Payola at Public Radio Too

Public Radio Payola; Scandal shakes public radio
Monday March 20 2006
Scandal shakes public radio
BY MARYANNE GEORGE and JOHN SMYNTEK
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

The sedate, urbane world of public broadcasting was rattled Thursday as prosecutors charged three former employees of Michigan Public Media with illegally accepting golf club memberships, Persian rugs, airline tickets and massages in exchange for on-air considerations at the state's top public radio station. Each of the men -- current WDET-FM general manager Michael Coleman, Jeremy Nordquist and Justin Ebright -- was charged by Washtenaw County prosecutors in Ann Arbor with embezzlement of under $20,000 while working at Michigan Public Media-controlled WUOM-FM (91.7). Each could face up to five years in prison if convicted. An internal audit also found sloppy recordkeeping, excessive bonuses and expense-account fraud that totaled more than $50,000 from July 2001 to December 2005, said Timothy Slottow, University of Michigan's chief financial officer. U-M owns and runs Michigan Public Media. WDET (101.9) and WUOM are the major public radio stations in Michigan, and public radio has long had a trustworthy image of being above the kind of influence-peddling that has occasionally tarnished commercial radio. The charges shocked listeners of the National Public Radio affiliates. "This is a sad revelation for Detroit, which has functioned as Michigan's cultural engine for so long," said public radio listener Willie Northway of Ann Arbor. "The talk and news offered by Michigan Radio is an invaluable service to the community." Coleman, who left Michigan Public Media as deputy director last year to be general manager at WDET and who has made several controversial programming changes in his new job, remains in his position, said Louis Lessem, vice president and general counsel for Wayne State University, which owns the station. "We know very little about the charge, other than that it has been made," said Lessem, adding that Coleman is not on administrative leave. Coleman, 40, of Ypsilanti did not return calls for comment Thursday. His lawyer, Gregory Dodd of Ypsilanti, could not be reached Thursday evening. WDET listeners who have pilloried Coleman for dumping music programming for talk and news blasted him Thursday after hearing the news. "While I don't wish ill will on anyone, for some reason this does not surprise me," said Dean Dauphinais of Grosse Pointe. Slottow said listener donations to WUOM, which last year put about $2.2 million into the radio station's $5.5-million overall budget, were not part of the alleged embezzlement. "Although we didn't discover these problems as quickly as we would have if stronger operational and oversight controls were in place, we did discover them and are taking immediate corrective action," he said. In-kind donations are common for public broadcasting but typically items donated are then sold to fund the stations. The allegations came to light after Donovan Reynolds, the former director of Michigan Public Media, alerted U-M officials about business practices at WUOM that concerned him. He resigned March 1, saying that although he was not implicated, the improprieties occurred under his watch. Recent Arbitron ratings show WUOM is the most popular radio station in Ann Arbor. The station raised more than $900,000 during its fall fund-raiser. Its spring fund-raiser is set to begin March 31. Nordquist, 28, of Saline and Ebright, 35, of Whitmore Lake also each face a charge of conspiracy to embezzle under $20,000, which carries a maximum 5-year prison term upon conviction. Nordquist was an account executive for Michigan Public Media who left the station Jan. 25. Ebright was development director for Michigan Radio, which is part of Michigan Public Media. He left in November. Ebright's lawyer, Dan Geherin of Ann Arbor, said the central question is whether his client broke the law by accepting any of the items. Nordquist's attorney, Tom Moors of Ypsilanti, said his client maintains his innocence. All three men were released Thursday morning on $10,000 personal bond each.