For thousands of listeners in and around St. Louis, community radio station 88.1 FM KDHX was a nexus of the St. Louis music scene, with an obsessively eclectic lineup of shows and the region's definitive calendar of live musical events.
It was also a place where some Black music professionals felt unwelcome behind the scenes and described what they called a toxic atmosphere riddled with racism, allegations that surfaced publicly in 2019.
Public battles over accountability, diversity and the essence of the radio station's identity led to the silencing of a once-vital public voice. Last year, KDHX's board of directors, led by attorney Gary Pierson, pushed through the sale of the station's FCC license and other assets to a Christian radio network for $8.75 million — even as supporters of the financially challenged station raced to raise enough money to save it.
The station's already precarious finances were ravaged by public disputes that inspired some listeners to picket their favorite radio station.
In 2023, station leaders kicked 25 DJs off the air after they publicly criticized Executive Director Kelly Wells. Soon after, KDHX leaders cited Michael Brown's death while explaining the station's recent moves as part of its commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion.
The station was led by many of the same people who stood behind a 2019 statement asserting that allegations of racism and other offenses by Wells and others were unsubstantiated or false. The station cited an investigation that was based on two days of interviews.
"It was an environment not conducive to the growth of people of color," said Alonzo Townsend, who worked in the KDHX office for about a year after being hired in 2018.
"If your environment is not conducive to see their growth or to see them able to thrive or to be heard or to feel like they are a part of something, or to feel safe and feel comfortable or feel protected — that's racism," Townsend said.
Station leaders said there was nothing behind the claims in two letters that alleged various offenses.
"The charges of racial discrimination, of sexual harassment, of financial mismanagement are unsubstantiated," said Paul Dever at the time. He joined the station's board in 2000 and was its president in 2019.
The board also stood behind Wells and her leadership unequivocally.
KDHX turned down a loan offer its leader found 'insulting'
When the station had no more than $7,000 in the bank by February 2025, the KDHX board turned down at least two offers of six-figure loans or donations.
"Personally, I have no interest in being in debt to those individuals," Pierson wrote in a previously unpublished email after a trio of KDHX supporters — two of whom had earlier circulated a public letter critical of station leaders — offered KDHX a $150,000 loan.
The three planned to follow the bridge loan with a campaign to pull together the $3 million they said Pierson told them the station needed to get back on its feet.
"A loan from them is insulting," Pierson added in the email.
Station leaders instead opted for a key loan from K-LOVE, a move that made a sale to the Christian broadcast network likely. The organization behind Joy FM later outbid K-LOVE for KDHX's assets.
Pierson declined to be interviewed or to comment on his email specifically. The station's public relations firm declined interviews on behalf of Wells and the rest of station leadership.
The board president also told St. Louis developer Jason Deem that if he wanted to broker a loan for KDHX, he would need to sign a statement that assigned blame for the station's funding crisis to its leaders' most vocal critics, Deem said.
The statement was to be attributed to Deem, St. Louis Mayor Cara Spencer and former Mayor Vince Schoemehl, and sent to specific journalists working at St. Louis Public Radio, St. Louis Magazine, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Ars Technica.
The dissident group LOVE of KDHX, which included many of the DJs whom KDHX leaders had fired, offered the station a donation of at least $100,000 in the weeks before the organization declared bankruptcy. The offer came with a requirement to install new leadership at KDHX.
By June 2025, LOVE of KDHX raised $550,000. The organization said money it collected would help pay for legal efforts to wrest control of the station, with the remainder going into KDHX coffers once its leaders stepped down — or, failing that, invested into a new nonprofit broadcasting venture.
Station leaders refused to discuss the $100,000 donation offer with LOVE of KDHX, instead rejecting it with a press release.
Roy Kasten, a longtime critic of station leaders, received a text message from board member Paul Dever.
It read: "You have already had your chance to be part of the solution."
In a two-part special report on St. Louis on the Air, we take a deep dive into the station's demise and try to better understand how this cultural institution collapsed. To hear the full story, listen to "St. Louis on the Air" on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or YouTube, or click the play buttons above.
"St. Louis on the Air" brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. The show is produced by Miya Norfleet, Emily Woodbury, Danny Wicentowski, Elaine Cha and Alex Heuer. Layla Halilbasic is our production assistant. The audio engineer is Aaron Doerr.
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