[Kzyxtalk] Local vs syndication

[ann brown]

Morning Folks,

There is a lot of history at KZYX…much of which I am only just learning.  Now that this KZYX discussion list is truly discussing KZYX it is possible to get a bigger picture of the dynamics that have formed the station as we know it today.

Maybe we don't need a survey (though we might) maybe we just need to develop more local programming.  Seems like that 73% of local music, though great, offers space enough to introduce new programs.  By develop, I mean not just the new programs, but raising the money for educating the public of the opportunity and training the programmers in the technology to produce, air and archive their programs as self sufficiently as possible.  This money might be raised from other sources than just membership.  Would be interesting to explore with staff and board what other sources might have already been identified.  This is the kind of "get back to work" project that I would love to see us do…us being those most vocally and passionately engaged in the station's welfare as a "community" station…lets find ways to work together to make these changes happen.  No more cutting off people's heads…just waking up people's minds.

Not everyone wants or can work together on projects.  That's fine.  But those of us who do can create a big difference.

If just the time spent on all this writing was used to research possible grants, resources, etc.  That would be a big contribution.

Just saying




On May 19, 2014, at 8:48 AM, Tim Bray <tbray at wildblue.net> wrote:

Diane, EVERYBODY wants more good local public affairs programming, and especially more well produced local news.   John Coate most of all!  
I spent some time talking with him yesterday and this is a high priority with him.   He is actively working on expanding the local coverage.

In another message you mentioned a desire for more "edgy" public affairs hosts, and this echoed some remarks I heard from John as well. 

I think you would be surprised to find how closely aligned you are with station management in terms of what you want on the radio.   I wish they could communicate that to the listeners more clearly.

The problem is finding the people who can and will produce that kind of content, reliably and consistently.   It's not just a KZYX problem (as you note, FSRN couldn't make it work either) but our location and demographics make it even tougher.

Or as my mom used to say:  "Wantin' and gettin' is two different things."

So, if you know a smart person who has a good voice, can learn the tech, is reliable (and not a toxic personality), has the time (several hours per week) and the inclination to produce a program that will inform and/or entertain people - tell them to get in touch with Mary and find out how to submit a proposal.   


Here's the current breakdown, in hours per week:
NPR 32.5
Other syndicated news & public affairs: 43.5
Local public affairs: 12
Syndicated music: 7
Local music: 73


Tim

On 5/18/2014 7:09 PM, Diane Paget wrote:
> Tim says that "the schedule currently includes 83 hours/week of 
> syndicated programming, of which 32.5 hrs/wk come from NPR; and 85 
> hrs/wk of locally-produced content.  So, just over 50% of the airtime is 
> in fact "community" radio, just under 50% is "canned".  Less than half 
> the syndicated programming is NPR, the rest includes things like 
> Democracy Now! and other popular programs."
> 
> But, when we dig deeper and try to clarify what we are talking about,  
> how much of the total programming is local and how much is syndicated 
> isn't really the issue, because we are not talking about music 
> programming. At least I'm not, and I doubt that most of the others in 
> this discussion (and those who agree with us) are either. This is really 
> a discussion about public affairs and news programming. Do you have the 
> stats for that Tim?
> 
> All the hours of NPR news are fine with me -- sometimes I listen, 
> sometimes I don't. Referring to people who want more local good local 
> public affairs programming as NPR haters is a red herring. Yes, there 
> are people who have advocated for not having any NPR, but most of us 
> understand that KZYX serves a lot of different needs and tastes, and 
> needs to have a bit of a bunch of different kinds of programming.
> 
> What we used to have, and what I miss and want back is well produced 
> local news, more alternative news sources (Free Speech Radio News no 
> longer exists as an audio broadcast -- but it exemplified what I want 
> --  voices from the global grass roots)  and good interviews with local 
> people -- Supervisors, County officials, ag people, all kinds of local 
> people.
> 
> I like Ann's suggestion of surveying the community to see how people 
> feel. But for the stats to be meaningful it would have to survey random 
> people on the phone. If you do as she suggests and just put surveys out 
> for people to take and complete, you will only get responses from people 
> who care a lot about the issue and/or people who like to take surveys. 
> Doing a meaningful survey would be costly in either volunteer time or 
> money.
> 
> Doug, thanks for the clear explanation about the PAC proposal.
> 
> Diane
> 
> 
> 

-- 
Oak & Thorn
Facebook: Oak and Thorn
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