<html><body><div style="color:#000; background-color:#fff; font-family:garamond, new york, times, serif;font-size:14pt"><div style="" class=""><span style="" class="">Diane,</span></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 18.6667px; font-family: garamond,new york,times,serif; background-color: transparent; font-style: normal;" class=""><span style="" class=""><br></span></div><div class="" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 18.6667px; font-family: garamond,new york,times,serif; background-color: transparent; font-style: normal;"><span style="" class="">Your history & analysis thereof clangs a gong with me.</span></div><div class="" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 18.6667px; font-family: garamond,new york,times,serif; background-color: transparent; font-style: normal;"><span style="" class="">Do you mean </span><span style="" class=""><span style="" class="">SAB (Station Advisory Board) is something other than the </span>CAB
(Community Advisory Board)?</span></div><div class="" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 18.6667px; font-family: garamond,new york,times,serif; background-color: transparent; font-style: normal;"><br><span style="" class=""></span></div><div class="" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 18.6667px; font-family: garamond,new york,times,serif; background-color: transparent; font-style: normal;"><span style="" class="">Peace,</span></div><div class="" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 18.6667px; font-family: garamond,new york,times,serif; background-color: transparent; font-style: normal;"><br><span style="" class=""></span></div><div class="" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 18.6667px; font-family: garamond,new york,times,serif; background-color: transparent; font-style: normal;"><span style="" class="">Liz<br style="" class=""><br style="" class=""></span></div><div style="" class=""><br style="" class=""></div> <div class=""
style="font-family: garamond, new york, times, serif; font-size: 14pt;"> <div class="" style="font-family: HelveticaNeue, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, Lucida Grande, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> <div style="" class="" dir="ltr"> <hr style="" class="" size="1"> <font style="" class="" face="Arial" size="2"> <b style="" class=""><span class="" style="font-weight:bold;">From:</span></b> Diane Paget <dpaget@mcn.org><br style="" class=""> <b style="" class=""><span class="" style="font-weight: bold;">To:</span></b> kzyxtalk@lists.mcn.org <br style="" class=""> <b style="" class=""><span class="" style="font-weight: bold;">Sent:</span></b> Sunday, May 18, 2014 3:36 PM<br style="" class=""> <b style="" class=""><span class="" style="font-weight: bold;">Subject:</span></b> Re: [Kzyxtalk] Local vs syndication<br style="" class=""> </font> </div> <div style="" class=""><br style="" class="">A lot of what Doug says in this post reflects my experience
of the <br style="" class="" clear="none">station since it first went on the air. I used to be a very active KZYX <br style="" class="" clear="none">volunteer, hosted a month public affairs segment for a while, helped my <br style="" class="" clear="none">kids host Rubber Biscuit, wrote and tallied the first two listener <br style="" class="" clear="none">surveys, helped in pledge drives. Then my life got busy and I didn't <br style="" class="" clear="none">have as much volunteer time. When that kind of time returned to my life, <br style="" class="" clear="none">I went back to see if I could help the station out again and found the <br style="" class="" clear="none">atmosphere much more defensive and less welcoming to volunteers. I'm <br style="" class="" clear="none">still a member because I do listen sometimes and I wouldn't want to go <br style="" class="" clear="none">back to what it was like before KZYX, but I listen a lot more to KPFA <br
style="" class="" clear="none">and give them more money because I like their programming better.<br style="" class="" clear="none"><br style="" class="" clear="none">One of the things that has changed in the past 25 years is the <br style="" class="" clear="none">demographics of KZYX's listeners. In 1990 a greater percentage of the <br style="" class="" clear="none">station's members were people who moved here in the 70's and 80's as <br style="" class="" clear="none">young hippies, back to the landers, political activists and mom and pop <br style="" class="" clear="none">pot growers -- the kind of folks who like the homemade feel of locally <br style="" class="" clear="none">produced community radio. As more baby boomers have retired or <br style="" class="" clear="none">semi-retired here from urban areas and university towns, where they were <br style="" class="" clear="none">accustomed to NPR type public radio stations, there is more acceptance <br
style="" class="" clear="none">of (and maybe even a preference for) syndicated shows. Unfortunately <br style="" class="" clear="none">those folks who have moved here from the city in the past 15 years have <br style="" class="" clear="none">lots more money to contribute to the station than those of us who have <br style="" class="" clear="none">lived here since the 70s. So if you are running the station as a <br style="" class="" clear="none">business or even if you are just trying to pay off a lot of debt, there <br style="" class="" clear="none">is going to be a tendency to let the money speak. But the station <br style="" class="" clear="none">started in debt and paid off that debt while providing lots more local <br style="" class="" clear="none">(and edgy -- don't forget the Beth Bosk had a show for years) <br style="" class="" clear="none">programming and half an hour of locally produced news.<br style="" class="" clear="none"> <br style=""
class="" clear="none">A PAC might be able to address the problem of local vs. syndicated <br style="" class="" clear="none">programming if it had the authority to make decisions and there was a <br style="" class="" clear="none">mechanism in place to ensure that the members of the committee were <br style="" class="" clear="none">representative of the membership of the station. The recently restarted <br style="" class="" clear="none">Station Advisory Board members seem to have been hand picked by members <br style="" class="" clear="none">of the Board and maybe the staff. If there isn't a fair, transparent <br style="" class="" clear="none">process for selecting the members of the PAC, it could be just window <br style="" class="" clear="none">dressing.<br style="" class="" clear="none"><br style="" class="" clear="none">Doug, do you know if the FCC regs or the station By Laws say anything <br style="" class="" clear="none">about one? What does the
current board policy that created the <br style="" class="" clear="none">Programming Advisory Committee say about how it will be selected and <br style="" class="" clear="none">what its powers would be?<br style="" class="" clear="none"><br style="" class="" clear="none">The PAC has come and gone over the years. It would be interesting to <br style="" class="" clear="none">look at that history and see why it failed, when it did.<br style="" class="" clear="none"><br style="" class="" clear="none">Diane<br style="" class="" clear="none"><br style="" class="" clear="none"><br style="" class="" clear="none">doug mckenty wrote:<br style="" class="" clear="none">> Tim,<br style="" class="" clear="none">> I am glad that you have been enlightened as to this issue as it has <br style="" class="" clear="none">> been central for me for some time. As the host of Open Lines, I have <br style="" class="" clear="none">> heard this complaint for
years. That KZYX is going too NPR, too <br style="" class="" clear="none">> pre-recorded, not enough locally produced material etc. The surveys <br style="" class="" clear="none">> the CAB has put out for years have showed at least 50% of the <br style="" class="" clear="none">> listening audience want to hear more "community" radio and even <br style="" class="" clear="none">> surveys of our own membership (whom theoretically like the current <br style="" class="" clear="none">> programming) show that only about half of them are hardcore NPR fans <br style="" class="" clear="none">> and the other half would still like to hear less canned material and <br style="" class="" clear="none">> more locally produced content.<br style="" class="" clear="none">><br style="" class="" clear="none">> Nonetheless, over the last ten years KZYX has severely reduced this <br style="" class="" clear="none">> type of
content. Because the programming decision making process is <br style="" class="" clear="none">> not transparent, nobody but staff knows who has applied for what kind <br style="" class="" clear="none">> of shows. I have spoken in the past with many who applied for a <br style="" class="" clear="none">> program but were never contacted afterwards (over the years I have <br style="" class="" clear="none">> personally witnessed this about six or seven times and suspect that <br style="" class="" clear="none">> there are others out there). Also, our community currently has no <br style="" class="" clear="none">> ability to affect programming decisions at KZYX so while these <br style="" class="" clear="none">> complaints and surveys have shown us that more "community" radio would <br style="" class="" clear="none">> be beneficial to the station, the communities ideas have no way to <br style="" class=""
clear="none">> translate into actual programing changes at KZYX. <br style="" class="" clear="none">><br style="" class="" clear="none">> This is why I have been advocating for the impementation of the <br style="" class="" clear="none">> current board policy that created the Programming Advisory Committee. <br style="" class="" clear="none">> It would solve both these problems.<br style="" class="" clear="none">><br style="" class="" clear="none">> It is my belief, after hosting Open Lines, being on the board of <br style="" class="" clear="none">> directors, and analyzing what survey material is available, that KZYX <br style="" class="" clear="none">> would have between 4000-.5000 members if the current operational <br style="" class="" clear="none">> philosophy focused on the "community" aspect of our station rather <br style="" class="" clear="none">> than its "public" aspect.<br style="" class=""
clear="none">><br style="" class="" clear="none">> Staff has been pretty adamant that the public radio formula will (and <br style="" class="" clear="none">> has?) saved the station. Their feeling is the vast majority of <br style="" class="" clear="none">> Mendocino County residents rely on NPR for their daily informational <br style="" class="" clear="none">> needs and this silent but large majority will (and has?) fork up the <br style="" class="" clear="none">> money required. They feel so strongly that this approach is working <br style="" class="" clear="none">> that they have decided implementation of the PAC is unnecessary. <br style="" class="" clear="none">><br style="" class="" clear="none">> One more thing, this top down management style in which the program <br style="" class="" clear="none">> director decides all the programming is typical of "public" radio <br style="" class=""
clear="none">> stations. These stations typically have some local news, NPR and some <br style="" class="" clear="none">> jazz or classical music in the interim. "Community" radio stations <br style="" class="" clear="none">> very often have a committee, such as the PAC, that at least reviews <br style="" class="" clear="none">> all volunteer programs each year, and is responsible for the <br style="" class="" clear="none">> assessment of applications for new programs. This ensures the <br style="" class="" clear="none">> transparency of the process as well as establishing some protocols <br style="" class="" clear="none">> requiring diversity and ensuring that the station is truly open to <br style="" class="" clear="none">> "all points of view." It also prevents one person from inadvertently <br style="" class="" clear="none">> promoting their own perspectives over the needs of the community.
<br style="" class="" clear="none">><br style="" class="" clear="none">> Though I feel that there are only about 2300 really diehard fans of <br style="" class="" clear="none">> public radio in this County (ie the number of members KZYX has <br style="" class="" clear="none">> maintained for the last 10 years) and question the decision to promote <br style="" class="" clear="none">> it over the production of more local content, there is little I can do <br style="" class="" clear="none">> to promote a change except advocate for the PAC. <br style="" class="" clear="none">><br style="" class="" clear="none">> This has been my central issue for the last twelve months. I <br style="" class="" clear="none">> apologize for not being more clear earlier. The multiple side issues <br style="" class="" clear="none">> and drama are having a real negative impact on my ability to clearly <br style="" class=""
clear="none">> state what I believe needs to be done to get the station up to the <br style="" class="" clear="none">> 4000 member mark.<br style="" class="" clear="none">><br style="" class="" clear="none">> Thanks to you all for participating with this list. After over four <br style="" class="" clear="none">> months of having this communication tool, I am beginning to feel that <br style="" class="" clear="none">> we have occasionally cut through the BS and disinformation and are <br style="" class="" clear="none">> beginning to discover the central issues and what our legitimate <br style="" class="" clear="none">> disagreements about those issues are. <br style="" class="" clear="none">><br style="" class="" clear="none">> Good communication is the key. Most of the changes I have been <br style="" class="" clear="none">> advocating, such as a move toward more "community" radio, are pretty <br style=""
class="" clear="none">> common sense, in my opinion, once all the information is revealed. <br style="" class="" clear="none">> Why any attempt to make common sense change creates so much drama and <br style="" class="" clear="none">> contraversy is beyond me, and I really hope we can move past this <br style="" class="" clear="none">> communication breakdown and start getting some real work done. <br style="" class="" clear="none">><br style="" class="" clear="none">> Doug <br style="" class="" clear="none">><br style="" class="" clear="none">> <br style="" class="" clear="none">><br style="" class="" clear="none">><br style="" class="" clear="none">><br style="" class=""></div> </div> </div> </div></body></html>