Every once in awhile, when a group of citizens bands together to demand action, the resulting reaction is overwhelmingly positive. Such is the case with the “Give Sly The Mic” grassroots campaign that kicked off late last November. The campaign paid off better than expected, because while progressive radio host John ‘Sly’ Sylvester will not be going to Madison’s 92.1 The Mic, he will return to the airwaves in an even greater capacity.
I personally took part in the “Give Sly The Mic” campaign started by my progressive comrades, and here’s why, from my November 27, 2012 Blogging Blue blog post:
As a political blogger, I have gotten a lot of important information through livestreaming and listening to podcasts of Sly’s show on WTDY (and nobody interviews Glenn Grothman quite like Sly!). It has been less than a week, and I am already feeling the information void caused by Sly’s absence.
As a middle class Wisconsinite, I have appreciated the way that Sly has stood up for the rights of working class people, holding politicians on both sides of the aisle accountable for their words and actions, oftentimes angering even those on the left.
Sure, Sly has made my blood boil at times with some of the things that he has said, and I don’t always agree with him or like his bombastic style. But every time I have contacted him, he has been willing to listen, which says a lot about who he is as a person.
For these reasons and more, I stand in solidarity with Sly. I ask that you do the same.
Fortunately, citizens responded to the call to action in a big way. They called the radio station owners, posted to social media sites, and signed petitions. In fact, more than 10,000 people signed One Wisconsin Now‘s petition to get Sly back on the airwaves.
And some radio station owners took note of the enthusiastic response.
Sly announced this morning at a press conference in Madison that, while he won’t be joining the 92.1 lineup, starting February 4, 2013, he’ll join the broadcast team at 93.7 WEKZ-FM.
According to blogger Jud Lounsbury, “Sly will be doing his same show in the afternoon drive-time slot,” 3:00-6:30 pm. Lounsbury reports that, at 36K watts, WEKZ, the politically “middle of the road” radio station, is one of the Midwest’s largest FM stations.
Congratulations to Sly! I will add this station to my radio pre-set buttons for when I am driving home from Madison. It will be great to have something to fill that dead spot before I get back to Milwaukee air waves.