[Kzyxtalk] Replacing Media Matters

[nsi at mcn.org]

----- Original Message -----
From: "doug mckenty" 
To:"tbray at wildblue.net" , "kzyxtalk at lists.mcn.org" 
Cc:
Sent:Fri, 21 Feb 2014 22:38:58 -0800
Subject:Re: [Kzyxtalk] Replacing Media Matters

 Tim,
I often find it strange when I hear the words coming out of the
mouths of those who advocate for current station policy that have
often come out of my own mouth when advocating for change.  With all
due respect, who is trying to force their views on anyone?  Coate is
a lefty politically, but he has chosen to program KZYX to cater to
the center left and those who adhere to a worldview that is
portrayed by NPR.  He has taken a conservative tact believing it to
be the right course of action in steering KZYX to financial
stability.  I believe he has made a mistake by excluding all
those who are not center left, which surveys show to be at least
half the population.    
All of those advocating for change are looking for a station that
reflects the diversity of our community.
I also believe Coate's management style to be conservative when he
attempts to control the local news to the point of reducing it to
next to nothing and eliminating all controversial topics.  I feel it
is also conservative to eliminate community input by ignoring, then
suspending Open Lines, or placing barriers in the way of board
members trying to establish a board access program or not helping
facilitate the CAB or not implementing the PAC.   
I would also call it conservative for Coate to instruct local
programmers to cover local news rather than produce local news
programs himself.  Local programmers should be treated as
independant contractors.  If their program description is approved
by the PAC then management has no right to interfere with their
production.  I feel this attempted control to be just plain rude.
   
When I have brought these thing up, nothing is done.  Jeff
Blankfort's show and Corporations and Democracy are used as the
example that the far left should be satisfied and the rest of us are
just a "small but vocal minority."   What about a conspiracy theory
show or a libertarian show or a Native American show or a communist
show or a Green Party show or a .....(fill in the blank).  I don't
believe that advocating for diversity in programming and freedom of
speech for all members of our community, including minority
voices, is extremist.  I believe that is what public radio should
be all about.    
How is current programming helping anybody understand the issues from
all sides?
I cannot agree with you more than when you say no one has a monopoly
on truth.  That includes station staff.  This is why I advocate for
the implementation of the Program Advisory Committee designed to
create a group of people from a cross section of our community
working together making programming choices with consensus.   
Doug Mckenty

On Friday, February 21, 2014, Tim Bray  wrote:
  John Coate is on the extreme right, in exactly the same way that
Barack Obama is on the extreme left: it only looks that way if you
are an extremist yourself

 It would be funny, if it weren't so tragic.  This divisive and
personal campaign against station staff is reducing the opportunities
for real change, and making enemies of people who should be making
common cause.

 John is a lefty himself, but he believes public radio should help
people understand issues from all sides, educating and informing so
people can make rational decisions, rather than simply reflecting
their beliefs back to them.  For this, he is castigated as a traitor
to "the cause" by those who want this station to echo their own
political agendas.  He is also maybe a little more humble about his
beliefs than those of you who seek to force their views on everyone
else.

 We have a really diverse community in this County, and we should
have a diversity of views presented on our community radio station. 
Nobody has a monopoly on Truth.

 Tim Bray
 Albion

 On 2/20/2014 2:06 PM, she-la wrote:

	Karen, The simplest answer is that, from John Coate's perspective,
the stations news programs were one sided, leaning toward leftist
philosophy. Since he, along with Mary was making the programming
decisions it didn't matter what any of the members or listeners
thought. This is one of the main difficulties with the station--the
lack of inclusion of the public base. It is also the main reason why
1/5 of KZYX membership numbers (423) now donate to KMUD while only 44
people in Humboldt County donate to KZYX. The station ignores these
statistics by having more pledge drives to bolster its membership
numbers and make it appear as if a boycott of the station by
dissatisfied listeners is not occurring. Of course, from where Coate
stands on the extreme right, everything is left of his views.   
-- 
Oak & Thorn [2]
 Facebook: Oak and Thorn   

Links:
------
[1] mailto:tbray at wildblue.net
[2] http://oakandthorn.wordpress.com

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