[Kzyxtalk] KZYX, Broken Radio

[doug mckenty]

Yes, it is my feeling that change will not come at KZYX until the
membership demands it with a clear mandate from the voters.  As much as I
appreciate the "starve the beast" strategy I believe the die-hard NPR fans
in the county will continue to support KZYX despite its many issues.  This
group gives the station just enough to keep it limping on.  If we want the
station to thrive, we need to convince those many individuals in our
community who have long since grown weary of the NPR "formula" to rejoin at
the simple living rate and have a vote.

I also feel strongly that educating the current membership about the
complete control staff has given themselves over programming production, to
the extent of manufacturing their own programs, not accepting applications
from the public and taking no advice from the community as to program
selection would help turn the tide in the current membership.  Most people
I talk to literally can't believe KZYX operates the way it does, so
antithetical to the common belief in this county that public institutions
should be empowering to the community, not to a few people or some far away
corporation out of Washington DC.

Doug

On Monday, September 29, 2014, Norman de Vall <ndevall at mcn.org> wrote:

> Good points all.  I'm in favor of the Simple Living rate.
>
> On Sep 29, 2014, at 2:26 AM, she-la wrote:
>
> Hi John,
> Let me say first that I miss your show & Know that many community people
> feel the same.
> It's a bit strange that I as I was "unbanned" through my persistence and
> the advocacy of S. Campbell( I have been permitted to volunteer for the
> upcoming Birthday Bash), you are now the ousted one.
> I asked Bob Bushansky why you were off the air because, as usual, there
> was dead silence about the details on air. It felt like they "disappeared"
> you.
> His response was that "you were caught saying 'what the fuck' on air."
> Were you baited as it seems after McKenty's departure from the airwaves,
> that this was an obvious way to cull the difficult and uncooperative--
> meaning, of course, anyone who challenges management's intolerance and
> inability to bury the hatchet and work out a compromise.
> I feel there are people on the Board who agree with the idea of more
> decentralization of power. It is important to build that base which means
> the next election cycle of finding community people to fill those seats.
> You are still on the Board. That is your place of strength. And the
> station's license still hasn't been renewed. We are in a very delicate
> place where we need to keep the vision of community foremost in our
> decisions.
> Having said that, I have been seriously thinking of responding to the
> misinformation contained in the station's lawyer's attempt to respond to
> all the comments that mentioned how little community there is in any policy
> making or where the direction of the future is going-- the 'Stategic Plan's
> that we are now 7 years without. It is all there in Eliane's statement in
> the 14 page legal doc that all five 'informal objectionists' received. She
> says Very Clearly that John had a Vision for the station and she ( as
> President of the Bd .--implying that she was speaking for the whole Bd.
> )--was totally behind John being the 'go to man with a plan'. The problem
> with this position is that no one seems to mind that Coate is truly not a
> community minded person and doesn't have the skills to work with others. To
> be inclusive. Exclusivity and community are not compatible.
> I am going to the 'fundraiser-celebration' and make myself useful.
> Personally, I think this party has a chance of getting us working together
> and heal old wounds.
> I think the dueling dunking booths should be more seriously considered as
> way to do a little informal polling. If only John could see it as a way to
> cool the heat.
> I do support you in the struggle to get the station back on track. Being
> involved with it for over 14 years, I can remember a time when it was more
> consensus based. At least the feel of it was such. Mary was the
> Underwriting Coordinator when I went to the 1st station training.
> I have to disagree with your idea to boycott the pledge drive. I believe
> the more strategic plan is to encourage people to pledge at the Simple
> Living membership rate, $25, not only as a protest donation but also to
> encourage more people who are less affluent in this prolonged recession to
> become members to enlarge the base membership with their accompanying vote
> in the election --More people to appeal to with a candidate who wants shows
> like Open Lines and general discourse and opinion sharing and communication
> with each other over the airways. It helps the station while putting the
> burden on those who want change to come up with alternative candidates in
> the next election.
> I still feel the best way to work is through the internal framework that
> is available to us. If we choose a non combative style of action, it will
> be less divisive and, being an advocate of peaceful resolution of
> conflicts, takes the highest road.
> I have been where you find yourself now and have experienced the outrage
> and the urgency to right wrongs. But think everything through at least
> twice and sort through the desired effects as well as the unintended
> consequences. Just saying...I am always interested in your perspective as I
> feel we come from the same place of making a more viable interactive
> community resource grow into its potential.
> I would like to see the Members for Change have another meeting soon so we
> can do some information sharing. When you have a union, however informal it
> may be, you are not alone.
> Take care, as you are a valuable and respected part of the conversation.
> I wish you the best and expect to see you on the 11th.
> Also, no meeting of the Bd. until after pledge drive. Hmmmm Any
> announcement yet on the website.? I mentioned it to Jane Futcher and she
> said she would speak to John about posting it as it is out of synch with
> their schedule. What schedule? It seems like they just move the meeting
> dates around haphazardly. Not good for getting public attendance at
> meetings. (Sigh)
> Regards,
> Sheila Dawn
>
>
>
> sako4 at comcast.net <javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','sako4 at comcast.net');>
> wrote:
>
> Bottom line: Coate and Aigner have to go. They've engineered a takeover of
> the station. It's not public radio anymore. It's their private fiefdom.
>
> The Board, for the most part, goes along with Aigner and Coate because of
> any numbers of reasons. They're inept. They're lazy. They're weak and
> acquiescent. They're handpicked as flunkies to be candidates.Take your
> pick, David.
>
> But with Coate and Aigner gone, KZYX stands a chance with new management.
>
> Younger management, from outside Mendocino County, without any history or
> ties with KZYX, and with prior work experience at a "real" public radio
> station, would be a good start.
>
> How to force Coate and Aigner out? Turn off the money spigot. Members
> should boycott the station. Underwriters should boycott the station.
>
> I'll continue putting pressure on Coate and Aigner at the FCC, the CPB,
> and NPR. Ultimately, I'll file a lawsuit. But for now, having members and
> underwriting sit it out, until Coate and Aigner are gone, is the main thing.
>
> ------------------------------
> *From: *drs at mcn.org <javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','drs at mcn.org');>
> *To: *"kzyxtalk" <kzyxtalk at lists.mcn.org
> <javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','kzyxtalk at lists.mcn.org');>>
> *Sent: *Sunday, September 28, 2014 11:13:47 AM
> *Subject: *Re: [Kzyxtalk] KZYX, Broken Radio
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>  John,
> with
> Mary
> and
> John
> gone.
> were
> left
> with
> there
> board,(hand
> picked?)now
> what?.
> David
> Shacklett
>
>
>
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> > KZYX, BROKEN RADIO
> >
> >
> >
> > The KZYX Birthday Bash is nothing more than another fundraising event for
> > a failing radio station, a station that is completely controlled by
> > management for its own benefit, and which purges itself of its critics
> and
> > fails in so many other ways.
> >
> > How does KZYX fail Mendocino County?
> >
> > Show content is controlled, censored. Programmers with strong
> > personalities, who do shows on important and controversial topics with
> > guests with national reputations, and who stand up to management are
> > pushed out. They are purged.
> >
> > Programmers who criticize station management or otherwise “rock the
> > boat� are purged. Popular programmers such as Norman De Vall, Doug
> > McKenty, Johanna Schultz, and myself were all purged for speaking out.
> >
> > Newsperson, Christina Aanestad, was purged.
> >
> > Earlier in the station’s history, Beth Bosk, the editor of The New
> > Settler Interviews, was purged.
> >
> > Also, K.C. Meadows, editor of the Ukiah Daily Journal, was purged, and
> Els
> > Cooperrider, who worked so hard to make to make Mendocino County the
> > nation’s first GMO-free zone, was purged.
> >
> > This is appalling.
> >
> > There’s more bad news. Equipment regularly fails at KZYX.The broadcast
> > signal was down for three whole days earlier this year. Equipment breaks
> > down a lot. It’s old and needs to be replaced, not held together by
> > spare parts, masking tape, and bailing wire.
> >
> > Another thing. There is no Ukiah studio, and never will be. Any
> > fundraising attempts during the Birthday Bash or Pledge Drive at creating
> > a Ukiah studio are patently fraudulent. Folks should know that all monies
> > raised go to the general fund, and most monies go towards salaries. A
> > decade ago, $6,000 was raised by a few dedicated volunteers to start
> > creating a Ukiah studio. That money disappeared. It wasn’t restricted.
> > It wasn’t escrowed. John Coate was later forced to admit that $6,000
> was
> > spent on salaries.
> >
> > Regarding salaries, four points: one, salaries are not disclosed at KZYX,
> > they’re secret; two, all staff recently got a raise at the last meeting
> > of the KZYX Board; three, General Manager, John Coate, gave himself a 10
> > percent raise in 2013 at precisely the time county workers were getting a
> > 10 percent pay cut. and four, the budget at KZYX is upwards of $650,000,
> > meanwhile the budget at KMEC is $17,000, not a big bang for the buck.
> >
> > The KZYX Birthday Bash is a farce. It is little more than a celebration
> of
> > the egos of John Coate, and Mary Aigner. Aigner is the KZYX Program
> > Director. She handles the purges. Stalin had nothing on Aigner. Not a
> > thing. Aigner has been with the station for its entire 25 years, and in
> > that time Aigner has beaten back four attempts to oust her.
> >
> > The final insult is that Coate and Aigner rig Board elections. They tell
> > some candidates like myself not to run. They discourage others.
> Meanwhile,
> > Coate and Aigner recruit their flunkies to run for the Board, and endorse
> > them, and work to get them elected in every way. In other words, the
> > flunkies have the home field advantage. It’s why progressive
> candidates,
> > like Doug McKenty and Patricia, lost this year.
> >
> > Bottom Line?
> >
> > The FCC has received numerous objections to the renewal of KZYX’s
> > licenses. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting is also on notice about
> > the station’s numerous and serious problems. And so is NPR. Now the
> > station’s members and underwriters need to take notice.
> >
> > KZYX will fail under current management. To save the station, the plan is
> > simple. We need fire Coate and Aigner, downsize the station, invest in
> > equipment and technology, archive shows, create a Ukiah studio, restore
> > the right to free speech at the station, and bring back all those
> > programmers who have been purged.
> >
> > What KZYX should not be is a jobs program for the five people who work
> > there, and I’m using the word “work� loosely, because my attempts
> to
> > get job descriptions, work hour logs, and performance evaluations were
> > completely shut down by Coate. Staff won’t even archive its shows.
> >
> > Most of all, KZYX should not be a private clubhouse. I repeat: KZYX is
> not
> > a private clubhouse. It’s a community radio statio. But right now,
> > it’s a broken radio.
> >
> > And so, my friends, the time has come to vote with your dollars, or more
> > precisely, to not vote with your dollars. KZYX should not be supported
> > while Coate and Aigner are still calling the shots. Having them in the
> two
> > top management slots reminds me of a management takeover in the private
> > sector. That’s when insiders buy all the assets and operations of a
> > company, but in the case of KZYX, Coate and Aigner didn’t put up a
> dime.
> > Worse, with our membership and underwriting dollars we members and
> > underwriters have actually paid Coate and Aigner to take over the station
> > and make it their own.
> >
> > A takeover. A broken radio.
> >
> > Boycott the Birthday Bash. Boycott Fall Pledge drive.
> >
> > Thank you.
> >
> > John Sakowicz, Board member and suspended host of “All About Money�
> >
> > _______________________________________________
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