Simply after Mary Lucia signed-off from afternoons at Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) grownup different “The Present” KCMP Minneapolis (89.3), suggesting that administration didn’t admire what she did for the station, staffers had been knowledgeable by administration that longtime PD Jim McGuinn was now not with the station.
“I’ve by no means seemed for outdoor affirmation about what I do,” Lucia stated throughout her final break as she wrapped up 17 years with the station, in keeping with the Minnesota Star-Tribune. “However these final couple of days listening to from you I do know I’ve made a distinction. It would not matter if the corporate or administration would not really feel the identical means.”
As Lucia unplugged her headphones a memo was despatched to employees from MPR President Duchesne Drew asserting McGuinn’s departure. The memo stated partially that McGuinn “is now not with Minnesota Public Radio… We’re happy with the programming we delivered with Jim and are appreciative of his contributions.”
Lucia’s sudden departure was introduced simply two days earlier than her closing broadcast. On Wednesday, she alluded to why she was leaving in social media posts.
“Why I’ve made the heartbreaking determination to depart my place at The Present is a protracted and nuanced story,” she wrote on Fb. “The shortest model is I have been making an attempt for years to have an effect on constructive change within the firm. I have been involved with fairness and honest therapy of all of my sisters on the station. Previous, current and future. Know your value, embrace your distinctive expertise and voice and carry one another up.”
Concerning Lucia’s feedback, Jean Taylor, president & CEO of MPR dad or mum American Public Media, informed Carry Me The Information, “Mary Lucia has been a significant member of, and contributor to, The Present for 17 years. She’s immensely gifted, has constructed a one-of-a-kind relationship along with her listeners, and she is going to actually be missed. Below my management, we proceed to strengthen American Public Media Group (APMG) tradition and put money into expertise, and these are prime priorities.
“I’m firmly dedicated to creating and sustaining a various, inclusive, and equitable setting the place all workers, together with girls and other people of shade, are revered and valued. That is vital as we search to satisfy APMG’s mission to be an indispensable useful resource for our audiences and a necessary public service for our communities.”
Based on the Star-Tribune, unnamed sources who’ve labored for “The Present” stated McGuinn was the principle supply of Lucia’s complaints. They stated he gave feminine staffers decrease raises and less-positive opinions than their male counterparts.
McGuinn, Lucia, and Drew wouldn’t provide touch upon the story, the publication stories.
McGuinn programmed KCMP since 2009, piloting the station to unusually excessive rankings for a non-comm music station. In Nielsen’s March PPM survey, KCMP ranked fifth (6+) with a 5.7 share. Earlier than that he had a future in Philadelphia as PD of former trendy rockers WDRE (103.9) and “Y100” WPLY, the place he first paired Radio Corridor of Fame morning duo “Preston & Steve” (Preston Elliot and Steve Morrison). He beforehand programmed WEQX Manchester and KPNT St. Louis.