<html><head><style type='text/css'>p { margin: 0; }</style></head><body><div style='font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; color: #000000'><br>Mary Aigner's dismissal of our friend, Norman De Vall, from his usual hosting of the candidates forum series, if substantiated, is appalling...absolutely appalling, especially at a time when the station is trying to heal, and trying to build bridges back to the five people who filed an objection to the renewal of the station's FCC licenses and the 104 members, programmers, and listeners who are the "KZYX Members for Change". <div><br></div><div>To replace a trusted household name, like Norman De Vall, with Michael Kisslinger or some other newcomer to the station, is a bad decision. To tell Mr. De Vall that anybody who is publicly critical of the station can expect their programmer privileges to be revoked -- or words to that effect -- is grounds for immediate termination.</div><div><br></div><div>I hope Mary Aigner didn't say this to Mr. De Vall.<br><div><br></div><div>Meanwhile, David Steffen's niggly-piggly treatment of me, including threats at throwing me off the air, constitutes harassment of a member of staff toward a volunteer. It is equally appalling. And I will be filing a grievance. (If anyone wants to see Steffen's reprimand, let me know.)</div><div><br></div><div>Steffen's threat was based on the accusation that I didn't read station ID at the start of my last show -- false. He has since acknowledged his mistake.</div><div><br></div><div>But Steffen isn't one to eat crow for long. In his rather long-winded and windy reprimand, Steffen threatened to throw me off the air by saying I didn't read the underwriting during my last show at the top of the hour. True, I didn't read the underwriting at the top of the hour. But I did read it at the half hour -- every word of it. </div><div><br></div><div>Why wait? Because my first guest was the director of the American Friends Service Committee, and he made it crystal clear to me before the show that he could only do the show if we did quick interview. He had very limited time. A scheduling conflict. The subject of the show was the new defense pact that Obama signed with the current Benigno Aquino government -- something that almost certainly with inflame relations with China for both the U.S. and the Philippines.</div><div><br></div><div>I waited until my first guest signed off to respectfully introduce my second and third guests -- the two women who are the chair and vice chair respectively of the indigenous group of native Filipinos, many of them women, known as Banyan-Asia --and it was only then that I read the underwriting. The time was thirty-three minutes into my program.</div><div><br></div><div>And that was that.</div><div><br></div><div>So now, I guess I'm left with the larger question: Why isn't Steffen out there finding new underwriters -- his real job -- instead of listening to hour-long programs from the archives? Why is he there sitting in his office, maybe donut and coffee in hand, instead of out there in the county beating the bushes for new business? </div><div><br></div><div>Factoid: Our underwriting revenues have fallen off in each of the last few years.</div><div><br></div><div>For the record, before these last two dust-ups, I spoke with John Coate on several occasions. I felt we had sincere, heart-to-heart talks. I told John Coate that my only motivation in filing my FCC complaint was that I wanted to fix what's wrong with the station. I wanted to fix the station, not destroy it. I wanted public radio back. KZYX is public radio, not the private clubhouse it often seems to be.</div><div><br></div><div>I offered to write letters to the local newspapers urging listeners to support KZYX during Spring Pledge Drive. I offered to withdraw or modify my FCC complaint. </div><div><br></div><div>I thought John Coate and I were in a good place. I thought the Board and I were in a good place. I thought my fellow brother and sister programmers -- many of whom felt I betrayed the station -- and I were in a good place.</div><div><br></div><div>And now this. The shabby treatment of Norman De Vall. Steffen's harassment of me.</div><div><br></div><div>Why? Why?</div><div><br><hr id="zwchr"><b>From: </b>nsi@mcn.org<br><b>To: </b>"doug mckenty" <dougmck@gmail.com>, Kzyxtalk@lists.mcn.org<br><b>Cc: </b>discussion@lists.mcn.orag<br><b>Sent: </b>Sunday, May 11, 2014 11:15:46 AM<br><b>Subject: </b>Re: [Kzyxtalk] Duvall's dismissal<br><br> <br>
I'm kind of mad.<br>John Coate is a liar. Probably pathologically so. Remember when he re-framed his deliberate dismissal of Christina Aanestad, the Latina woman who should have been KZYX news director, as a "layoff"?<br> Then proceeded bit-by-bit to destroy a news department, carefully crafted over a decade by Annie Esposito. Remember how good, and how fresh local news used to be? <br>Then refused to re-instate Christina after his first Paul vanished when someone sent the AVA information that the compliant news director preferred by Coate was actually a grifter who had been
involved in a Lotto scam up in Oregon. Remember.<br> Right now "local news" is another white man who has never learned how to get off his behind reading outloud from the Press Democrat. <br>Does Michael Kissinger even know how to record and edit an interview? I doubt it. But he's compliant. And that's what is important to John Coate and Mary Aigner--who believes she is so secure in her tenure, she doesn't even need to get off her ass and train him. <br>The so-called Business Developer David Steffen whose entire job is to keep his job (and watch Coate's back) is one big beer belly more than you should tolerate .<br>Do NOT SEND MONEY TO KZYX this pledge cycle. If anything gets better staff-wise, you can send the $25 Simple
Living membership pledge in the fall.<br> <br>Doug: Please re-post my comments on whatever Facebook page you are referring to. <br>--Thank you, Beth Bosk<br><blockquote><br>----- Original Message -----<br><div style="width:500px;background:rgb(228,228,228);"><div style="font-weight:bold;">From:</div> "doug mckenty" <dougmck@gmail.com></div><br><div style="font-weight:bold;">To:</div>"Kzyxtalk@lists.mcn.org" <Kzyxtalk@lists.mcn.org><br><div style="font-weight:bold;">Cc:</div><br><div style="font-weight:bold;">Sent:</div>Sun, 11 May 2014 08:06:57 -0700<br><div style="font-weight:bold;">Subject:</div>[Kzyxtalk] Duvall's dismissal<br><br><br><div><br></div><div><br></div>GM John Coate posted on Facebook that there was no dismissal. He says, there is "not one speck of truth to any of this."<div><br></div><div>Norman, do you have a response?</div><div>
<br></div><div>Anyone?</div><div><br></div><div>Doug</div>
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