Autumn Labbe-Renault's blog

Do you know how to tune in KDRT on mobile devices? According to some of the volunteers at KDRT, the best app by far for all platforms right now is Tunein. You can download TuneIn to your smartphone or tablet and listen to KDRT from wherever you are, and getting an account is free. You can also easily get podcasts of your favorite shows. All of our programs are listed on our website at: http://www.kdrt.org/station/programs. Simply scroll down until you find the show you want to subscribe and select "subscribe to podcast." Another way to find the show if you know when you last heard it on the radio is to go to the KDRT schedule page.  Once you click on the name of the show you will be able to view playlists for the show, make comments, listen to previous shows or subscribe to podcasts.

DMA staff will take the following days in November: Nov. 12 (for Veteran’s Day), Nov. 22 & 23 for Thanksgiving. DMA will be closed to the public from Sat., Dec. 22 through Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2012.

As you consider making year-end donations to charitable organizations, please also consider how DMA builds community and supports so many other organizations in Yolo County. From teaching media literacy and technical skills to kids who, by and large, aren’t getting that information in school; to a full range of voter education programming; to highlighting important community events, non-profits and local musicians; to providing free access to quality equipment; and so much more, DMA builds community. You in turn, help build and sustain DMA with your donation. We can’t do it without you! Thank you for your support.

One of DMA’s projects is to manage the day-to-day operations for the Davis Joint Unified School District’s educational access channel. Programming airs on Comcast Channel 17 in Davis, and on Menu 99 on AT&T’s U-verse service. With the exception of school board meetings, the District does not currently have a policy that allows us to replay locally produced programs online.

Producer & Host Bill Buchanan just wrapped the 100th episode of his popular public affairs show, Davisville. Bill recalls, “the first one was a show on the Davis economy, with Sarah Worley, Terence Lott, Mark Rutheiser, and Anthony Costello. Terence advanced the idea of having a town tomato fight as a kind of festival, although the show was also a serious look at economic issues in Davis. “Jim (Bill’s brother and KDRT sound guru Jim Bucahanan) recorded it in the TV studio, because of the number of people involved, and it ran something like 65 minutes,” Bill said. We asked Bill what he’s learned. “Having done 100 ... the experience confirms my hunch that Davis has an unending well of interesting stories, with interesting people, and a lot of engaging information emerges if you just ask,” he said. “I love it when we get beyond the conventional and surface-level observations. What's it like to be a Republican in Davis? Cold Shot has played for Davis audiences for decades -- what have they learned from the experience? Why did a former inmate of Alcatraz visit Davis to talk to the UC Davis Entomology Club? Or, to get to hear actors in Acme read from a play ... or to learn (maybe some people don't want to know!) that you're never more than a few feet from a spider ... or to get a rundown from some of the key decision-makers on the city's water issue, or school measures, or parking, or ... well, I could go on. The show is a lot of work, and it's fun beyond measure to record them with my brother, who knows how to run the equipment so it all sounds good,” Bill summed up. Find Davisville on the air Monday 5:30-6pm; replayed Wednesday from 8:30-9 a.m. and Saturday from 7:30-8 a.m.  Congratulations to the brothers Buchanan on a true community effort.

I know we fall back this time of year, but someone set September and October to warp speed, of this I am certain.

Those two months found our staff scrambling to cover many bases. On the DCTV side of the house, we produced a batch of candidate statements, covering races from the local school board to Congress. We co-sponsored and recorded several election forums around town, and aired more than 180 hours of election-related programming. Programming was encoded and shared online, both on candidates’ sites and on dctv.davismedia.org. Tip of the hat to Alex Silva-Sadder, Diane Dedoshka, Jeff Shaw and Cliff Gamble for their extra efforts here.

DMA works with many community partners and is involved with much that happens here in town. Here's a look at some upcoming events:

Every First Thursday
The Davis Odd Fellows are a fine bunch of folks who support many good things in our town. Every First Thursday of the month, they offer up free music starting at 7:30 p.m. at their hall, located at 415 Second Street. The shows are all ages, and the music varies but is always outstanding. You may see jazz one month, Latin the next, rock the next. For dates and details, visit http://davislodge.org. KDRT volunteers Jim Buchanan and Diane Crumley routinely work with the Odd Fellows to record and promote these shows. You can hear many of the bands Jim's recorded on his show 'Live Tracks."

Davis citizens are a mobile bunch, and this means we sometimes have to say good-bye. We offer a fond farewell to DJ AA and Vincent with “Empire Radio,” who have moved on to the Bay Area. Ted and Josh of “The Recollection” are on hiatus at present but rumor has it they plan to return in January. Congratulations to Ted, who welcomed his first son this summer.

Davis Media Access (DMA) has recorded many of the Parent University presentations over the past few years, and thanks to the efforts of Programming Manager Alex Silva-Sadder, we are now proud to host all their information and videos in one easy-to-access place: http://dctv.davismedia.org/dpu

By Autumn Labbe-Renault, Executive Director

Published originally in The Davis Enterprise, Sept. 30, 2012

Seems just yesterday it was June and I was writing about election coverage. Though the importance of Nov. 6 is known nationally, I’m focused closer to home.

I’ve just finished fielding several comments regarding a post I made recently on a national listserve, wherein I talked about the connection between local election coverage and community development. By focusing on voter education programming, Davis Media Access (DMA) strives to illuminate community issues and provide access to non-partisan information.

Getting information out about campaigns and ballot issues shouldn't be fraught with barriers. However, air time is expensive and barring sensationialism, local politics are largely ignored by commercial broadcast media. DMA takes seriously our role in providing access to candidates, information for voters, and in documenting our community's history around local campaigns