[Kzyxtalk] Loyalty

[nsi at mcn.org]

Absolutely. Doug is so right here. --beth bosk

On Sun, 4 Sep 2016 12:35:30 -0700, Doug McKenty <dougmck at gmail.com> wrote:
> I feel compelled to respond to a post last week from Marco where he
> revealed an email from the current Program Director at KZYX stating that
> the organization was not interested in working with him as they were
only
> looking for volunteers who would, in her words, express a "loyalty" to
the
> radio station. 
> 
> What does that mean?
> 
> KZYX is meant to be a community organization that, according to its
> mission statement, produces programming that is open to "all points of
> view."  In other words, those with different, and opposing,
perspectives,
> should be able to use the station as a communication hub where these
> differences can be hashed out in an open and transparent manner and the
> radio station should operate as a common resource shared by all members
of
> the community.  The bylaws and policies of the station clearly dictate
that
> differences in opinion concerning station governance and programming
> decisions should be made in a similarly transparent and democratic
fashion.
> 
> 
> About 10 years ago, a few entrenched members of the stations hierarchy
> chose to disregard many of these policies in order to enforce upon the
> station a "NPR formula" which minimized the influence of members of the
> community interested in discussing alternative or activist opinions that
> strayed too far from what I would describe as the "NPR worldview."  
> 
> As a result, community support for the station plummeted and the
stations
> net worth dropped from $350k to almost zero.  The station has lost an
> average of $3000 a month during that time, despite the fact that the CPB
> grant increased by nearly 100%. (Though the amount has been reduced over
> the last two years.)
> 
> Those who advocated for a return to the democratic spirit expressed in
the
> stations policies often coincided with their desire to discuss
alternatives
> to the NPRcentric perspectives of those who unilaterally took control of
> the programming were often simply pushed out over time.
> 
> While it seems obvious that many in our community wish to hear more
> alternative beliefs, and the expression of those beliefs on air would
> result in more community financial support for the station, those who
have
> taken control of the programming simply accuse those who seek democratic
> change over hierarchical control of disloyalty to the institution
itself. 
> 
>>From my perspective, those who have taken control of the programming to
>>impose their beliefs, at the expense of the rest of the community, are
the
>>ones who act out of disloyalty to the institution, and those of us
>>attempting to democratize the process in order to save the station
>>financially, are the ones loyal to the spirit of community radio with
>>respect for the shared, common resource it is meant to be.
> 
> The accusation of "disloyalty" seems to be yet another excuse to silence
> the voices in our community who believe that the radio station should be
> open to "all points of view."  
> 
> Doug
> 
> Sent from my iPhone
> _______________________________________________
> Kzyxtalk mailing list
> Kzyxtalk at lists.mcn.org
> http://lists.mcn.org/mailman/listinfo/kzyxtalk