Marc Steiner on WEAA 88.9
I usually don’t get to see United Workers radio interviews in the studio, in part because I make everyone nervous. But also there’s no need for me to be there, and I’m often out of town. But today we were invited to talk about the Fair Food Solidarity Tour on the Marc Steiner show (link to audio file) and because we had little advance time it made sense for me to head down to the studio and do some prep on the way there. I listened from the control room, and managed to avoid pacing or running my hands through my hair even once!
The interview was great – and even included a call-in from Immokalee. I had a chance at the end of the show to remind Marc of the role he played in the living wages victory at Camden Yards, and to say thank you for this. Marc asked a key question of Tom Perez in the lead up to the hunger strike, at a time in the United Workers history when the organization hadn’t even been invited as guests on his show. We were just breaking out of being virtual unknowns to the media and political establishment at the time, and it meant a lot to have a question about Camden Yards working conditions asked directly to state’s top labour official.
Marc’s show is a testament to the powerful role that independent and thought provoking journalism has for a community, and also to one person’s commitment to a community. Marc maintains objectivity and fairness, welcoming diverse voices and points of view to his show, but does not forget that the little person needs a voice even more than the most powerful amongst us.
