Printer Friendly www.suntimes.com Back to regular view http://www.suntimes.com/output/feder/cst-fin-feder16.html Print this page Execs' departures leave radio poorer June 16, 2004 BY ROBERT FEDER SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST Not long ago, the two most prominent and influential African-American broadcast executives in Chicago were Marv Dyson and Zemira Jones. National trade publications routinely named them among the best in the business. As recently as last November, Dyson and Jones were the only Chicagoans on Radio Ink magazine's list of the best major-market managers in the country -- at No. 6 and No. 8, respectively. Today, they're both out of radio. Dyson, you may recall, was forced to step down at the end of 2003 as president and general manager of WGCI-FM (107.5), WVAZ-FM (102.7) and WGRB-AM (1390) after 35 years as a dynamic force in Chicago broadcasting. Just days after Dyson, 65, had been honored by Mayor Daley and the local radio community as the Broadcast Advertising Club of Chicago's Person of the Year, his Clear Channel Radio bosses consolidated him out of his job. Jones, 50, abruptly resigned last week after nine years as president and general manager of WLS-AM (890), WZZN-FM (94.7) and WRDZ-AM (1300). Although his move was by all accounts voluntary, it followed a decision by Disney/ABC Radio bosses to remove the Zone from Jones' authority and restructure management of the company's Chicago properties. Had Jones stayed, his job almost certainly would have gotten smaller. Dyson and Jones were more than conscientious managers of some of Chicago's most popular radio stations. They also served as mentors and role models to countless young minority broadcasters who looked to them for guidance and inspiration. That may well have been their most meaningful and enduring contributions to the market. There's no reason to believe that race played any role in the decision of either man to step down. At the same time, there's no denying that their sensitivity to minorities and their status within the African-American community were greatly undervalued assets. Earlier this month -- before Jones resigned -- a group of local ministers and activists formed a committee to pressure WGCI (and other urban stations) to re-examine their commitment to the audiences they serve. "We have concerns that the station's management has become disconnected from the community, particularly since it unceremoniously let Marv Dyson go," said the Rev. Michael Pfleger, a committee member. "Marv was the leading African-American radio station manager in the nation. We feel WGCI's ownership needs to listen more closely to the community." There's something wrong with the radio business in Chicago when men like Marv Dyson and Zemira Jones no longer have a place at the top. Dialing: Hall of Famers named * Tom Joyner, the former Chicago radio "fly jock" who became a nationally syndicated morning star, and Chris Bury, ABC News' "Nightline" correspondent and Southern Illinois University graduate, have been named to the Illinois Broadcasters Association's Hall of Fame. They will be inducted at the 2004 IBA convention June 29 at the Westin River North, 320 N. Dearborn. Wally Gair, former executive director of the IBA, will receive a Lifetime Achievement Award. For information on the event, see: www.ilba.org. * Saul Smaizys, who hosted the seminal, free-form "Triad Radio" format on the former WXFM in the 1970s, is back in business, thanks to the Internet. On triadradiorevisited.com, he's streaming music 24 hours a day in the same style he did back in the day. Along with many of the songs and artists he first played in the '70s, Smaizys also features such genres as Japanese pop, Asia re-mix, techno, blues, jazz, ethnic, folk, classical, hip-hop, electronica and spoken word. * "The New Jewish Wake-Up Call," a live weekly talk show on topics of interest to the Chicago Jewish community, airs from 9:30 to 11 p.m. Saturdays on WSBC-AM (1240). The show is hosted by Jeffrey Osias, formerly with Chicago-based Torah Radio Network, and produced by Julia Rath. Copyright © The Sun-Times Company All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.