[Imc] Re: Proposed program change

[Steven J Scher]

I am strongly OPPOSED to the proposal to droping "Pulse of the Planet" as
a drop in.  As I have communicated to the PC several times over the last 3
or 4 years (generally being ignored), I think that WEFT would benefit
from a broad overhaul of the way we schedule drop-ins during the morning
menu (and perhaps at other times during the day).  I have said that I 
would be happy to participate in an overall review, including an effort to
produce a variety of local programs.  But, I do not think it is a good
idea to change things one program at a time.

My opposition to this specific change is based on several factors:

1) I think "Pulse of the Planet" is an interesting program that is worth
broadcasting.

2) I think that a general policy should be to try and maximize the number
of programs we air, rather than repeating programs.  We have 15 drop in
slots (3 a day, 5 days a week).  Ideally, we would increase the amount of
information that we provide to the community -- both by increasing the
number of drop in slots within the morning menu and throughout the day,
and by never or rarely repeating a program.  There is value in many
national programs, as well as in locally produced programs.  (There are
also many national programs which should be aired which do not have a
permanent place on our schedule -- Hightower Radio is a leading
contender).

3) In particular, the replacement of a nationally produced program with
locally produced programming is risky because of the uncertainty inherent
in local programming.  I am reluctant to give a locally produced
program a permanent place on our schedule until we are relatively certain
that it can be produced on a regular basis.  
   The program "Life in the Bike Lane" is a good example.  By my
estimation, since March there have been AT MOST 5 newly produced "LITB"
programs (i.e., fewer than half).  I realize it is a difficult task to
produce a weekly program of this type, with interviews and other recorded
sound (as opposed to a single person reading a commentary).  The record
before that date was better, but still somewhat sporadic. The benefit of
nationally produced programming, especially when there has been a fairly
long track-record of production -- is that we know we will pretty
consistently have new programming every day or week.  
   I would suggest that locally produced program (and, maybe new National
Programs, as well) should be given 'trial runs' -- aired not as an
official drop-in but at another time during shows where people want to air
it.  If, after some extended time (6 months?, 1 year?) the producers have
consistently produced the program on the planned schedule, then it might
be viable to schedule it as a regular drop in.  (I'm not sure, but I
think this is what happened with "The Environmental Moment".  Of course, I
have been airing Hightower Radio consistently for several years).

I had gotten the impression that the current configuration of the PC had
been oriented to increasing the amount of informational programming on
WEFT.  Dropping an existing program when we currently repeat much of our
informational programming seems to be reducing the amount of information
we provide to the community.

Steve
***************************************************************************
Steven J. Scher              cfsjs at eiu.edu         Listen to WEFT 90.1FM
Department of Psychology     217-581-7269     
Eastern Illinois University                Sim shalom tovah u'vracha...
Charleston, IL 61920                        Grant peace, goodness, and blessing, 
USA                                          grace, kindness and mercy....


On Tue, 28 May 2002, Kranich, Kimberlie wrote:

> WEFTies and IMCers,
> 
> The Programming Committee, at its next meeting (June 12, 7pm at WEFT) will
> consider a request that the nationally-produced drop-in, "Pulse of the
> Planet," be dropped from the schedule in favor of locally-produced drop-ins.
> 
> Currently, "Pulse of the Planet" (POP) airs Thursdays at 7:30am and Fridays
> at 8:30am.  The program description, from its Web site
> http://www.pulseplanet.com/about.html, is as follows:
> 
> "Pulse of the Planet provides its listeners with a two-minute sound portrait
> of Planet Earth, tracking the rhythms of nature, culture and science
> worldwide and blending interviews and extraordinary natural sound."
> The program is presented by the DuPont Company <http://www.dupont.com/>,
> with additional support from the National Science Foundation
> <http://www.nsf.gov> and the National Endowment for the Humanities
> <http://www.neh.gov> .
> The PC prefers to fill the drop-in slots (M-F 6:30am, 7:30am, 8:30am) with
> non-corporate locally-produced and locally-relevant material.  This was the
> original intent behind creating the drop-in slots but at the time, few
> locally produced drop-ins were being produced.
> Currently, the following drop-ins are being produced locally: Environmental
> Moment, The Sky Tonight, All Girlz Radio, and Life in the Bike Lane.
> The PC repeats most of the locally-produced drop-ins during the week with
> the exception of "All Girlz Radio."  We will consider adding AGR to one of
> the POP slots at our June 12th meeting.  
> Please send us your feedback if you have any.
> Additional drop-in proposals are encouraged. Airshifters other than Morning
> Menu airshifters may play drop-ins at their discretion.
> Thanks.
> Kimberlie
> PC Chair
> 
> 
> 
> 
>