Tony Cox, who has worked with Tavis Smiley, Ed Gordon and Farai Chideya as they attempted to carve out an African American talk-show niche at National Public Radio, is being given his own public radio show, Cox told Journal-isms on Tuesday night.

The show will be part of the offerings of African American Public Radio Consortium, which in 2002 produced the Smiley show and in 2005 NPR’s “News & Notes” program with first Gordon, then Chideya hosting. Cox worked on all three of those shows, and hosted the latter in its final days last year.

Tony Cox

The consortium currently has “Tell Me More” with Michel Martin on NPR, and until now, “The Michael Eric Dyson Show,” hosted by the Georgetown University professor and social critic, on 18 public radio stations.

“The Michael Eric Dyson show is no longer,” Loretta Rucker, executive director of the consortium, told Journal-isms on Wednesday. “We had a good four months with Dr. Dyson but the arrangement eventually devolved over compensation.”

Cox has been filling in for Dyson from NPR West studios in Culver City, Calif., as Dyson took “a break” from his Washington-based show, produced by WEAA-FM at Morgan State University in Baltimore.

While Dyson and the consortium have parted ways, the fate of Dyson’s show remains unclear. Last week, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting said WEAA-FM had received $505,000 to continue production of the program, and the social critic was quoted in the news release as saying, “I am extremely gratified to receive the support and commitment of CPB in the effort to expand the reach and audience of The Michael Eric Dyson Show.”

But Mel Marshall, program director of WVAS-FM at Alabama State University in Montgomery, Ala., a consortium member, said Wednesday, “We’re going to run Tony Cox.” The verdict was still out on Dyson, he said. “My station manager says no, especially after he walked out on the consortium.”

On Monday, LaFontaine E. Oliver, general manager of WEAA, said of Dyson, “We do not have a set date yet for his return.” 

While Dyson has been away, other stations in the consortium have been running the show with Cox hosting. WEAA has been airing music.

Regardless of who runs which of the shows, “the number of black voices in public radio is growing,” Cox said. “It’s very important that our point of view gets included in all the discussions of national and international issues.”

The hourlong Cox show, to be called “Up Front With Tony Cox” and hosted from NPR West in Culver City, will be low-budget, with a very small staff that Cox said he hopes will grow as it gains traction. It will basically consist of two segments, with Cox interviewing guests in each. Kyle McKinnon, who has worked with several NPR shows, will produce, though it will not be an NPR show. It starts Oct. 1.

“It presents an opportunity to go into a little more depth with the guests,” the 40-year broadcasting veteran said. “It’s a show designed to appeal to as many people as I can get to tune into it,” discussing the issues of the day, “but making sure a black perspective included in the discussion.” He quickly added, “It’s not only the black perspective we’re talking about.”

A Web site, www.upfrontnews.org, is being constructed. Cox can be reached at tcox (at) upfrontnews.org.