Inkwell: Authors and Artists

    
Hello, I'm glad to be joining in now... I am an independent producer​
and editor of audio documentary airing on public radio, most often​
with Radio Diaries. (I also make films some for PBS, and back in the​
last century worked at stations.)

It makes sense if, within the whole system, there is a​
reconsideration, a "ok, what now?" mission and operations moment.​
Its a time to reassert key values and hunt new approaches. That is​
positive and exciting, OTOH like others I'm concerned about losses​
especially at stations especially serving communities where there​
are fewest resources.

What I am hearing about fundraising these days--and this is more for​
production projects tho I expect for broader pubrad support too--is​
that not surprisingly, non-gov funders foundations etc, are​
interested in supporting the system, but that for the time being​
haven't settled on particular plans or strategies, so what form this​
support takes is still fuzzy. And yes, staff time already in limited​
supply especially at smaller stations will have to go towards​
development.
  

    
When I took the GM job at KZYX in 2008, I did not do enough due​
diligence on the state of the station's finances.  I thought it was​
around $40K in debt.  On my first day or work I went to the GM desk​
for the first time and there was a 4 inch pile of envelopes in a​
stack and a sticky note on top from my predecessor that said, "don't​
send these until you get some money."  Yikes. I opened the envelops​
and they were all checks to pay bills.  And real basic stuff too​
like the electric bill.  So I went into the books and discovered​
that in fact we were $200K in debt.

I almost walked out and said, "I'm sorry but I have made a mistake​
and cannot do this."  But I said I would do it so I proceeded.

First I went to the local bank that handles our line of credit,​
which was maxed at $50K.  I had a seven person payroll and nothing​
to pay them with.  So I asked for a $10K bump so I could pay them. ​
My banker said, "if I do that I will just be giving you a bigger​
shovel to dig yourself into a deeper hole."

I, realizing that I was about to get sent away, said, "you don't​
know me but here is who I am and what I have done. All I can give is​
my word that I will not walk away from this until the station is​
once again solvent."

He bought it and gave us the loan that allowed the staff to get​
paid.

Then I went through the entire operation and divided expenses into: 
Necessary fixed cost
Necessary variable cost
Valuable but no necessary.

Necessary is what it takes to keep the signal up and in good shape. ​
And it was notoriously unreliable in the bad weather months (until i​
got a grant for a generator).  Fixed are costs like the rent and​
variable is the power bill.

Unnecessary but valuable is the programming and news we pay for,​
even when those expenses are fixed.

Then I immediately went on the air and told everyone what was really​
going on, that we needed an emergency pledge drive right away and I​
would have to lay people off and cut some valued programming.

This of course was extremely controversial and I think a lot of​
people still don't forgive me for laying off our popular and way​
left wing junior news person and keeping the senior, but more​
politically neutral, News Director.

Then I got some of the programming entities like PRI to work with us​
by  giving us huge discounts until we got back on our feet.

And we still owed NPR $100K.  How I dealt with that is a good story​
for later in this conversation.

Anyway, it took 5 years for us to get out of debt, but we did.  It​
was a combination of local bootstrapping and cooperative help from​
national providers. (APM however gave us no consideration at all so​
we dropped them).

So the point of this overly long tale is how I divided up the​
expenses to deal with the situation and the hard choices that I had​
to make.

Part of being a boss requires a willingness to bring bad news to​
people who don't want to hear it.
  

    
I didn't know what APM was, so looked it up: assume it's American​
Public Media?

That story makes an interesting point: it makes a difference to have​
managers with wisdom about how to proceed financially. You need some​
critical and creative thinking to make it work. The operations that​
will survive the loss revenue will be operations that can do that​
sort of thinking, and can focus on the sustaining the fundamentals.
  

    
Right.  American Public Media.  Thus we had to lose Prairie Home​
Companion and Car Talk.

I am supremely grateful that I got the chance to start and manage SF​
Gate. That is where I learned how to do it. Before that I had never​
managed another person or an entire budget. Ever.
  

    
I just got email from KQED asking me to donate to a "Donor Advised​
Fund."  So they are getting creative over there.

When I started in 2008, the main on-air fundraiser for KQED, Greg​
Sherwood (son of legendary SF DJ Don Sherwood) was on the Board of​
the Marin Country Day School whe3n my wife <calliope> worked there​
for 7 yrs.  She gave me Greg's number and I called him.

One big piece of advice he gave me was to not get lost in the world​
of ever-more-enticing thank-you gifts. He said that KQED went down​
that tunnel years ago and cannot get out of it.  He advised that we​
keep the gifts small and always emphasized the real reason someone​
should donate.
  

    
We went through that on KPFA, too. Too much focus on premiums, and​
we tried to get away from that.
  

    
A question for Ben Shapiro..
> non-gov funders foundations etc, are interested in supporting the​
system, but that for the time being haven't settled on particular​
plans or strategies, so what form this support takes is still fuzzy.

How has this impacted your own funding for your projects?
  

    

I just lost an affiliate, but I am not sure if it was directly realated to
the CPB bullshit. They told me mine was the last syndicated program in their
schedule.

I told them I support local programming 100% and vaya con dios.

I haven't last any other stations yet. The GD Hour may be safe because my
listeners tend to support us at fund-drive time.

(BTW I hosted two GD marathons last years, on two different stations. Will
do the same in '26, and I'm conspiring with <anni> and her team to hook up
with other stations for our 'thon in January.)
  

    
Special events at fundraisers such as these GD marathons are​
creative ways to drum up support.  I think we will see more of it​
because clearly the process has to be more creative and enjoyable.​
GD Marathons are very much that.
  

    
How are foundations and private funders responding? I think its​
still too soon for foundations to present specific solutions to​
production funding in response. Private donors generally are​
increasing support but we need much more of that to compensate. But​
just to say, production depends on an ecology of funders. NEH has​
been a major supporter of Radio Diaries for a number of years. Now a​
lot of effort is going into development since that source, too, is​
lost to all of us. My last film, Max Roach: The Drum Also Waltzes,​
aired on and received major funding from PBS and American Masters​
and I frankly don’t know their budgetary situation now. But a​
co-Executive Producer and funder of the film was Black Public Media,​
which was itself funded largely by CPB-- I'm not sure what their​
resources will be. I and many others have also gotten money for a​
number of radio projects from state arts councils, funded partly by​
NEA, and that too is now up in the air.

In other words, CPB was one of a range of federally-sourced funds​
for production, now gone. And that together is making it harder to​
raise the money for, and sustain, existing projects--obviously​
already a challenge. And we should also ask: what producers today​
and in future, and what kinds of projects, simply won't make it to​
production because the federal support, CPB and others, are gone?​
And what will this do to the field in the future, when looking back​
we see how of us senior producer types were able to launch our​
careers with key support from these kinds of federal monies?
  

    
Eek, Ben. You bring up a really good point. I tend to think of CPB​
as just dropping money on stations that canʻt get access to the​
funds they need to keep telling people about storms. But the funding​
of the sources for creative projects that actively enrich lives and​
culture is a piece worth talking about on airwaves. That is a major​
loss. 
  

    
The GD Marathon was a good one. It emphasized the flexibility of​
what we can do and brings content you canʻt get anywhere else. It​
netted us a good chunk, too. I had wanted to steer our station away​
from "normal" fund drives because there are so many people​
struggling through a dodgy tourist economy and layoffs and​
skyrocketing cost of living prices and the marathons are good ways​
to do it and have fun in the meantime.
  

    
As far as private foundations stepping in to pick up some slack,​
itʻs a mixed bag.

I can sell my station as "more than a radio station" because we have​
a very rare and strong cultural component to our programming. So we​
go for culture grants.

There are also foundations that are sympathetic to the potential​
loss of this Third Sector. Most of the LOIs Iʻve sent out have come​
back with an invitation to apply.

However, most foundations want to fund particular sexy projects​
which stress the already overworked staff. Nobody wants to pay for​
my health insurance or the electricity, but an archival project? A​
Hawaiian Word of the Day? 
  

    
PBS viewers can watch Ben's Max Roach documentary at:

https://www.pbs.org/video/max-roach-the-drum-also-waltzes-m7frf1/
  

    
It's true that foundations don't want to pay for operations. They​
want things they can point to.  But the CPB station grants only made​
you spend a percentage of the funds on programming.  You could use​
it to pay your people.  
  

    
(I just want to sound a cheer for that Max Roach documentary, which​
I saw on the big screen at SXSW. It's a must-see.)
  

    
Along with the funding problem caused by CPB is the reality that​
cars are turning away from radio, still the most common way that​
people use radio.  We all know the replacement is streaming.  I find​
it to be like any new technology. A blessing and a curse.

What are your strategies for dealing with it?
  

    



From Chris Jones in the UK:


I don't know much about public radio in the US, but we have our worries
about the BBC and local radio stations on this side of the Atlantic.

Whilst the closing of one door often leads to another one opening -
we've seen an enormous rise in podcasts over the last few years - the
auguries are not good.

And whilst podcasts can reach a lot of people, they still have to be
paid for.

The rise in podcasts also reflects a tendency for polarisation - people
only tune in to podcasts for subjects that they like and we become
isolated from each other.

When I was a kid, there were only two TV channels for my first few years,
and until the World Wide Web, only five in the UK. Choice is great (up
to the point where it becomes overwhelming) but too much means that we
have largely lost those moments on TV or radio which a large proportion
of the population heard or watched together, and which became parts of
our shared history.

We are becoming, in modern terminology, siloed - existing in our little
pods (or podcasts) and separated. And that makes us (or some of us)
vulnerable to persuasive ideas from bad actors, of whom there seem to
be rather a lot at the moment.

Chris
  

    

From one of my affiliates, a midwestern jazz station:

> For us the key thing is - rather than searching for a secret formula or
> investing too heavily in digital solutions or "products" like podcasts
> (which can drain staff time/energy and often lose money) - to keep the
> overall costs low and minimize the non-broadcast distractions while simply
> going all out on the basics of great radio - human made content, primarily
> with live, local hosts. Couple that with live in-person events (free admis-
> sion whenever possible) that prioritize building community over making an
> immediate profit.  And then listener loyalty and money will follow.
  

    
There is a association of community broadcasters.  But I wonder if​
it would be beneficial for all the best jazz programmers (or other​
kinds of programs such as Celtic) from those stations to band​
together themselves and off to worldwide jazz-loving people a way to​
pick and choose from them.
  

    
In response to #42: Community radio stations are turning some of​
their programming into podcasts to respond to the trend in​
streaming. We are also emphasizing our hyper-local qualities that​
you canʻt get anywhere else. One of my board members is unconvinced​
on the podcasting idea as he thinks it creates competition for our​
terrestrial broadcast. But most of us think it creates added content​
and a way to engage in new ways.

In response to #45: The National Federation for Community​
Broadcasters (NFCB) is a great org that works to help the smallest​
broadcasters in the most remote communities have a place at the​
table. Without them smaller stations wouldnʻt have any power.

In response to #40: The CPB distributed unrestricted funds that​
could be used for whatever was needed, which we did indeed use for​
payroll. There was also a restricted portion that was reserved for​
programming and content creation and other things. There are some​
foundations that will provide grants for unrestrited operations but​
they are far fewer than those that want projects. 
  

    
Let us not forget that during Hurricane Sandy the entire cell​
network for New England went down.  Radio - and most notably public​
radio - was how anyone learned about what was going on.

Next time will be different.
  

    
That is one of the most imortant points I make when I am pitching on-air: in
a disaster, that local community station can be a life-saver.

I remember being in Pt Reyes station after a nasty storm, seeing the
genearator they hauled out from under the deck so they could let people now
what was happening ont he roads, etc.

Anni, I'm sure that is an important thing for KKCR, given the fragility of
part of the north shore infrastructure.
  

    
Absolutely. Part of our mission statement is to provide factual​
emergency response information. I myself was on the radio for 8​
hours during the Kamkatcha earthquake/tsunami. We were able to give​
non-residents information about where to go that wasnʻt apparent in​
the County press releases (that they also didnʻt have access to).​
Our online broadcast maxed out from people tuning in for updates.
  

    
Since this administration is also gutting FEMA I guess they think we​
won't be having disasters in the future..