great deal about WBUR and
understand the views and concerns of the staff in a relatively
short time frame. I've quickly found that there is a very steep
learning curve required for this job, and I'd like to thank all
members of the WBUR community who have generously and candidly
shared their viewpoints with me. I encourage WBUR staff members
who have not yet met with me to please do so. Marinela Misho will
assist you to find a mutually convenient time.
On Monday, November 29,
consultants from Grant Thornton, a highly regarded national
business consulting firm, will begin their work at the station.
The Grant Thornton team will be located in the small conference
room next to the general manager's office. Grant Thornton's focus
will be on the administrative components of the WBUR Group. This
will include, but is not limited to, review and recommendations
related to station operations, business office functions
(including accounting, budgeting, and reporting), and personnel
procedures and staffing patterns. In addition, Grant Thornton will
analyze fundraising systems and procedures, as well as other
revenue streams including donations, grants and contracts, and
underwriting. Grant Thornton will not be advising management on
the type or format of programs currently being produced by WBUR.
Their charge is to review systems, procedures, and management
information processes to help establish a plan to improve station
operations.
During the course of their
assignment, members of the Grant Thornton team may ask to
interview selected members of the WBUR staff in order to gain
additional insight and to understand the context of station
operations. My principal objective over the course of the next few
months will be to concentrate on developing an appropriate
framework that will support the core mission of the WBUR Group. As
you may know, I have already decided to discontinue the Citizens
of the World travel program. After careful analysis, it is
apparent that the travel program does not adequately contribute to
the support of our core mission of broadcasting programs of the
highest quality. I intend to continue a systematic review of other
station-related functions and activities to be sure they focus on
maintaining our nationally recognized programming efforts and
positively contribute to that end.
Although we are making progress
toward examining station finances and identifying areas in which
we can move forward, it is important to note that advances for
WBUR will not be accomplished without some dislocation. A fiscally
responsible plan will ultimately require us to prioritize
activities and invest only in those that contribute to our
principal mission. I am working closely with departments at Boston
University to take advantage of existing central resources, such
as assistance with purchasing, and to ensure that the most
efficient and beneficial actions are undertaken during this period
of transition.
Please feel free to contact me
directly if you have any suggestions or questions, or if I can be
of any assistance to you. I wish to thank each member of the WBUR
community for your understanding and support during this time, and
for the warm reception you have given me. It has made my work
considerably more pleasurable. I hope you and your families have
an enjoyable Thanksgiving holiday.
Peter Fiedler
Assistant Vice President & Interim General Manager
WBUR-FM 90.9
890 Commonwealth Avenue
Boston, MA
Fielder's memo looks like good news
for the station's staff and listeners. Rather than taking a chainsaw
to programming, Fielder appears committed to managing his way out of
the millions of dollars in debt left behind by longtime general
manager Jane Christo, whom
Fielder replaced on October
8.
The fear remains that Christo built
up WBUR's programming beyond the station's capacity to support
itself, especially in the post-dot-com '00s.
THE DEDHAM TORTURE
CONNECTION. Farah Stockman has a truly
odd story in today's
Boston Globe about a Dedham law firm that's being used for
cover with respect to a private plane linked to US-sanctioned torture
operations.
FRONT-PAGE HEALY.
Just-departed
Globe reporter Patrick Healy has his
first front-page story in
the New York Times - a piece on rising tensions on Long Island
between largely white communities and Hispanic day workers, many of
whom are in the US illegally. [Whoops - wrong Healy. See correction.]
posted at 10:02 AM |
1 comments
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link
1 Comments:
The article is "truly odd" only in the sense that it is thoroughly researched and doesn't unquestioningly repeat any Bush Administration talking points as fact. I liked it, and I hope the Globe prints more original research about national and international politics, instead of putting most of its efforts into stories like U.S. Marshals slacking off.
It's not odd at all that the Bush Administration is outsourcing torture... they've been doing it for years. Or have you forgotten this story (Washington Post article about Farrar outsourced to Syria)?
MEDIA LOG ARCHIVES
Dan Kennedy is senior writer and media critic for the Boston Phoenix.
