WHAT IS YOUR MORNING MEDIA?

Larry Rosin and the good folks at Edison Research continue to release fascinating, sometimes offbeat research about how people use media. Their most recent project is no exception. Edison has released Wake Me Up – a study of lifestyle and device use during this important time of the day.  The first media choices of the day are indications of which media platforms are important for a person's daily life. See the Wake Me Up study at LINK.

Edison conducted a national online survey of 1,550 respondents age 18-54 in January 2015. Let’s look at the top-line results:

HOW DID YOU WAKE UP THIS MORNING?

About half of the Wake Me Up respondents use a device for an alarm.

IF YOU USED AN ALARM, WHAT KIND OF ALARM?

About half of the Wake Me Up respondents use a mobile device to wake themselves.

AT WHAT TIME DID YOU WAKE UP THIS MORNING?

I was surprised to learn that more than half of the Wake Me Up respondents said they are up by 6:30am.

MEET MY “ALARM CLOCKS”

SKYLAR & SCOUT -- 100% ANALOG ALARM CLOCKS

I am one of the 4% of people who is often awakened by pets. Today (Tuesday, March 31, 2015) I woke up at 5:55am to the sound of a fur ball being vomited.  The culpret, Scout is a very very fluffy Norwegian Forest Cat.  I didn;t use any media while I cleaned up the puke.

My typical morning routine, after getting out of bed, is a trip to my  home office via my laptop.  The first thing I do is check to see if this blog is still there and that today’s post is appearing.  Next I check my mobile to see if there are any incoming messages.  I don't use mobile as much as most folks because of my vision problems.

While checking messages I usually switch on the TV with the sound down.  It stays that way most of the day – video wallpaper for the blog newsroom.

Some days I listen on my headphones to NPR News from 91.1 KNOW or music from 89.3 The Current while reading news online.  But on other days, I don’t turn on any audio at all. I love the Zen of the morning -- the calm of silence.

Then I go totally old-school – I read the Minneapolis Star-Tribune newspaper.  I love newspapers. I follow Rachel Maddow's advice and support local print journalism.

ARE YOU A MORNING PERSON?

Wake Me Up asked respondents if they consider themselves “a morning person”:

As I’ve gotten older, I’ve come to love mornings.  The world is fresh and I concentrate best on work then.

I used to be a night owl.  Not that long ago, a night was still early when it was midnight.  I disliked mornings, particularly when I was a doing the 6am – 9am airshift at a country music station.  I had a rough break up with a girlfriend and EVERY COUNTRY SONG WAS ABOUT ME. George Jones said it best:

From the blood of my body, I could start my own still.

If drinking don’t kill me, her memory will.

MORE ABOUT COMMUNITY RADIO & ENDLESS COMMITTEES

There were lots of excellent comments to my posts about KFAI and the reliance on communal governance to run Community Radio stations.

Here are samples of the comments I received:

• FROM CONFIDENTIAL:

Beware of the word “advisory” because people have different interpretations of the term.  I heard of one PD at [NAME OF STATION] that was hounded out of the place by a Program Advisory Committee. The naysayers used the Program Advisory Committee to create a “paper trail” about him. He finally quit.

KEN: Scary. That truly sounds like The Pacifca Model – It’s not about the audience, it’s about petty politics and lawyers.

• FROM RYAN BRUCE, DIRECTOR, KBRP, BISBEE AZ:

I would be remiss not to mention that non-commercial radio in small markets is very different from a major metropolitan area.  PCs [Program Committees] tend to thrive in smaller markets where audience numbers and feedback are much more anecdotal in nature.

KEN:  Thank you for making this excellent point.  In a place like Bisbee (population 7,000), you build support person-by-person, off the air and on the air.  Inclusion in the station is a great way to make inroads into the community.

The key is (quoting Ryan Bruce):

...feedback [is] much more anecdotal in nature.

KEN: That’s the way it should be – anecdotal, person-to-person conversational.  In Bisbee you can probably walk down the street to KBRP, stop in and talk with whomever you want to.  You don’t need a committee to get feedback.

Reader Tip: Check out KBRP via their website [LINK].  The clear and concise KBRP Strategic Plan 2012-2015 is A+ work.

• FROM LARRY JOSPEHSON, ONE OF THE FOUNDERS OF PUBLIC RADIO AS WE KNOW IT:

Now I will read your blog to see if you have the answers. "Fire Your Programming Committee" is a no answer. Hire an all-powerful programming Czar? She would meet the same fate as Czar Nicholas II--assassinated by station volunteers and their individual audiences, if they attempted to change programming even slightly. (happens once-in- a-great while at NPR stations)

What's the frequency, Kenneth?

KEN: I am always pleased to hear from Larry Josephson.  He is one of my public radio heroes – someone who changed my outlook on radio and influenced my career.

Back in 1969 – 1971 I visited friends at Columbia University often.  I was an awkward nerdy college kid doing Top 40 radio in Sioux Falls.  Listening to WBAI and Larry Josephson introduced me to the power and possibility of noncommercial radio.  I never met Larry then, but he was like a companion and trip guide for me when I was in town.  I used to hear the tone and tenor of his voice in my mind.  I changed my announcing style because of Larry.

Larry, you know the frequency: 99.5 FM – maximum power in the middle of the dial. WBAI has the best signal in the nation’s Number One market:

The decline of WBAI is proof that the Pacifica governance and programming methods have failed.

KFAI REPLIES TO MY POST “FIRE YOUR PROGRAM COMMITTEE"

I received several messages about my post last week about the fiscal, programming and governance problems at KFAI, Minneapolis.  One was from Patti Walsh, the new President of the station’s Board of Directors. I posted her complete comment below my original post.

Patti says things are looking up at KFAI and they will be even better when a new GM is hired.  Her approach sounded good until I reached this part of her comment:

Once the new GM is in place, he or she will hire a Program Director who will be in charge of KFAI’s programming with the guidance of a Content Advisory Committee.

I asked Patti for clarification because it sounds like KFAI is replacing the Program Committee with another committee with an ominous sounding name. This how I read Patti’s comment:

Once the new GM is in place, he or she will hire a Program Director who will be in charge of KFAI’s programming with the nitpicking, second-guessing and neutering by a Content Advisory Committee.

I hope this isn’t what they are planning but once a committee is established it takes on a life of it’s on.  I will let you know if/when Patti explains the necessity and purpose of this committee.

After all these committees are artifacts of the 1970s -- sort of like Mood Rings -- you feel better when you have one but they are ultimately useless.

WHAT I RECOMMEND FOR KFAI

• Have as few committees as possible. Make certain any committees are absolutely necessary and their scope is clearly defined.

• Hire qualified management, folks who have hands on experience operating and programming successful noncom stations that reach significant audiences.

• Give the new management measurable goals and the time necessary to make their plan work.

• Evaluate management’s work by using quantifiable data: pledging, membership, underwriting, ratings, online and mobile usage stats, etc.

• Remember that serving a mission is about doing, not talking about doing.  Management should embody the mission and lead by example.

WHERE DID COMMUNITY RADIO’S OBESSION WITH COMMITTEES COME FROM?

Back in the 1970s, Community Radio began as an outgrowth of Pacifica, which itself began in the late 1940s. Lew Hill and early Pacifica associates established totally listener supported radio.  Back then there were very few listeners to FM.  Pacifica was built listener-by-listener.

Also in the 1970s media activist Lorenzo Milan released an influential pamphlet called Sex and Broadcasting.  I bought my copy for one dollar at a head shop – it was next to High Times on the rack. There was no sex in it – Milam choose the name because it had a sexy (pun intended) and got attention.

BACK & FRONT COVERS OF SEX AND BROADCASTING

Sex and Broadcasting was an excellent “how to guide” for applying for an FM license.  Milam’s timing was good because there were many unused FM licenses available from the FCC including some in major markets. Milan’s advice spawned many stations such as KDHX in St. Louis, KBOO in Portland and KFAI in Minneapolis. (KFAI signed on in 1978.)

The problem was Milam’s utopian vision for governing and operating community stations.  He felt a radio station should be run like a commune with “the people” in control.  He recommended committees to decide every aspect of a station. This was based on Pacifica’s governance model. I call it the The Pacifica Model. Even today it is considered by many yo be the SOP and politically correct way to run a community station.

The stakes got higher when the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (“CPB”) started funding community stations.  In the 1970s and early 1980s CPB began providing public funds to Pacifica and other community operations. That led to the creation of the National Federation for Community Broadcasters (“NFCB”). NFCB embraced The Pacifica Model and committees became a permanent part of the community radio landscape.

COMMITTEES ARE NOT REQUIRED

There is no FCC requirement that noncommercial stations operate with committees.  The Commission wants stations to ensure they are operating in the public interest by knowing and addressing needs of people in their coverage area as documented in their Public Inspection File.

CPB requires noncom stations to have periodic public advisory meetings with local citizens.  CPB wants stations to be transparent, have open meetings and have financial and compliance documents available online.

Stations choose to have committees or not. KFAI has the choice not to use The Pacifica Model. Stations using The Pacifica Model will likely meet the same fate as Pacifica: Irrelevance.