[Kzyxtalk] Fwd: letter to the editor -- KZYX Pledge Drive

[sako4 at comcast.net]

Tim, 


The six grand set aside for the Ukiah studio was swiped six years ago. Gone missing. Disappeared. Trust issue #1. 


Coate's plans for a Ukiah studio -- satellite hook-up or whatever -- seems far-fetched, but we'll see. It's kinda like holding your breath for the return of Doug McKenty and "Open Lines" to the airwaves. You'll turn blue while you wait. A collaboration with KMEC seems much more practical than a satellite up-link. Why Not KMEC? They have a lovely studio. Sid Copperrider built it, I think. KMEC's studio is a thing of beauty. Programmers not only broadcast to radio from it , they can also link up up Comcast's Mendocino County Community TV's video. Channel 3. KMEC's disc jockies are on television almost every night. KMEC makes sense. Something fishy is going on here. Trust issue #2. 


About my ideas for more edgy programming -- they'll never happen as things are currently set up at KZYX. And you know it, Tim. Why? Because there's no Program Advisory Committee to oversee one single person with all the authority in the world to make or break a programmer -- the Program Director, Mary Aigner. Why so much authority? Why? Trust issue #3. 


I could go on, but I'm at work. 


John 

----- Original Message -----
From: "Tim Bray" <tbray at wildblue.net> 
To: kzyxtalk at lists.mcn.org 
Sent: Monday, February 24, 2014 1:56:12 PM 
Subject: Re: [Kzyxtalk] Fwd: letter to the editor -- KZYX Pledge Drive 


John - Your plan for where the money should go includes at least one thing John Coate is already planning: the Ukiah studio, plans for which were presented in the July 2013 General Manger's Report. I hope you won't try to take credit for that when it happens; it's been in the works for a long time. And I don't recall anyone ever alleging that KMEC (or any other radio station) was "the enemy." 

We'll just have to continue disagreeing about the value of OL, which I (and others) found to be difficult listening. 

Community News never was 60 minutes long, not even when we had 2 full-time news people. 

I would love to hear how you are helping bring about any of the things you mention in your last 4 bullets. Anyone can come up with a bunch of great ideas, especially for other people's labor. If you are serious about any of those things, put your own resources to work on them. The GM Reports also contain information about the efforts to bring new programmers and new public-affairs programmers into the station lineup; are you helping with any of that? 

Tim Bray 


On 2/24/2014 1:28 PM, sako4 at comcast.net wrote: 






I have a plan for where the money should go: 




    • How about a Ukiah studio? KZYX is too Anderson Valley-centric. How about a collaboration between KZYX and Ukiah-based KMEC? KMEC is not the enemy. 
    • How about restoring free speech to KZYX by returning the now-canceled "Open Lines", and its indefinitely suspended, popular host, Doug McKenty, to the air? Maybe public comment in an open forum isn't such a bad idea for truly a "public", public radio station. 
    • How about restoring "Community News" to 60 minutes, instead of the skimpy 10 minutes we now get? And even those 10 minutes are two talking heads, who call themselves reporters, reading parts of press releases and newspaper articles -- pathetic. 
    • How about training community journalism volunteers -- stringers -- that can supplement KZYX's very part-time News Department? About about a program like KMUD's Community Journalism Project? This will enable more coverage of local arts, entertainment, politics, public affairs, and environmental issues. 
    • How about working with Mendocino College and College of the Redwoods to create campus radio stations? Low-power licenses, like at KMEC, with a maximum broadcast of 100 watts, are entirely feasible. 
    • How about an outreach program to recruit and train Pomo Native American Indian programmers to have their own shows? Here in Mendocino County, we have one of the largest per-capita populations of Native Americans in the U.S., yet we have no shows for our Pomo neighbors. Twenty-five years ago, KZYX's original license application to the FCC and KZYX's appropriations justification to the CPB made a big deal out of Mendocino County's Native American population, but once we got the licenses and the money, we forgot about them. This is KZYX's biggest fraud, in my opinion. Our biggest source of embarrassment. 
    • How about more edgy programs? A Green Party show? A Libertarian Party show? A conspiracy theory show? A medical marijuana show? Why does William Courtney, M.D. -- the country's leading researcher on the power of juicing raw cannabis -- have to take his show all the way to KMUD in Redway. Dr. Courtney lives in Willits. Why is all programming so "safe" and "mainstream" at KZYX? Why does one person -- the Program Director -- have total control over programming? And why isn't an Program Advisory Committee in place to ensure listeners get what listeners want? 






John Sakowicz 
Ukiah 

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