Community Radio (was: Re: [Peace-discuss] Re: [Prairiegreens] Flag flap)

[Jason Pitzl-Waters]

Al wrote:
>Robert has gotten a new perspective because he has now experienced just 
>how great a community radio station can be.  WEFT is a good station, but 
>in my opinion, it is greatly underutilized.  The balance between music and 
>public affairs is tilted way too much toward music.

I would like, in answer to this, post a response from Paul Riismandel on 
this issue and the difference between KPFK and WEFT...

>The LA metro area is about 10 million people, 10/11 of the population of
>the entire state of Illinois.
>
>KPFK has an annual budget well in excess of $1 million, and scores of
>paid employees. Their current job search for an assistant to the manager
>of KPFK lists a salary significantly higher than what WEFT pays its
>station manager.
>
>Until about 24 months ago, the management of KPFK and Pacifica were
>engaged in a campaign to oust most volunteer programmers and especially
>many volunteer programmers serving LA's least numerous minority groups.
>It's good to see that trend reversed, but it is foolish to forget that
>recent history.
>
>KPFK has a program director, not a committee. And while I understand
>that there is some volunteer input in programming decisions, in the end
>they are the domain of paid management, not volunteers or listeners.
>That is significantly less democratic than WEFT.
>
>KPFK has a full-time news director, and full-time news editor, paid on
>par with other similar positions at the station (~$30,000 annually to
>start), along with a news editor. Certainly, that makes news production
>a little easier.
>
>The LA metro area also has several times as many noncommercial stations,
>including many fine college stations, that are able to play abundant
>quantities of independent rock and other musics, thus relieving KPFK
>from this demand. KPFK, therefore, can serve a proportionally smaller
>niche of the greater LA community, which nevertheless exists in higher
>numbers than the entire population of Champaign county and surrounding
>areas.
>
>
>In short, comparing KPFK and WEFT is apples and oranges, and unfair.
>
>Want more public affairs at WEFT?
>
>How about help raise $10,000 to rebuild our back studio so that more and
>better news production can go on?  How about another $25 - 50k so that
>we have a working main studio, where we can more easily host and produce
>local public affairs programs?
>
>Or what about helping build a newsroom/interview room where an
>airshifter (like myself) can conduct interviews in peace?
>
>How about help the IMC raise money to renew its radio news coordinators
>contract? Or to help pay news directors at WEFT?
>
>How about help organize volunteers who want to do LOCAL public affairs
>programming?
>
>The only resistance that you can legitimately find at WEFT right now is
>towards adding more National/satellite public affairs programming.  I
>have seen no resistance to local public affairs -- it just apparently
>takes more effort to propose and produce these shows than trying to
>convince  the rest of WEFT to clear out schedule space for more
>non-local satellite programs.
>
>Thus far I have not seen any new local public affairs programs be denied
>a slot.
>
>As a host and producer of a local public affair show, I know it can be
>done, but that it would be easier if the resources at the station were
>better.
>
>I would gladly train people to do local news and public affairs shows at
>WEFT if the resources were there.
>
>This responsibility falls on all of us, including me. But I also know
>that the current Programming Committee has done more to promote local
>public affairs than any in the last ten years, supplemented by efforts
>from folks like Sascha, who spearheaded bringing DSL and a PC to WEFT so
>that airshifters would have more global Internet resources available to
>them.
>
>More can be done, and a true grassroots effort would help build the
>resources needed (like that which created the IMC).
>
>It's easy to complain and compare.  I prefer to build.
>
>--Paul