Friday, July 25, 2008

Humboldt State Radio Station Gears up for 50th Anniversary and Dodges Rumors

Humboldt State University (Arcata, California)'s public radio station KHSU is in the midst of a controversy in the wake of the resignation of its General Manager and rumors about programming changes. According to an article in the Times-Standard:

"Local public radio station KHSU will hold its monthly meeting [July 30th] in Humboldt State University's Kate Buchanan room Wednesday, rather than in its usual location in the Student and Business Services Building, a move that reflects community concern over the departure of the station's longtime General Manager Elizabeth Hans McCrone and the rumored cancellation of several popular programs..."

Plus, the station will celebrate their 50th anniversary in 2010 and they are already working to compile artifacts via a digital archive. According to Humboldt State Now:

"A sample of some of the historical recorded news content includes KHSU volunteer Michael Fennell’s 1984 live-on-the-spot CAMP report. Also added to the archives is a reel-to-reel audio of an interview with the late environmental activist Judi Bari. It was recorded in 1993, three years after the infamous car bomb attack Bari and passenger Darryl Cherney suffered in Oakland in May of 1990.


KHSU Volunteer Coordinator Beth Rogers is getting the word out to people who have been involved with the station over the years. 'We are hoping to reach out to former KHSU deejays, staff and volunteers through HSU alumni channels to encourage them to give us a paragraph or a short story on their days with the station, or memorabilia items that can be added to the archive,' Rogers said."


You can view the KHSU digital archive from the Humboldt Digital Scholar website and read more about their history on the KHSU website.

What is your station doing to preserve its history?

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I heard about the problems at KHSU on Air America, Green 960 AM, San Francisco, last night on Peter B's show. Two people called in. Peter B. is a hige supporter.

I am affiliated with SFJAZZ, the San Francisco nonprofit presenter of jazz music in the Bay Area. I am also a huge supporter of NPR and listener supported radio.

Recently, in conjunction with SFJAZZ, we have been sponsoring programs throughout the west on NPR stations. They are the only alternative to Rush Limbaugh and Republican hate-mongering radio in much of America. I can kill two birds with one stone, so to speak, by sponsoring programs myself - ones that it wouldn't make a lot of sense, economically, for SFJAZZ to support.

Reno/Redding, Chico, Salt Lake City, Colorado Springs, rural Utah, and Santa Fe are already on board. Would love to add Humboldt County too.

Eureka/Hmboldt is such a market that is not economically effective for SFJAZZ, but I would love to sponsor Democracy Now on KHSU. My budget is between $3,000 and $5,000 and that usually gets us at least one to two plugs a week during prime time, plus a website link, the latter being the only real benefit to SFJAZZ.

Typically I've sponsored more artistic shows (Teri Gross for instance) than political ones, but it seems like you guys have a real need. Normally, I would contact the station directly, but given all the controversy and what sounds like the school's desire to steal the station's funds, I am contacting you.

Please advise how I can help.

Andy
San Francisco
intltax2166@sbcglobal.net
oph: 415-362-7552

Anonymous said...

I would love to help you guys out with KHSU, but I can't find any way to contact a human being. Your going to have to call me in San Francisco.

Andy
415-362-7552

Anonymous said...

I can't get past your security to contact you.

Andy
415-362-7552

Anonymous said...

I give up.