Mike Smith at the Vermont Center for Emerging Technologies Credit: File: Matthew THorsen
Mike Smith, host of the daily “Open Mike” program on WDEV Radio, began his show Thursday with a surprise announcement: He is leaving the station in less than two weeks, on February 19. He is also suspending his political column, which is posted weekly on VTDigger.org and runs in the Vermont Business Magazine. His statement was posted Thursday evening on the magazine’s vermontbiz.com website.

He said the decision “is mine, and mine alone,” and had nothing to do with last year’s ownership change. Longtime owner Ken Squier sold the station to sales director Steve Cormier, who is now cohost of the weekday “Morning News Service.”

Smith gave no specific reason for the sudden move. He alluded to the pressure of hosting two hours of live radio every day and his personal need to find “on a regular basis, new challenges to try.” WDEV hired Smith in mid-2016 after longtime host Mark Johnson left for a post at VTDigger.

Smith wrote that he has yet to identify his next challenge. “If anything happens before I sign off on Feb. 19th I will let you know,” he wrote.

A glance at his career reflects his need for new ventures. In the past 20 years, Smith has been Vermont’s deputy treasurer, secretary of administration and human services secretary (in the Jim Douglas administration), creator of a short-lived travel website, president of FairPoint Communications, interim president of Burlington College, consultant for the Enhanced 9-1-1 Board and, since mid-2016, radio talk show host.

So it’s not surprising that he’s making a move after two and a half years. That’s about average, in fact. And it’s not surprising that he has the courage to leave a high-profile job and leap into the unknown. He’s done it plenty of times before.

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John Walters was the political columnist for Seven Days from 2017-2019. A longtime journalist, he spent many years as a news anchor and host for public radio stations in Michigan and New Hampshire. He’s the author of Roads Less Traveled: Visionary New...

2 replies on “Media Note: Mike Smith Leaving WDEV Radio”

  1. Confusing story that draws – but fails to determine – the connection between quitting the radio job and dropping the column.

  2. It’s time for respected publications such as 7D to examine the revolving door through which Mike Smith comes and goes with impunity.

    One day he’s a government employee – in the governor’s office, no less.

    The next day he’s a radio or TV “commentator, allegedly nonpartisan.

    The day after that he’s a columnist for VtDigger.

    Then he’s a radio talk-show host.

    Then he suddenly announces he’s quitting the radio and newspaper jobs – and he provides absolutely no public explanation.

    Then he takes a new job in the corporate world.

    A guy who travels back and forth between politics – including high-ranking government appointments – needs to be subject to the same rules of nonpartisan fairness as would a journalist.

    That is what’s insidious about the revolving door through which Smith passes: No one ever forces him to explain for whom he is accountable.

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