Dear Mario letter w/ reply
February 21, 2006 Delivered by hand & by email
Mario Valdes, General Manager
KRCC-FM
912 North Weber St.
Colorado Springs, CO 80903
Dear Mario,
I just returned from a successful town hall meeting with a hall full of community members asking for Democracy Now on KRCC.
More pertinent to you perhaps, earlier in the day I was finally able to meet personally with Colorado College President Richard Celeste. He assured me that indeed, as manager of KRCC, you have finally authority over the programming at KRCC.
This is at odds with what you’ve been telling us, but there it is, the decision is yours. Can we have Democracy Now on KRCC?
You told us it would require special equipment. It turns out it requires the same equipment you already have. And Democracy Now is free for a year.
You told us that the Democracy Now people insist on a specific time slot, and you resent being dictated to. It turns out they do not, any time slot will do.
You told us that Democracy Now is “advocacy journalism.” It turns out it is not. You are referring to a rhetorical argument Amy Goodman once made in a documentary. She is as much an advocate as MSM or NPR are advocates for their corporate underwriters.
You told us there are only five NPR member stations who carry Democracy Now. It turns out there are 25 NPR affiliates who carry Democracy Now, among 400 radio stations nationwide including 18 Colorado communities, but not Colorado Springs.
You told us you are concerned about potential loss of support from conservative donors. It turns out your donors are 1/3 conservative, 1/3 independent and 1/3 liberal. It looks like you have to respect all sides. On radio stations which carry both Democracy Now and NPR programs, the former often outperforms the latter in popularity and fund-raising.
You told us you don’t believe Democracy Now is news. You likened it to Rush Limbaugh. It turns out Democracy Now has won prestigious journalism awards and is universally respected by media watchdog groups, very unlike Rush.
You told us that you don’t like the manner in which you were asked to consider Democracy Now, otherwise you say you might have added it years ago. It turns out then that your previous arguments against airing Democracy Now were simply not about the cost or slant or content at all.
Thus, if we know now that it is entirely your decision to make, and that your stated objections have been shown to be answered, and that had you been asked more politely you would have agreed sooner, may we offer our sincerest apologies, and ask with all due gratitude in advance for your very gracious reprieve: Mario, by your hand, may Colorado Springs, La Junta, Westcliffe, Gardner, Limon, Trinidad, Buena Vista, Villa Grove, Cañon City and Raton, please hear Democracy Now on KRCC?
(Other suggestions to come out of the Feb 20 forum, respectfully submitted:
1. Western Skies could expand its coverage to daily news, every weekday.
2. PSA announcements could be permitted for more activities of community
interest, and may be political in nature.
3. A community interview talk show, like that of Jeanne Sauer.
4. Underwriting sponsorships, as well as station memberships, could be
available in smaller, more accessible increments.
5. More visibility could be given to underwriters, in place of
over-exposed spots like website playlist, paperless newsletter,
car donation, etc.
6. A community advisory board, to hold forums and make recommendations.
These are just some ideas.)
We’re sorry you missed the meeting, we wish you a speedy and complete recovery, and we do thank you Mario for considering our appeal.
Yours,
Eric Verlo
PPMA Feb 20 town hall forum consensus
cc. Richard Celeste, President, Colorado College
Community members who submitted petitions December 2005
Colorado College students who signed petitions December 2005
Attendees of Feb 20, 2006 town hall forum
Tuesday 21 Feb 2006 | contact | Updates, Democracy Now, Town hall forum
Eric -
Thanks for your email updating me on the town hall forum. First, let me address your appeal for adding “Democracy Now;” I appreciate your concerns, but we stand by the breadth and quality of our current news programming on KRCC-FM, and we do not believe it is necessary to change it at this time.
However, as I told you on February 2nd, KRCC is about to expand our broadcast capabilities to equal at least 4 radio stations with HD radio, and this dramatically increases our programming potential. I’m optimistic that we’ll complete that project within six months, and we hope to present format options ideas to our community advisory board at that time.
I believe we can find a suitable place for “Democracy Now” as a cornerstone program on one of our newer stations. The addition of “Democracy Now,” along with the capability of providing nearly four times the on-air content, should be great developments for all of our KRCC members and listeners.
KRCC would love to expand coverage our news coverage beyond our newsmagazines WESTERN SKIES 1&2. Local news is the single greatest expense, so we encourage any listener who wants to hear more “Western Skies” to support the show by becoming a KRCC member. IRS regulations prevent KRCC as part of a 501c(3) from participating in political advocacy – we could jeopardize our tax exempt status, as well as the college’s. Thus, we can’t consider airing PSAs with political advocacy. We need to maintain this status, especially since listeners are asking KRCC to consider expanding an expensive service or program.
As you’re aware, Colorado College is forming a KRCC Community Advisory Board. We expect the CAB will both generate new ideas and serve as a conduit between constituencies. According to CPB guidelines, CAB recommendations are purely advisory in nature, and the CAB cannot make operational decisions for the station. We will let the board members decide how best to fulfill their duties, and will leave the decision about whether to hold public forums up to them.
Thanks for your well wishes and thoughts about the station.
Sincerely,
Mario Valdes
KRCC-FM