Date: Wed, 17 Apr 2002 09:27:13 -0500 From: Anna Mangala Searles To: Kam Subject: The truth shall set us free. I support Kam's letter below - Dr. Singha's Natural Therapeutics has supported KUT in the past but will not be doing so at this time. I certainly don't want to stop KUT but I don't see any other way of waking them up to valuable community opinion other than by not supporting them. I guess phone calls and letters giving our thoughts would also be helpful. Please forward this to your friends. Kam has certainly not written this without much consideration. Thanks Mangala Dear friends, I'm sending you a copy of a letter I have written protesting the programming changes at KUT, and even more than the changes, the way they were made. In January, massive programming changes were instituted at KUT, and there was never, to my knowledge, any survey of the listenership to see what the people of Austin wanted, and I don't think this is the way to run a supposedly PUBLIC radio station, especially in Austin, where I think we still pride ourselves on being a community, not just an impersonal big city. I wish I had gotten this letter out sooner because KUT's spring fund drive starts this Friday, 4/19. (I'm writing this on Tuesday night, 4/16/02.) However, here it is, better late than never. I urge you NOT to contribute to KUT this spring and to let them know why you're not, and also to FORWARD THIS AROUND TO AS MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE. I addressed my letter to Ellen Wartell, Ph.D., Dean of the School of Communication. She's the boss of the KUT bosses, so I thought it would be more effective to send the message to her, and I also copied it to J. Stewart Vanderwilt, Director and General Manager; and Hawk Mendenhall, Program Director; as well as to many of the current and former on-air staff. If you have time, it would be great if you could also send a letter or e-mail. I left the e-dresses in this message so you can use them, or if you want to do it the quick way, the KUT web site is www.kut.org, and in the upper right corner of the first page is a "Comment Now" button you can click and then enter a message. Feel free to call me if you have any questions--440-1464. Yours, Kam ----- Forwarded Message ----- From: kamtree@juno.com To: wartella@mail.utexas.edu Cc: vanderwilt@mail.utexas.edu,hawk@mail.utexas.edu,jay.t@utexas.edu, eklektikos@utexas.edu,kamg@io.com,LM@larrymonroe.com, elainepink@austin.rr.com,paulray@utexas.edu,zow@io.com, tpittman@jumpnet.com Date: Tue, 16 Apr 2002 22:25:18 -0500 Subject: KUT Programming Changes DATE: April 16, 2001 FROM: Kathleen Magor TO: Ellen Wartella, Ph.D. Dean, College of Communication RE: KUT Programming Changes I am a long-time KUT listener and sometime member, and I am writing to let you know I am not happy with the programming changes at KUT. I have several complaints, which I will outline, but my main problem with the changes is the way they were handled. KUT is supposed to be a PUBLIC radio station, and you ask the public to support KUT, and in exchange there should be accountability to the public. I don't actually know who in particular is responsible for the changes, but I never heard of any listener or member surveys or polls to find out what the people of Austin want. I received one letter about the changes, from J. Stewart Vanderwilt, Director and General Manager, dated January 19, 2002, informing me of changes that were to take place less than a week after I received the letter. The letter told me about two new programs--Marketplace and The World--and mentioned two other changes that were being made, and then there was a schedule enclosed. The letter said NOTHING, however, about all the programs and personnel that were being disappeared. I feel this way of handling major programming changes is unconscionable. Getting rid of programs and personnel in this way with no explanation to the public amounts to a pogrom. These changes actually unconscionable. Getting rid of programs and personnel in this way with no explanation to the public amounts to a pogrom. These changes actually affect the daily lives of people who listen to KUT, and this autocratic, high-handed, top-down way of dictating a new schedule goes totally against the community spirit I and many others try to foster in Austin. I don't know why these changes were made, and there are rumors that you want to go to an all-news format and get rid of all local programming. Perhaps that's why you brought in new people from outside Austin in the last two years to take over the positions of Director/General Manager and Program Director. There were hints of this before when the World Music Show disappeared with no explanation, and when someone asked about it on Access, Bob Branson quickly evaded the question. Then, again with no explanation, the show reappeared. And what happened to Ken McKenzie's overnight program? That just seemed to evaporate some time back, and I never heard any explanation for that change. I will now go into the specific problems I have with the programming changes, but rest assured, even if I LOVED all the programming changes, I would be writing this letter because I don't feel a PUBLIC radio station should be an autocracy that maintains no significant or real communication with its listenership and makes MAJOR changes with no regard for tradition or for the people of Austin. Also rest assured, I will be urging everyone I know NOT to contribute to KUT during the spring fund drive, and I only wish I had had time to organize a wider protest. The following people have been disappeared: Tom Pittman, Elaine Pinckard, Jeff Johnston, Jim Caligiuri, Carter York, Bob Branson, Howie Richey, and Olive Graham, that I'm aware of. There may be more from the overnight hours when I generally am sleeping. Jay Trachtenberg's Jazz, Etc., and Paul Ray's Afternoon Jazz have gone. The Annoying Music Show is gone. There's still a fair amount of jazz on the air, and Jay Trachtenberg and Paul Ray are still on in different configurations. But what about Soundsight, Forum, and Access? Those three long-time standards of KUT are all just gone. I imagine it's a good idea especially to get rid of Access so your listeners won't have a chance to comment on the air. And Texas Music has been moved to the middle of the night, which is basically tantamount to cutting it. I'm particularly disturbed about your cutting Soundsight. It was one of my favorites, even though I'm not visually impaired--and to cut a program like that that served the blind and visually impaired population of Austin seems heartless. Some very popular shows have been shortened: Phil Music is one hour shorter, Twine Time is half an hour shorter, Paul Ray's Wednesday Night Jazz is one hour shorter, and Blue Monday is one hour shorter. Why? I have no idea. And the change that I think is the MOST insane is that ALL the non-news, non-music shows except Car Talk have been moved to Sunday, and Car Talk has been moved to Saturday morning. It used to be great around the time that I might be making dinner or doing dishes or going somewhere in my car on a weekday evening to catch Selected Shorts, Access, Car Talk or Living on Earth. And on weekends I could catch This American Life, Prairie Home Companion, and New Dimensions. I can't imagine how you could think it's a good idea to have This American Life, Selected Shorts, Prairie Home Companion, Living on Earth, and New Dimensions ALL on Sunday. Who can spend THAT much time in one day listening to the radio? Now I basically don't get to hear most of those shows, and they are all shows I really enjoy. I hardly ever get to hear Fresh Air now that it's been moved to 3 pm instead of 4 pm, and I don't get to hear as much of All Things Considered as I used to now that it starts at 4 pm instead of 5 pm. I am not impressed with Marketplace or The World, nor did I think we needed more mainstream news shows. And speaking of news shows, how much is KUT paying for the two BBC news shows that are on at 3am and 4 am? I might actually be interested in hearing those shows, but that's not a time I'm usually listening to the radio, and I can't imagine that there's a huge listenership at that time of the middle of the night. I am not happy with the changes at KUT, and I am especially not happy with the basically fascist way the changes have been implemented. It's not too late to make amends to your listeners, to take a survey to find out what people really want, and to change things back more to the way they were. Sincerely, Kam Magor 3002 Brinwood Ave. Austin, TX 78704-6315 440-1464