[Kzyxtalk] Local vs syndication

Tue May 20 07:55:03 PDT 2014

No, I probably have the name wrong.

Diane

Liz Helenchild wrote:
> Diane,
>
> Your history & analysis thereof clangs a gong with me.
> Do you mean SAB (Station Advisory Board) is something other than the 
> CAB (Community Advisory Board)?
>
> Peace,
>
> Liz
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> *From:* Diane Paget <dpaget at mcn.org>
> *To:* kzyxtalk at lists.mcn.org
> *Sent:* Sunday, May 18, 2014 3:36 PM
> *Subject:* Re: [Kzyxtalk] Local vs syndication
>
> 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
>
>
> doug mckenty wrote:
> > Tim,
> > I am glad that you have been enlightened as to this issue as it has
> > been central for me for some time.  As the host of Open Lines, I have
> > heard this complaint for years.  That KZYX is going too NPR, too
> > pre-recorded, not enough locally produced material etc.  The surveys
> > the CAB has put out for years have showed at least 50% of the
> > listening audience want to hear more "community" radio and even
> > surveys of our own membership (whom theoretically like the current
> > programming) show that only about half of them are hardcore NPR fans
> > and the other half would still like to hear less canned material and
> > more locally produced content.
> >
> > Nonetheless, over the last ten years KZYX has severely reduced this
> > type of content.  Because the programming decision making process is
> > not transparent, nobody but staff knows who has applied for what kind
> > of shows.  I have spoken in the past with many who applied for a
> > program but were never contacted afterwards (over the years I have
> > personally witnessed this about six or seven times and suspect that
> > there are others out there).  Also, our community currently has no
> > ability to affect programming decisions at KZYX so while these
> > complaints and surveys have shown us that more "community" radio would
> > be beneficial to the station, the communities ideas have no way to
> > translate into actual programing changes at KZYX. 
> >
> > This is why I have been advocating for the impementation of the
> > current board policy that created the Programming Advisory Committee.
> >  It would solve both these problems.
> >
> > It is my belief, after hosting Open Lines, being on the board of
> > directors, and analyzing what survey material is available, that KZYX
> > would have between 4000-.5000 members if the current operational
> > philosophy focused on the "community" aspect of our station rather
> > than its "public" aspect.
> >
> > Staff has been pretty adamant that the public radio formula will (and
> > has?) saved the station.  Their feeling is the vast majority of
> > Mendocino County residents rely on NPR for their daily informational
> > needs and this silent but large majority will (and has?) fork up the
> > money required.  They feel so strongly that this approach is working
> > that they have decided implementation of the PAC is unnecessary. 
> >
> > One more thing, this top down management style in which the program
> > director decides all the programming is typical of "public" radio
> > stations.  These stations typically have some local news, NPR and some
> > jazz or classical music in the interim.  "Community" radio stations
> > very often have a committee, such as the PAC, that at least reviews
> > all volunteer programs each year, and is responsible for the
> > assessment of applications for new programs.  This ensures the
> > transparency of the process as well as establishing some protocols
> > requiring diversity and ensuring that the station is truly open to
> > "all points of view."  It also prevents one person from inadvertently
> > promoting their own perspectives over the needs of the community.   
> >
> > Though I feel that there are only about 2300 really diehard fans of
> > public radio in this County (ie the number of members KZYX has
> > maintained for the last 10 years) and question the decision to promote
> > it over the production of more local content, there is little I can do
> > to promote a change except advocate for the PAC.
> >
> > This has been my central issue for the last twelve months.  I
> > apologize for not being more clear earlier.  The multiple side issues
> > and drama are having a real negative impact on my ability to clearly
> > state what I believe needs to be done to get the station up to the
> > 4000 member mark.
> >
> > Thanks to you all for participating with this list.  After over four
> > months of having this communication tool, I am beginning to feel that
> > we have occasionally cut through the BS and disinformation and are
> > beginning to discover the central issues and what our legitimate
> > disagreements about those issues are.
> >
> > Good communication is the key.  Most of the changes I have been
> > advocating, such as a move toward more "community" radio, are pretty
> > common sense, in my opinion, once all the information is revealed.
> >  Why any attempt to make common sense change creates so much drama and
> > contraversy is beyond me, and I really hope we can move past this
> > communication breakdown and start getting some real work done. 
> >
> > Doug 
> >
> >   
> >
> >
> >
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
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