Transmitter Not Only Victim Of Lightning Strike At WDHP Radio

What did they know and when did they know it? O'Bryan's departure sparks firestorm at WDHP

The lightning strike on Wednesday was just the beginning of the drama for radio station WDHP this week.

From the time morning mainstay and now gubernatorial candidate Jimmy O’Bryan formally announced his candidacy Tuesday morning, to the arrival of the new morning host, former senator Norma Pickard-Samuel, on Friday, the station, and the controversy surrounding O’Bryan’s departure, have been as much of the news as the upcoming primary election.

Drama for everyone.

Norma Pickard-Samuel is the new morning host on WDHP, 1620 AM

We at CIF want to welcome Ms. Samuel and wish her the best in her new venture. Her voice and her views are familiar on the airwaves, and we look forward to her commentary and perspective during this most interesting time.

But the events that preceded her arrival still baffle us. Here’s the chronology.

After a couple of months of heavy hinting, O’Bryan announced formally Tuesday on the Jamila Russell show that he would be entering the gubernatorial Democratic primary for Governor. On Tuesday afternoon, on the Mario Moorhead show, Moorhead, in conversations with several callers, indicated that O’Bryan’s departure came as a surprise for Mr. Hugh Pemberton, the station owner. In fact, Moorhead said, he was asked by Pemberton to “recruit” for O’Bryan’s replacement.

Gubernatorial candidate and former radio host Jimmy O'Bryan

The inference – no the outright statement – that O’Bryan had left his post without informing Pemberton of his departure and therefore in the lurch for coverage for the all important morning slot triggered a firestorm of negative backlash against O’Bryan who, for the past year, has been one strong voice in opposition to the current Administration and a standard bearer for the not-so-quiet political revolution overtaking the Virgin Islands.

Wednesday morning, lightning stuck (literally) – and the station was down until the afternoon.

On Thursday morning, Moorhead’s voice greeted listeners and continued until the delayed broadcast of the Legislature filled most of the rest of the day. Moorhead said he would man the post Thursday and Friday morning until a replacement for O’Bryan could be found.

But on Friday, Pickard-Samuel’s voice was introduced as the new morning voice of 1620AM.

Before going any farther, let us say this – the most important thing is that someone is in that morning time slot so that the message and the conversation that is so critical to this election season can continue. It would have been a tragedy, whatever the back story, to cut off one of the few remaining opposition voices as we approach the September primary and November general election.

But what really happened between O’Bryan and the station?

Mario Moorhead pictured here en route to Unity Day Rally on St. Thomas last May.

As late as today’s (Friday’s) program, Moorhead stated on his program that Pemberton was not the type of business manager who would allow a situation like the sudden absence of the morning host to occur if he had prior knowledge that O’Bryan planned to run, thereby causing him to have to replace the position of radio host. What that leaves us with is the ongoing assertion that Pemberton was unaware that O’Bryan was serious about seeking the nomination and therefore, had made no arrangements for his replacement.

Frankly, we find that hard to believe.

Now, we know this has been a tough year for 1620, starting with Sen. Louis Patrick Hill’s failed attempt to get Moorhead removed from the airwaves through this most recent “crisis.” And we have said often that the forum that the station provides is a necessary voice for “information and enlightenment” in an environment when most other mainstream media seems to be squarely in the pocket of the deJongh Administration.

And, based on the responses on the radio and on this website, the public has certainly embraced the belief that O’Bryan’s departure was indeed the surprise to Pemberton that is being portrayed.

But in fairness, we must tell you, that CIF has received many calls and messages that say that O’Bryan’s intentions were known to Pemberton and that the picture being painted this week is being driven by motives that have not yet been made apparent to the “listening audience.”

We cannot know what conversations took place between O’Bryan and Pemberton and can only present the information on this story as we know it. What we do know is that there is more to this story than meets the eye, and we wait patiently to hear its resolution.

In the meantime, we are grateful that a solution has been found and that a significant time slot has been filled. In the world of political strategy, it is common to create an issue to distract the opposition from the task at hand – this may be one such distraction.

So we encourage our readers to let Pemberton and the family at Reef Broadcasting solve their own problems, and return our attention to the matter at hand.

Because the truth is, the only impact we feel is relevant is that there is another team in the Democratic primary and that is the initiative we should focus on.

Enough said.

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