[Rfu-station] Re: [RFU] Station manager questions

[Mike Lehman]

I think that folks were taking my somewhat tongue in cheek comments 
about KPFK a little too seriously. After all, we're not going to be 
coughing up $65,000 to pay for that level of experience. I certainly 
don't think you need six years of experience. A college degree might 
come in handy, but it's certainly optional. When I applied for what 
became to WRFU license, I was a high school graduate... :-)

I do certainly agree with Andrew on the need for the membership to step 
up to the plate and start taking more responsibility for basic station 
functions. It doesn't hurt for the SM to have a working knowledge of all 
aspects of running and organizing the station, which was my point in 
quoting the KPFK announcement, plus the various aspects of WRFU's 
relationship with UC IMC and Socialist Forum.

That is why I stated taking on too much of those essential station tasks 
was my greatest failing and disappointment -- that I failed to shift 
more of that responsibility onto the membership and just kept plugging 
the holes myself. The next SM should not and probably cannot do that. 
It's up to the members to make WRFU work -- if they fail to do that, 
then the next SM will preside over the failure of WRFU, because he or 
she will likely not have the patience to keep encouraging the membership 
to take more responsibility -- and being so frequently disappointed that 
it's not happening.

The membership would be making a mistake to choose someone to replace 
what I've been doing. Instead, they should be picking someone who will 
force them to take more responsibility for what happens -- and let them 
know even more bluntly than I so often have what the members need to do 
to make WRFU a great little community radio station.
Mike Lehman

Andrew Ó Baoill wrote:
> I'm afraid I have to disagree with both Dan and Mike. The tasks they 
> list are all ones we could do with accomplishing, and traditionally 
> they are included in the job description of a full-time station 
> manager, but they need not be part of the same job, and in a 
> cooperative like WRFU, it's inappropriate to vest so much 
> responsibility in a single volunteer.
>
> I mention this because the job description as provided will serve to 
> dissuade anyone interested in assisting the station in this role. 
> There's a secondary concern about the implications for our culture and 
> organization as a collective, but that's a discussion for another day. 
> I should mention that I understand intimately the traditional role of 
> station manager - I was founding station manager of Flirt FM in 
> Galway, Ireland.
>
> For now I think it's helpful to separate out the responsibilities a 
> station manager must have, to remain in compliance with the FCC, from 
> the tasks we need (or want) to have completed by our volunteer body.
>
> Our station manager will be the primary contact person with the FCC.
> The SM must be able to access the FCC's online license-holder database.
> The SM is responsible to the FCC for ensuring regulatory compliance.
> Regulations we need to comply with as a station:
> maintain a complete and accurate log;
> maintain our 'public file' (a collection of license-related documents, 
> records of certain types of programming, etc.);
> have (and use) a functioning EAS system;
> announce the legal ID at the top of every hour;
> follow FCC regulations on obscene and indecent content;
> produce local programming regularly.
>
> The SM is the person finally responsible for compliance, but 'it takes 
> a village' - and we have structures to deal with, for example, 
> breaches of rules on obscenity.
>
> As a station I would submit that we also need to do the following:
> Finance and equipment: Urgently complete our fundraising drive, build 
> a permanent tower, and improve our studio equipment; complete 
> financial and equipment tasks needed to bring back webcasting and 
> podcasting; develop stable income streams for our regular budget.
> Membership: Reach more of the community (more numbers, continually 
> striving for a diverse and inclusive membership); involve more of our 
> members in all aspects of station operations (more volunteering in 
> working groups, more transparency, better processes and structures to 
> facilitate involvement)
> Programming: Fill empty slots; encourage innovative and quality 
> programming; more training; equipment to facilitate innovative and 
> quality programming; consistency in output - fewer missed shows, 
> consider scheduling in ways that make schedule predictable (or not) 
> for listeners; consider new ways to integrate with other IMC 
> activities; work with other community groups in innovative programming 
> approaches
> Audience: Publicize ourselves to our community; increase means for 
> feedback by audience members; encourage audience participation in the 
> station - in deep and meaningful ways.
>
> These tasks could all sit with the SM, but I think that's a bad model 
> for us. We have two spokes to the IMC's steering group. We have 
> facilitators for our regular meetings. We have people anchoring our 
> various working groups. We have structures - and can refine them 
> further - that should facilitate our reaching our goals. However, we 
> shouldn't confuse our goals as a station (the second list) with our 
> regulatory need for a station manager.
>
> Finally I would say that, while our SM will need to be comfortable 
> navigating through regulations and the FCC website, they do *not* need 
> a college degree or 6 years of radio experience. I ran my first 
> permanent (licensed) station at 20, with 15 days of (very limited) 
> radio experience. The FCC website still scares me, but we do *not* 
> need to set firm barriers regarding formal education in the way of 
> those willing to volunteer their time and energy. Also, the KPFK need 
> for someone with experience supervising volunteers and employees 
> relates to the hierarchical role of the SM in their organization - our 
> SM will be a volunteer like the rest of us, with some authority as a 
> result, but not at the head of our organization. Think of it, rather, 
> as a trustee or treasurer, who is delegated certain powers by the group.
>
> Andrew
>
> On 25 Ean 2008, at 10:26, dan blah wrote:
>
>> This was a good overview of what I think are the most important
>> responsibilities of the SM. Without insinuating that the descriptions
>> below  should be reduced, I have created a quick and hopefully easier
>> to read list of responsibilities from Mike's email for everyone to
>> reference.
>>
>> -=Responsibilities=-
>> Station administration
>> Station personnel
>> Station finances
>> Technical operations
>> Public Relations
>> Working collaboratively with all RFU, UCIMC, and Socialist Forum (SF) 
>> members.
>>
>> -=Qualifications=-
>> Education:
>> College degree or at least 6 years equivalent experience
>>
>> Experience:
>> Radio Broadcasting
>> Non-profit organization supervising employees and/or volunteers, 
>> desirable
>>
>> Skills and Abilities:
>> Emphasis on communication skills (written and oral)
>> Management skills (planning, motivating, organizing, innovating, etc.)
>> Industry skills (programming, marketing, fundraising, etc.)
>> Ability to work with diverse communities
>> Ability to advise and support volunteers/coworkers facing difficult 
>> challenges
>> Commitment to work collaboratively in a consensus environment
>> Must be detail oriented
>> Requires good judgment
>> Requires critical thinking
>> Requires interaction and knowledge of SF, U-C IMC, and the FCC
>>
>> -=Compensation=-
>> Working for a respected, exciting, diverse community asset that
>> promotes social justice to bring *real* public affairs issues and the
>> arts to our community
>> Experience in radio broadcasting and non-profit organizations
>> It will looks good on you resume
>>
>> Hope this helps,
>> -- 
>> Dan
>>
>> On Jan 23, 2008 7:00 PM, Mike Lehman <rebelmike at earthlink.net> wrote:
>>> Andrew,
>>> I was meaning to get to that tonight, but I appreciate the reminder
>>> nonetheless.
>>>
>>> For starts, a job announcement that went out recently via one of the
>>> Prometheus lists for the Pacifica station in Los Angeles, KPFK, is a
>>> good basic description of what a non-commercial station looks for when
>>> hiring a station manager. Of course, WRFU can't offer full benefits and
>>> $65k/year, but read it over for a good general idea of what we hope RFU
>>> can get on the cheap...
>>>
>>>>>>> KPFK job description for station manager
>>> The General Manager is responsible and accountable for overall
>>> administration, personnel, programming, financing, technical operations
>>> and public relations of the station. Working collaboratively with the
>>> Local Station Board (LSB), the station staff, and the community, the
>>> General Manager is responsible for monitoring and guiding the station.
>>>
>>> *QUALIFICATIONS:*
>>>
>>> Education: College degree or at least 6 years equivalent experience.
>>> Experience: Experience in broadcasting, and/or in a non-profit or
>>> community organization supervising employees and/or volunteers, 
>>> desirable.
>>> Skills and Abilities:  Emphasis on communication skills (written and
>>> oral); management skills (e.g., planning, motivating, organizing,
>>> innovating, etc.); and industry skills (programming, marketing,
>>> fundraising, etc.)  Ability to work with diverse communities. Must be
>>> detail oriented. Requires good judgment. Ability to think clearly and
>>> manage multiple changing priorities. Requires critical thinking,
>>> commitment to work collaboratively, and ability to advise and support
>>> coworkers facing difficult challenges.
>>>>>>>>
>>>
>>> Interestingly, they don't mention the FCC at all. But for WRFU, 
>>> since we
>>> have no chief engineer or office staff, the SM must be able to keep
>>> current on, interpret, and apply FCC policy at WRFU to the best of 
>>> their
>>> ability, as well as navigate the often clunky but now required
>>> interaction with the FCC's online license-holder database in order to
>>> keep our paperwork up to date, including license renewal in a few years
>>> when that is needed.
>>>
>>> There are two other organizations you also need to interact with,
>>> Socialist Forum, which holds the license, and UC IMC, of which RFU is a
>>> working group of and which houses the station, studio, and transmitter.
>>>
>>> I confirmed last weekend with SF that they are still interested in
>>> passing along the license to UC IMC once the FCC announces the transfer
>>> protocol they intend to use for LPFM licenses. My comrades in SF don't
>>> need much hand holding, but their names are on the dotted line as
>>> responsible for the proper operation of WRFU in accordance with FCC
>>> rules and to avoid situations that could result in legal liability for
>>> the station. It was for these reasons that I often asked people to
>>> rethink something they proposed, because everything that any individual
>>> or programming group does on RFU affects not only them and the station,
>>> but other people who've been willing to put their names on the dotted
>>> line to make it possible for virtually anyone to walk in and rather
>>> easily go on the air at WRFU.
>>>
>>> RFU more frequently and closely interacts with UC IMC, since the 
>>> station
>>> itself is part of the IMC's working group structure. UC IMC also owns
>>> all of the station equipment, including the transmitter and tower. The
>>> consensus agreement that put WRFU on the air set this up, with SF
>>> contributing the vital FCC license as its part of the deal and the IMC
>>> agreeing to host RFU without rent, but with regular payments to cover
>>> the overhead costs of hosting the station, studio and tower, along with
>>> actually owning the equipment. Should the station ever shut down due to
>>> losing its license or the volunteers making up the working group losing
>>> interest, UC IMC can dispose of the equipment by selling or donating it
>>> to support other Indymedia operations, either in town or around the 
>>> world.
>>>
>>> It would be especially helpful for the station for the new permanent SM
>>> to be able to devote their attention primarily to developing the 
>>> station
>>> and its volunteer infrastructure. This is one reason why Dan is
>>> currently listing himself as interim SM, because he already has a 
>>> lot of
>>> other responsibilities. But we'll struggle through, no matter what.
>>>
>>> However, the fact that the SM still remains burdened with so many tasks
>>> that the members should be doing has been my greatest disappointment 
>>> and
>>> failure as the first SM. I cannot list all those I am in debt to for
>>> giving of their time, efforts and resources to put and keep WRFU on the
>>> air. Most members don't know of the debt we are in to so many in the
>>> community for supporting WRFU.
>>>
>>> It is the SM's responsibility to both make sure essential station
>>> functions are maintained and to facilitate and encourage the members to
>>> do as much of that as possible. There are many members who I don't know
>>> or I never see at any RFU meetings. We only require that any individual
>>> member show up for a meeting once every two months. But far too 
>>> often, I
>>> find that I was the one calling meetings making suggestions or doing 
>>> the
>>> work. The station manager has the ultimate authority in an emergency to
>>> take any action needed to preserve the station or its license, 
>>> including
>>> but not limited to taking shows off the air, prohibiting members from
>>> broadcasting, and securing the studio and station equipment. Normally,
>>> these functions are left to the members operating through consensus, 
>>> but
>>> the SM always retains these powers for use in an emergency.
>>>
>>> Just to be clear in case it isn't by now to every member, but I always
>>> did my best to encourage each and every member to get involved, take
>>> responsibility for some task, no matter how small, and find their own
>>> voice to take on the air to serve the community. My failure to get more
>>> of our members active in station business was less than what I 
>>> wanted to
>>> acheive. I always did what I thought was best for the station and the
>>> community. No doubt, there have been times when I fell short and this
>>> has been, as I already mentioned, my greatest disappointment.
>>>
>>> What all members need to keep in mind is that the station isn't half of
>>> what it could have been by now. We absolutely need to complete the
>>> fundraising for the permanent tower, get the paperwork done to allow us
>>> to put it up, and then follow through so that everyone in C-U can hear
>>> us, along with many others in Champaign County. This is the primary 
>>> goal
>>> that the next SM must focus on or the station will eventually fail. But
>>> there are many other things that can be done to improve the station 
>>> that
>>> will only get as far as how much the members support the SM.
>>>
>>> As I've documented above, the new SM has a very full plate. Like me,
>>> they are responsible to the FCC,SF, and UC IMC for everything that
>>> happens at the station, yet they only have YOU, the members, to make
>>> that happen. The new SM will either succeed or fail just like I 
>>> have, by
>>> their ability to mobilize, motivate, and grow the membership both
>>> quantitatively and qualitatively.
>>>
>>> I would be glad to answer questions that any member might have about 
>>> the
>>> station manager position. I will be available to support and advise the
>>> next and future station managers. But I will no longer be making
>>> decisions when the membership can't or won't. That will be up to the
>>> station managers that follow me.
>>>
>>> Every member should consider whether they could be the new SM. If
>>> nothing else, every member should try to attend the next station 
>>> meeting
>>> on Tuesday, Feb. 5 at 8pm at UC IMC to decide where to go from here. In
>>> the end, the SM can do their best, but our successes and failures 
>>> depend
>>> entirely on our membership and the support they can give the next and
>>> future station managers.
>>> Mike Lehman
>>>
>>>
>>> Andrew Ó Baoill wrote:
>>>> At our meeting last week we decided to appoint a new station manager
>>>> at our next meeting. Interested members were asked to contact the list
>>>> to express interest.
>>>>
>>>> One thing that would help with the process would be if we could see a
>>>> list of the duties of the station manager. We know the station manager
>>>> is the primary contact point for communication with the FCC. I
>>>> understand that the SM is also meant to have some responsibility
>>>> regarding ensuring we abide by FCC regulations, such as on
>>>> obscenity/indecency, logging, technical specifications. Is there
>>>> anything else?
>>>>
>>>> Andrew
>>>> -- 
>>>> Andrew Ó Baoill
>>>> - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
>>>> - - -
>>>> Inst. of Communications Research, U. of Illinois
>>>> Communications / Participatory media / Political action
>>>> - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
>>>> - - -
>>>> andrew at funferal.org / baoillo at uiuc.edu
>>>> aim: funferal at mac.com
>>>> +353-87-241-7003 / +1-(217) 384-3142
>>>> http://funferal.org / Galway, Ireland / Urbana, IL, USA
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> RFU mailing list
>>>> RFU at lists.chambana.net
>>>> http://lists.chambana.net/cgi-bin/listinfo/rfu
>>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> RFU mailing list
>>> RFU at lists.chambana.net
>>> http://lists.chambana.net/cgi-bin/listinfo/rfu
>>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Rfu-station mailing list
>> Rfu-station at lists.chambana.net
>> http://lists.chambana.net/cgi-bin/listinfo/rfu-station
>
> -- 
> Andrew Ó Baoill
> - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
> Inst. of Communications Research, U. of Illinois
> Communications / Participatory media / Political action
> - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
> andrew at funferal.org / baoillo at uiuc.edu
> aim: funferal at mac.com
> +353-87-241-7003 / +1-(217) 384-3142
> http://funferal.org / Galway, Ireland / Urbana, IL, USA
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Rfu-station mailing list
> Rfu-station at lists.chambana.net
> http://lists.chambana.net/cgi-bin/listinfo/rfu-station
>