Peter Werbe. He’s one of those voices that has been part and parcel of the late night airwaves for almost two decades.
According to his Wikipedia page (which he directed to as a source), Nightcall was the longest running phone-in talk show in radio history. It was co-hosted by WCSX’s Juline Jordan.
And now, it’s been silenced as according to a post on his Facebook page, his employment with Greater Media (who owns WRIF, WCSX, and WMGC).
It was part of a one-two punch starting Sunday nights at 11 p.m.
Werbe will continue with The Fifth Estate Magazine, a long-running publication out of Lansing.
Agree or not with his politics, he was a local fixture on the air with a devoted following. As you can see on his post above, comments of praise and memories are rolling in.
Although it wasn’t exactly stated why Werbe’s employment was terminated, the folly of most local media executives is that they think they can cut their way to success.
The McPaperization of Detroit media and media around the country is in full effect. And no doubt, there are revenue pressures. But if you’re going to ask for local support, and local dollars and advertisers, you’re going to have a fat chance doing it stuffing pages with wire copy and airwaves with syndicated sycophants.
It reinforces a death spiral. The irony is that as more and more local voices are silenced and outlets standardized, there’s more and more reason to tune into podcasts and streaming music.
Power to Peter Werbe, and here’s to finding a place where his voice is heard.
