WYPR fires the talk host who led its creation

On Friday, Baltimore news/talk station WYPR fired Marc Steiner, the talk show host who led the 2002 campaign to create a freestanding station when Johns Hopkins University wanted to sell it, the Baltimore Sun reported today. Steiner blamed differences with President Tony Brandon; management blamed falling ratings for Steiner's midday show, which focuses on Baltimore affairs. WYPR plans a show called Statewide with a wider scope befitting the station, which now has repeaters in the western and eastern reaches of Maryland.