Marc Steiner is stepping away from his popular daily talk show at Morgan State-hosted public radio station WEAA-FM.
Steiner made the announcement this morning. In a statement, he said the move has been in the works since summer 2015, when the board of directors for his nonprofit production firm, the Center for Emerging Media, began “considering how best to use different forms of media to enhance our work of featuring original stories and new – often otherwise unheard – voices.”
Morgan State funds Steiner’s progressive radio program on 88.9 FM at present, though the Sun’s David Zurawik reports that under a newly negotiated contract between the center and the university, Steiner’s program would have had to fund itself.
DeWayne Wickham, dean of the university’s School of Global Journalism and Communication, hasn’t returned a message requesting comment on Steiner’s departure.
Steiner, 71, said in his announcement that he’s turning his attention toward other projects, namely filmmaking and podcasts.
“It’s also a perfect time for me to focus on topics I love, such as American history through the lenses of traditionally underrepresented groups including African Americans, Native Americans, women, and LGBTQ individuals,” he said.
One of his new projects will be a documentary about 83-year-old Nelson Malden, who was Martin Luther King Jr.’s personal barber. He’s also collaborating with PBS host Tavis Smiley on a podcast series about Benjamin Barber, a former Bill Clinton adviser and political thinker who theorized strong cities could fix many of the world’s unsolved problems.
Steiner has 24 years of experience in Baltimore talk radio. He joined WEAA in 2008 after a tumultuous fallout with Baltimore NPR affiliate WYPR-FM, where he had worked since 1993 – including its days under Johns Hopkins University ownership, when it was known as WJHU-FM.
The final day of his talk show on WEAA-FM will be July 31.
