[Kzyxtalk] Local vs syndication

[doug mckenty]

Ok,

A lot to get around to.

The construction of the PAC was interesting. One member elected by the
board, one by the programmers and one by the community advisory board.
 These people were to get together with the program director and choose
three more according to a matrix of needs.  The seven member committee
makes programming decisions by consensus, though if consensus is not found
the pd gets the last word.  Any conflict should be reviewed by the
grievance process.  I thought it was a good start.  My sense of the story
is that it started off pretty strong but the air went out of the tires when
word came down after John C. became general manager and the decision was
made that the consensus of the group was not binding, and the group was
only advisory in nature.  That interpretation of the documentation won the
day and, neutered of any real power, the PAC because redundant because
there was already a CAB.  That is the story as I have interpreted it from
speaking with people who were involved.

About the NPR question.  Tim, will you please stop referring to people who
prefer news sources different from NPR as "NPR haters."  As one of them,
this attitude feels caustic and I am afraid will only work to continue to
alienate the large percentage of Mendocino county residents who feel as I
do.  Also, I want to know why many at the station feel that someone is
trying to eliminate NPR.  Where is this coming from?  Paul Lambert accused
me of the same thing, trying to eliminate NPR.  Where did he hear it?  The
only time I ever heard anyone speak publicly about eliminating NPR was
Annie Esposito at a board meeting where she advocated eliminating NPR and
keeping the news department.  She pointed to KMUD as a successful example.
 Please let me know who these people are who have advocated for this other
than Annie, so I can let them know I think it would be a terrible idea.

Also, though I appreciate your research, could I ask you to take it one
step further and remove the programs that are musical in nature.  Will you
compare the daily dose of locally produced public affairs programs vs. the
dose of NPR or other "canned" news sources.  I don't think the music
programming is a much of an issue here as this communities ability to hear
locally produced programs about national and international issues that give
us an alternative perspective from NPR.

One more thing about the demographics issue.  I swear I have heard this
notion that our radio station can't be "hippie" because too many "yuppies"
have moved in, about ten times in the last two weeks.  In most instances
there was the hint of sadness at the passing of an age.  I am forty one
years old and my wife and I and all my friends who did not grow up here
moved here because we wanted to get back to the land and we wanted to raise
our children in one of the most progressive communities in our country.  I
have not seen indications of yuppie invasion in my community nor
any indication that more canned material or NPR has led to many large
donations from these people.  Conversely, I do think a show about
marajuanna might improve our ability to find such donors.  I for one hope
that the old hippies will not give up...

Wait, there is more.  The PAC is not designed to satisfy everyone, it is
designed in part to create a public forum where critical individuals can go
to complain.  This not only takes the onus off staff, which would alleviate
a lot of unnecessary stress, but provides a venue where the complaint can
be listened to in a transparent way.  I think having the program
application review process become transparent would eliminate a lot of the
issues that come up.  And giving those critical of current policy the
opportunity to apply for the committee if they are passionate also gives
them the hope that if others agree, real change is possible.  The function
of the PAC is to neutralize the negative energy of the complainer, not an
effort to please everyone.  That is impossible.  Though most Public radio
stations have no such committee and allow the program director control,
many Community radio stations, of which KZYX is one, do employ such a
committee as they find it helps reduce conflict.


Doug



On Sunday, May 18, 2014, Tim Bray <tbray at wildblue.net> wrote:

>  Diane,
>
> As you note, the demographics have changed.  And as a friend of mine says,
> "It ain't Hippie Radio any more."
>
> If Doug is correct and half the listeners are "hardcore NPR fans" and half
> want more local shows, how can any process or committee reconcile those
> opposing views?
>
> How could a PAC be constituted in a way that satisfies everyone?  This is
> the question I have been unable to answer.
>
> Tim
>
>
> On 5/18/2014 3:36 PM, Diane Paget wrote:
>
> A lot of what Doug says in this post reflects my experience of the
> station since it first went on the air. I used to be a very active KZYX
> volunteer, hosted a month public affairs segment for a while, helped my
> kids host Rubber Biscuit, wrote and tallied the first two listener
> surveys, helped in pledge drives. Then my life got busy and I didn't
> have as much volunteer time. When that kind of time returned to my life,
> I went back to see if I could help the station out again and found the
> atmosphere much more defensive and less welcoming to volunteers. I'm
> still a member because I do listen sometimes and I wouldn't want to go
> back to what it was like before KZYX, but I listen a lot more to KPFA
> and give them more money because I like their programming better.
>
> One of the things that has changed in the past 25 years is the
> demographics of KZYX's listeners. In 1990 a greater percentage of the
> station's members were people who moved here in the 70's and 80's as
> young hippies, back to the landers, political activists and mom and pop
> pot growers -- the kind of folks who like the homemade feel of locally
> produced community radio. As more baby boomers have retired or
> semi-retired here from urban areas and university towns, where they were
> accustomed to NPR type public radio stations, there is more acceptance
> of (and maybe even a preference for) syndicated shows. Unfortunately
> those folks who have moved here from the city in the past 15 years have
> lots more money to contribute to the station than those of us who have
> lived here since the 70s. So if you are running the station as a
> business or even if you are just trying to pay off a lot of debt, there
> is going to be a tendency to let the money speak. But the station
> started in debt and paid off that debt while providing lots more local
> (and edgy -- don't forget the Beth Bosk had a show for years)
> programming and half an hour of locally produced news.
>
> A PAC might be able to address the problem of local vs. syndicated
> programming if it had the authority to make decisions and there was a
> mechanism in place to ensure that the members of the committee were
> representative of the membership of the station. The recently restarted
> Station Advisory Board members seem to have been hand picked by members
> of the Board and maybe the staff. If there isn't a fair, transparent
> process for selecting the members of the PAC, it could be just window
> dressing.
>
> Doug, do you know if the FCC regs or the station By Laws say anything
> about one? What does the current board policy that created the
> Programming Advisory Committee say about how it will be selected and
> what its powers would be?
>
> The PAC has come and gone over the years. It would be interesting to
> look at that history and see why it failed, when it did.
>
> Diane
>
>
>
>
> --
> Oak & Thorn <http://oakandthorn.wordpress.com>
> Facebook: Oak and Thorn
>
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