Reggae drummed out of 91X

By RANDY DOTINGA - For the North County Times | Wednesday, June 25, 2008 8:27 AM PDT ∞

The former host of a 25-year-old reggae radio show says she's one liberated woman.

No longer is Makeda Dread connected to a station that doesn't value her. She's free of 91X now ---- although not exactly of her own accord ---- and ready to find new venues.

Dread puts it this way: "As Bob Marley said, 'When one door closes, another door opens.'"

The end came earlier this month after a story about her conflicts with the alternative rock station appeared in a local alternative weekly newspaper.

Dread said station program director Phil Manning called her in and declared her two-hour Sunday night show was history.

Not that she didn't get a word or two in edgewise about the importance of the show.

"You're not from this town, and you don't know," she said she told him. "He said, 'You will not a pick up a mike again,' and I said, 'I will pick up a mike.' "

(Manning, who only occasionally agrees to talk to the press, didn't return a call seeking comment.)

The storm over "Reggae Makosa" apparently began on Mother's Day. Her co-host was late getting to the station to put the show on the air, Dread said, and "Reggae Makosa" was suspended for several weeks. She came back on June 8, but then the article came out and her gig on 91X was over.

Her firing brought an abrupt end to one of the longest-running shows in the history of San Diego radio. Dread, founder of the WorldBeat Center, an educational facility and monument to black pride in Balboa Park, began hosting "Reggae Makosa" at 91X in 1983. The show fit perfectly on the newly born radio station, which developed an alternative vibe in its early years and embraced the counterculture vibe of reggae and Bob Marley. Amazingly, Dread ---- a liberal activist who once followed Marley around the country ---- said she never got a dime for hosting the show. She did it for free.

But while "Reggae Makosa" preserved its focus on reggae messages of peace, love and racial harmony, 91X changed. In the early part of this decade, its family of top-notch disc jockeys began to fall apart, and new rival FM 94/9 gained ground by accusing it of being corporate-run.

New station managers took over from Clear Channel in 2005, and they rid themselves of disc jockey's morning host Chris Cantore and, most recently, Dread. The station appears to be trying to appeal to a younger audience as part of its strategy to compete against FM 94/9.

Dread said she remains dedicated to the show, now heard on Sunday nights at oneworldradiotv.com, and she's proud of her influence on young people. She has talked to adults who "grew up with me telling them to eat right and talking about compassion, love and meditation."

She's open to perhaps returning to the terrestrial airways, although she's not very impressed with what's on there now.

"Radio forgot what it used to be," she said. "People got greedy and radio got mediocre."

She adds that community-focused radio has become a thing of the past.

"Radio is not for the people anymore," she said. "It's not elevating our youth's consciousness."

But that could change here.

"I push and I push very hard," she said. "Something wonderful is going to happen."

---

The KPBS radio and TV stations are going through another round of cutbacks, but it doesn't look like listener and viewers will be affected, at least for the moment. In preparation for the fiscal year that begins July 1, the station laid off six employees and now has about 105. Also, the July issue of the station's monthly magazine On Air magazine and program guide will be the last. If you're a KPBS member, you've almost certainly seen On Air, featuring TV and radio listings along with several articles and profiles of public broadcasters.

In other KPBS news, general manager Doug Myrland announced he will retire in December at the ripe young age of 56. He will stick around as a consultant for another year, however.

"I feel strongly that people like me should move on while they're ahead," he said. "I'm feeling like we've accomplished a lot in this organization. I want people to remember me fondly or at least as someone who didn't stay past their welcome."

Myrland has run the station since 1992. During his tenure, KPBS' radio station greatly expanded its news operation, began simulcasting in Imperial County and embraced HD radio.

Readers of this column might know him best as a guy who speaks the truth without much varnishing.

Quickie: I never promised you a rose garden, but I did say I'd look at the effects of the satellite radio merger in this week's column. Breaking news got in the way, but stay tuned.

Randy Dotinga still has emotional scars from seeing a giant close-up photo of public radio host Garrison Keillor's face on the cover of On Air. E-mail him at NCTimesRadio@aol.com.

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