by
Stephen Henderson
Pulitzer Prize winner Stephen Henderson, who hosted WDET's morning public affairs show for the past 10 years, announced Wednesday that he's leaving in wake of a number of changes at the public radio station. His show has been canceled.
"I've decided to leave WDET, Detroit's public radio station, after 10 years as host of the station’s morning public affairs show - formerly Detroit Today, now Created Equal, a daily examination of the tensions between inequality and opportunity in America, with a focus on how those issues play out here in Detroit," he wrote on Facebook.
"I’ve made this decision in response to nearly three years of disinvestment by the station in the show, and my work and ideas. That culminated during recent contract negotiations, when the station proposed cutting the show back to once a week, with no full-time staff assigned."
"The station faces severe financial difficulties and must make difficult decisions about which programming to keep, and support. But the proposed cuts to Created Equal represent, in my judgment, an unsustainable withdrawal of commitment to the show (the station’s most-listened-to local program) and its mission. Budgets are moral documents - statements of our values and priorities, reflections of the things we hold dear and those we see as expendable. WDET has chosen not to give Created Equal what it needs to thrive. The last episode of Created Equal will air on WDET Nov. 22, 2024."
His posting comes in wake of an announcement by the station that it will "refresh its programming schedule" beginning Monday. In 2020, he won a Pulitzer Prize as head of the Detroit Free Press editorial page.
"We’ll include more daily local coverage of news, arts and culture, with more input and call-in dialogue from our listeners on an expanded The Metro, more local and national reporting on Morning Edition, and more opportunity for listeners to hear our one-of-a-kind music programming every weekday evening with an expanded weeknight music schedule," said station General Manager Mary Zatina in an email to station members.
"I am very sad to lose Created Equal from our line-up," Zatina wrote. "Although Stephen and this show no longer have a regular presence on our airwaves, the topic of diversity, inclusion and equality will still permeate our entire line-up."
Henderson, who is executive advisor to BridgeDetroit, a local news website, writes on Facebook:
"The work will continue - for now, on other platforms: at BridgeDetroit, the non-profit news and engagement organization I co-founded in 2020; and on DetroitPBS, where I host American Black Journal and am a contributor to One Detroit."
"My work with Detroit News Editorial Page Editor Nolan Finley at our Great Lakes Civility Project also continues, and Wayne State University Press will publish a book we’ve co-written in spring 2025. I’ve got other work in development, as well."
