Supporters of KDHX say they will fight on, even after the community radio station鈥檚 leaders stopped live broadcasts on Friday evening and fired most volunteers. The station now broadcasts previously recorded shows.
About a dozen people held signs and chatted with patrons streaming out of a Fox Theatre matinee on Saturday afternoon, near the start of a protest scheduled to go until the evening.
鈥淭hey basically went nuclear,鈥� said Hound Dog Brown of KDHX leaders Gary Pierson and Kelly Wells.
Pierson is president of Double Helix Corp., the nonprofit organization that runs the station and owns its broadcast license. Wells is executive director.
鈥淲别 filed a suit in St Louis Circuit Court to unseat the board. Two days later, the board moved to unseat everyone else,鈥� said Brown, who hosted a KDHX show for eight years before station leaders fired him and nine other DJs in September 2023.
Pierson said that the station does not have the resources to sustain its current operations.
鈥淯nfortunately, recent disparagement campaigns and senseless lawsuits have severely impacted fundraising,鈥� Pierson wrote. He also cited 鈥渓ong standing financial pressures [and] industry-wide challenges for public media.鈥�
The grim milestone for KDHX does not necessarily mean the end of the entity.
鈥淥ur board is actively exploring options for the future of KDHX to continue fulfilling our mission of building community through media,鈥� Pierson wrote.
The KDHX board also dismissed its volunteers.
鈥淚 think that I can speak for all of the former volunteers and former associates of KDHX In saying that this action was unnecessary and is harmful and is going to be opposed,鈥� said former DJ Roy Kasten.
In an email to on-air DJs, Executive Director Kelly Wells wrote that all volunteers who create content will immediately lose their status as associate members with KDHX, a position that includes limited voting rights regarding station policy. In addition to DJs, this includes volunteers who produce podcasts, manage the station music library, take photos, maintain the event calendar or review shows on the station鈥檚 website.
Former DJs and other station critics question why the station is dismissing its DJs and other volunteers even as it continues to broadcast.
When 漏 2024 外网天堂 asked recently if station leaders were considering selling its license and becoming an online-only station, they did not directly answer the question. The station provided a statement praising KDHX leaders as 鈥済ood stewards of the station鈥� who are 鈥渨orking every day to fulfill the mission.鈥� They have communicated with STLPR exclusively through an external communications consultant since late 2023.
KDHX bylaws call for an annual meeting of associate members this month, where two-thirds of those present would have to approve any sale of the license.
But it is unclear if anyone retains voting rights in the organization after Friday鈥檚 move 鈥� other than the board of directors.
The Friday statement makes no reference to KDHX鈥檚 broadcast license. It also does not reference Wells鈥� status as executive director. As of 2023, her annual salary was $106,082.
鈥淭hat is a win for a board and an executive director that want total control over the station,鈥� Kasten said. 鈥淲别 are going to continue to fight to save this radio station because this is unnecessary and unjustifiable.鈥�
This story has been updated.
Correction: KDHX suspends live broadcasts as of 7 p.m. Friday.
