[Kzyxtalk] questions

[doug mckenty]

Before John S. and Shelia Dawn wrote the FCC both of them asked me to do
the same.  I will honestly say that I thought about it because as a board
member I discovered that management and staff had become so entrenched that
any attempt to include input from the membership about the stations
programming and operational philosophy seemed impossible without taking
drastic measures.  When I was first on the board I spent my first year
listening and learning.  I thought it was odd that the board never voted on
anything and seemed to have no influence over station policy.  I also read
the bylaws and policy papers written by past boards and found it odd that
many of the procedures and policies outlined in those documents were not
adhered to.

What follows is a very long story that includes many frustrations on my
part to try and get the organization to follow the protocol outlined in the
mission statement and in the policy papers voted on by the boards of MCPB.
Without much oversight or transparency, over the years staff has managed to
control many aspects of the station that I believe ought to be controlled
by the membership and overseen by the board.  Obviously many past boards
agreed with me or they would not have voted in those policies in the first
place.  I came to feel that publisicing these issues and running for the
board was a better idea than involving the federal government in our local
disputes, but I understand the frustration that led five members of our
community to do just that.  I will also say that discussion of these issues
has somehow turned into an "us vs. them" uphill battle.  Why can't we just
talk it out on the radio?  Shouldn't the station be making an effort to
foster public debate about it's issues?  Shouldn't the organization be set
up to make it easy to allow "membership control of the stations programming
and operational philosophy" as the mission statement stipulates?  We need
to make debate about station policy a lot easier and allow alternative
viewpoints to be easily expressed.

In the end I did not support Sakowitz in writing the FCC, but I do think
that this community should be asking the question: What drove five members
of our community to do just that?  The answers to this question might
surprise you, they are a lot more complicated than many have been led to
believe.

To answer the second question, salaries cost a lot of money, and a lot more
could be done with volunteer labor for sure.   Marco's suggestion of
operating KZYX more like KNYO or KMEC is interesting indeed, and I do
wonder how those operations can run on less than 20K a year while KZYX
struggles with a budget of 550K.  Nonetheless, KZYX needs at least a full
time studio manager.  I would argue that to really do it's job it needs to
have a full time news director and an engineer to deal with the technical
stuff.  I really don't think it's necessary to discuss eliminating staff, I
would rather focus on how to get membership dues back up to pre-2009 levels
and maybe recommend purchasing less programming and producing more of our
own so the station has a feeling of abundance financially.  It's going to
need it to upgrade the infrastructure that keeps causing dead air and
scratchy signals.

Doug

On Mon, Mar 16, 2015 at 3:12 PM, Dennis OBrien <
dennisobrien at sharejerusalem.com> wrote:

> Sakowicz/FCC: I have chosen not to use the FCC to resolve concerns, as I
> believe they can be resolved locally without the expense of regulatory
> litigation.  At this point, the only transgression the FCC has chosen to
> investigate is whether or not the news director position was adequately
> advertized at a time when EEOC rules still applied.  My response is that
> the board should adopt a policy that we follow EEOC rules for outreach even
> if we no longer are required to do so (less than five full-time employees).
> So I don't support John's choice of actions.  But I can't condemn him for
> petitioning the government for a redress of his grievances, a First
> Amendment guarantee that benefits us all.
>
> Volunteer Management: There are many tasks that the current KZYX
> management is doing that others could do, as I proposed in my summary of
> proposals for change (below).  Essentially, management decisions would be
> made by the board committees and a programming committee, all of which
> include volunteers from the community.  Whatever administrative tasks that
> remain are divided among paid coordinators/facilitators.  "Management" thus
> becomes a non-hierarchical staff that supports the programmers and the
> community.  That's my ideal.  And the likely savings can be used for
> improving production, e.g., the news department.
>
> Thanks for your interest and for passing along the information.
>
> Denny
>
> *Decentralized Power:*  Final say on all personnel matters will be with
> the Board of Directors, not the General Manager.  Final say on programming
> decisions will be with a Programming Council, not the Program Director.
> The Council will be formed in accordance with the policy in place since
> 2009; its process will open and responsive to the listening community.  The
> News Director/Department will be independent of both the Program Director
> and the General Manager.  The budget will be reprioritized, with
> programmers provided adequate resources to maximize their creativity.
> Syndication of shows will be promoted, and the production rights of
> programmers will be guaranteed.
>
>   ------------------------------
>  *From:* Liz Helenchild <deejayliz at yahoo.com>
> *To:* Doug Mckenty <dougmck at gmail.com>
> *Cc:* Dennis OBrien <dennisobrien at sharejerusalem.com>; Kzyxtalk <
> kzyxtalk at lists.mcn.org>
> *Sent:* Monday, March 16, 2015 2:01 PM
> *Subject:* questions
>
> When I discuss your candidacy with still-undecided members, these
> questions keep coming up:
>
> Do you support Sakowitz in complaining to FCC?
>
> Do you support all volunteer management, including General Manager?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Liz
>
>
>
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