Fiedler is interim GM at WBUR
Boston University yesterday appointed Peter Fiedler, son of legendary Boston Pops conductor Arthur Fiedler, to serve as interim general manager at WBUR-FM (90.9), the public radio station rocked by last Friday's resignation of general manager Jane Christo.
Fiedler, 52, an assistant vice president who oversees sports broadcasting, media services, and publications, met yesterday with some staff members at the university-owned station. He was not available for interviews but issued a statement saying: "Sitting down with staff members will be my top priority. I want to hear from employees at all levels of the operation as we work on strengthening one of the top public radio stations in the country."
BU spokeswoman Nancy Sterling said Fiedler will stay in the post until a permanent general manager is found. Asked if he might be a candidate for that job, Sterling said: "He's certainly not going in that way."
Christo, the powerful and controversial boss of WBUR for a quarter century, resigned amid allegations of fiscal mismanagement after a sequence of events triggered by WBUR's Sept. 17 announcement that it was selling Rhode Island stations WRNI-AM (1290) and WXNI-AM (1230). On Sept. 22, after receiving anonymous allegations about the management of WBUR, BU began its own investigation of the station. The allegations range from patronage hires to the station's spending habits. An examination by The Boston Globe of documents filed with the Corporation for Public Broadcasting found that WBUR amassed more than $12 million in debt between 2001 and 2003.
Rhode Island Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch has also intervened, asking WBUR to turn over financial records. After Lynch and Rhode Island Governor Donald L. Carcieri asked WBUR to delay the sale of the stations, BU interim President Aram V. Chobanian agreed to do so.
According to Sterling, several senior BU officials approved yesterday's appointment of Fiedler. Despite his lineage, Fiedler is not a high-profile figure; several WBUR advisory board members said yesterday that they did not know him. His resume includes a stint as a field producer/director at Channel 5 and as director of operations for Channel 68 in Boston, which was once owned by BU. A 1988 Globe story about Fiedler revealed that he shared his father's love of music, played in rock 'n' roll bands, and studied at the Berklee College of Music.
Christo's departure has created an air of uncertainty inside WBUR and raised questions about the future of managers who worked closely with her, including managing director of news and programming Sam Fleming, manager of administrative services Robert Ayles, and human resources manager Ken Tebbetts. Fleming said yesterday: "I'm interested in carrying on the great news tradition at WBUR." Ayles and Tebbetts did not return phone calls.
Sterling confirmed that Christo's son Zach, whose employment at WBUR was cited by some critics as an example of the patronage system at the station, is being moved into "a lateral position" at the university as a writer/editor. "He's a qualified employee with a good record, but it could have been uncomfortable for him" at WBUR, she said.
In recent months, several of Christo's longtime aides have also departed WBUR. Former managing director of news and programming George Boosey left in July to become program director at a North Carolina public radio station. Former assistant general manager Steve Elman said he retired in May after 32 years at the station to write a book. In an interview, he lauded Christo as "responsible, probably more than any other person, for professionalizing WBUR."
On Sept. 12, Mary Stohn, WBUR's public relations strategist for 25 years, announced she was stepping down. "Part of my decision was that I disagreed with the way that [the sale of] WRNI was going to be handled," she told the Globe. Stohn said Christo's resignation was "classically tragic, but Jane was right to step aside."
Globe on NECN
Here's what's happening on "Around the Globe" today on NECN:
9:30 a.m.: "Talk of New England" 12:30 p.m.: "Globe at Home" -- food writer Joe Yonan on the proliferation of celebrity cookware and how it holds up in the kitchen. 4 p.m.: "Around the Globe" 6:30 p.m.: "New England Business Day" 8 p.m.: "NewsNight" Schedule is subject to change. 