[Kzyxtalk] from the AVA's "Mendocino County Today", June 9, 2015

[sako4 at comcast.net]

ANOTHER BOMB 




Editor, 




KZYX wrapped up yet another pledge drive, and this pledge drive bombed just like the pledge drive before it. This most recent pledge drive goal was $85,000. 

KZYX raised only $65,000. 




The last pledge drive failed by a similar margin. 




Clearly, the people of Mendocino County are questioning "business as usual" at KZYX. They're beginning to see KZYX for what it really is. KZYX is not a true community radio station. It is a closed clubhouse... a closed clubhouse that purges its critics, and a jobs program for the otherwise unemployable people who work there. 




KZYX programming is mediocre, at best, and the station's broadcasts are frequently plagued by dead air, scratchy irritating signals, and fuzzouts. Its webstream drops a lot. And shows are not permanently archived. The FCC has failed to renew both of the station's licenses -- even after a year of legal wrangling -- and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting slashed funding by more than $50,000 this year. 




Meanwhile, KMEC, a low power station in Ukiah, has national guests on its public affairs show, archives its shows, and it keeps the station humming without technical problems for less than less than $20,000 a year and nothing in salaries. Compare this to a budget of $570,000 a year and $236,000 in salaries and benefits at KZYX. 




Thank you Mendocino County for supporting KMEC and KNYO until meaningful change comes to KZYX. 




John Sakowicz, Ukiah 


-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.mcn.org/pipermail/kzyxtalk/attachments/20150610/ef357aa2/attachment.html