| Davis Media Access

Davis Media Access (DMA) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation. DMA is a community media center serving Davis, CA and surrounding areas. Our mission is to enrich and strengthen the community by providing alternatives to commercial media for local voices, opinions and creative endeavors. Our major projects are KDRT 95.7 FM, Davis Community Television and DJUSD Channel 17.

KDRT Highlights

Davis Garden Show, Dec. 8, 2022

On today's program: Seeds of hybrid tomatoes, plums, willows, benefits of cover crops, maidenhair ferns, and more. Photo: flowers of fava beans.

The Golden Road, Dec. 7, 2022: Boston Music Hall, Nov. 30, 1973

I was sick and missed last week's show (filled in nicely by Alligator), so here is the 11/30 show I was going to play.

The show was late while Ram Rod and crew built the wall of sound. The band was a simple five-piece ensemble -- Jerry, Bobby, Billy, Phil, and Keith -- and they rocked! This is a fun show.

Jazz After Dark, Dec. 6, 2022

Coming up tonight: Louis Armstrong & Sy Oliver, Johnny Hodges, Peggy Lee & Harold Mooney, Gerry Mulligan & Johnny Hodges, Cal Tjader, Willie Bobo, Stanley Turrentine, Dave Brubeck, Eubie Blake, Mongo Santamaría, Butch Thompson, Perico Sambeat, and Kenny Burrell.

Davisville, Dec. 5, 2022: Yiyun Li, a writer of growing acclaim, once taught at UC Davis (first aired in 2015)

Yiyun Li’s reputation as a writer continues to rise. Her books have earned her several major awards and have taken her to Princeton, where she teaches and serves as director of its creative writing program. In spring 2015, when she was teaching writing at UC Davis, she appeared on Davisville to talk about her work and the short story “A Sheltered Woman” that had won her what was then her latest award. Today we replay that interview from May 18, 2015.

Bapu Vaitla guest hosts show about community and radio, on Listening Lyrics, Dec. 2, 2022

Davis City Councilmember-elect Bapu Vaitla hosts this special edition of Listening Lyrics. Community radio has an important role in providing the music and comments that are the fabric of what makes a community thrive. He discusses this topic with guest Pieter Pastoor, the show's usual host, in between music that reflects their thoughts.

Music, discussions and the love of community make this hour a special treat. Listen over the air, via streaming on kdrt.org, or on most podcast apps under the name Listening Lyrics.

COVID-19 Community Report

Davis Media Access Executive Director Autumn Labbe-Renault will be hosting live shows Tuesdays 12-12:30pm and Fridays 12-12:30pm to help update the community about COVID-19. The shows will rebroadcast Tuesdays and Fridays at 5pm. This show will be a compendium of local resources with check-ins from local officials and other community leaders. As a companion piece for the show, link to the weekly updated blog posting of local services and information called the COVID-19 Community Resource List.

SF Press Club honors ‘Davisville,’ ‘Timeout Radio'

KDRT radio programs about marathons, teens bullying their friends, and Davis’ relatively good fortune in coping with California’s drought and wildfires have all won awards for excellence in the 2022 San Francisco Press Club Greater Bay Area Journalism Awards.

The club announced the honors during its annual awards dinner Dec. 8 in Burlingame. Several outlets won multiple awards, ranging from SFGATE, KQED public radio and India Currents to San Francisco Classical Voice, Bloomberg, the San Francisco Chronicle, and El Tecolote.

Rohan Baxi, a student at Da Vinci Charter Academy High School in Davis, won third place in radio/audio sports features for his December 2021 “Timeout Radio” program, “26.2 miles,” on marathons.

Bill Buchanan, a longtime Davis journalist and host/producer of “Davisville,” won second and third place among radio/audio public affairs programs (with staffs of 1 to 4) for “Amid drought and frightening wildfires, Davis is relatively fortunate” (September 2021) and “New UC Davis research says teens who bully often target their friends” (March 2021).

KDRT presents its first CD project, 'Holidays at the Hall'

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KDRT is producing this limited edition CD/digital download as a thank you gift with donations of $75 or more.

Always a crowd favorite, the Davis Odd Fellows' annual Holiday Show for Thursday Live! each December typically features several diverse local bands, each preparing an imaginative short set of seasonal songs. KDRT's Jim Buchanan often features his live recordings of these shows in his December "Live Tracks" episodes.

Volunteer Spotlight : Philanthropy Day Honoree Tim Gaffaney

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Philanthropic deeds come in all different shapes and sizes — charitable giving, volunteering, board service, etc.— and each Nov 15, National Philanthropy Day is celebrated in the United States.

Locally, Yolo Community Foundation (YCF) provides an opportunity for area nonprofits to recognize an outstanding volunteer via its Yolo Philanthropy Day Celebration. Our pick this year is Davis resident Tim Gaffaney.

Live on KDRT This Election Night

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Listen to the show here: https://kdrt.org/audio/november-2022-local-election-show

Live on KDRT from 7:30-9 pm on Election Night, Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022: Autumn Labbe-Renault and Don Shor check in with candidates & community leaders. Here's the schedule:

7:30 Welcome & overview - Where to listen, what we’ll be talking about, station ID, etc.

7:32 Prerecorded interview with Yolo ACE Jesse Salinas

Towards Fair & Equitable Housing

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"In the Studio," Autumn Labbe-Renault hosts Ellen Kolarik and Vera Sandronsky, co-chairs of Interfaith Housing Justice Davis. Discussion centers on the group’s origins, its work to date, and hopes for the future.

The interview previews a forthcoming event on Nov. 17, when Interfaith Housing Justice Davis and the Davis Area League of Women Voters host an evening with Lea Rothstein highlighting her forthcoming book, "Just Action." The book describes what we can do now, in our own communities, to undo racial segregation and begin to repair the harms it has caused, as well as strategies for building inclusive housing.

Watch the interview here and see the flyer linked here for registration info. Davis Media Access supports this effort by staffing and recording the Zoom presentation at this hybrid event.

For more info: InterfaithHJD@gmail.com Recorded: 10/25/2022 #fairhousing #interfaith #communityaction #communityevents #davisca #redlining #racialsegregation #inclusivehousing #davisca #yolocounty

City Council Candidate Forums

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On September 26, 2022, Davis Media Access was proud to record a City Council Candidate Forum at the Davis Community Chambers, hosted by Indivisible Yolo, Yolo Democratic Socialists of America, Yolo People Power. View the two sessions at https://dctv.davismedia.org/content/election-november-2022-davis-city-co... The next forum on September 29 at 7pm organized by the League of Women Voters was live-streamed and recorded, view at

How to Obtain DJUSD Graduation Recordings

For the 2022 Davis Senior High School graduation ceremony (as well as Da Vinci High School, Martin Luther King High School, and Davis School for Independent Study), Davis Media Access will forego video duplications this year and provide a free link to view and download the graduations once they are edited.

If you'd like to receive that link, please fill out this form.

Congratulations to all graduating seniors throughout the Davis Joint Unified School District.

Sen. Dodd Names DMA Yolo Nonprofit of the Year

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DAVIS – Davis Media Access, which operates community radio station KDRT 95.7 FM and two local cable channels, providing an essential forum for city government, schools and other community groups, has been named Yolo County Nonprofit of the Year by Sen. Bill Dodd.

In the Studio: State of the Arts in Davis

In The Studio - State of Arts

Tim Gaffaney hosts Rachel Hartsough, who is the City of Davis Arts & Culture Manager. They discussed the mission of the office, showed images of projects they have done and are working on, using art to promote social action, sustainability and environmental stewardship, and how Covid has affected the arts landscape.

Congressman Garamendi presents 2021 Women of the Year awards - DMA Executive Director is one of 12 honored from Yolo County

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DMA’s Executive Director Autumn Labbe-Renault was honored Nov. 9 as one of the 2021 Women of the Year for the 3rd Congressional District. Presented by Rep. John Garamendi, D-CA03, the annual awards honor women who go above and beyond serving their communities.

One of 44 women honored throughout Solano, Sutter, Yolo and Yuba counties this year, Autumn was honored specifically for her media coverage that helped communities around Yolo County stay connected during the pandemic, though Garamendi also noted her longtime work on local election coverage.

Gratitude to Our Current Supporters 2022-23

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Thank you all for your generosity! This list includes donors from July 1, 2022 and on

During this time of ongoing pandemic, DMA and KDRT continue to work hard to provide locally relevant information, virtual production services, and of course, eclectic music. This is work we share with you, and we want you to know your support matters. Donations—whether by individuals, events, local businesses, or donor-advised funds—keep KDRT on the air, and help support DMA's work on local elections and youth media services. We thank you!

Advocating for the Arts

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Davis Media Access (DMA) straddles an interesting intersection between the arts and technology, but we are generally classified as an arts and culture organization. Our Yolo County arts and culture nonprofits were deeply impacted during the pandemic, both financially and programmatically, and many of us still have our doors closed or our services deeply curtailed.

One of the hats I wear is chair of Arts Alliance Davis. I’m pleased to note I’ll serve as moderator for an an important Aug. 30 workshop, “Mapping the Sector: Arts & Culture Post-Pandemic.” Co-hosted by Arts Alliance Davis, YoloArts and the Yolo Community Foundation, the virtual event will detail these impacts and explore what reopening and recovery look like.   

The workshop will feature a presentation about the current needs of the arts and culture sector, followed by a panel discussion featuring local nonprofit leaders providing context, information, and stories. Then all participants are invited into facilitated breakout groups for discussion and collaboration. Register here

--Autumn Labbe-Renault, Executive Director

KDRT wins national award

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KDRT Wins 2021 Hometown Media Award

DAVIS, California ─ KDRT 95.7 FM has received a 2021 Hometown Media Award from the Washington, DC-based Alliance for Community Media (ACM) Foundation. Station representatives will accept the award for “Overall Excellence in Community Radio” at a virtual ceremony June 30, 2021. This is an inaugural year for this award, and was awarded to three stations of different sizes.

KDRT is a project of Davis Media Access (DMA), the only nonprofit community media center in Yolo County. Founded in 1988 and based in Davis, DMA carries out its mission of providing alternatives to commercial media through partnerships across Yolo County.

The radio station—whose motto is “Where the Grassroots Grow”—launched in 2004 and has been broadcasting from the DMA facility at 1623 Fifth Street 24/7 ever since. In fact, DMA's original incarnation - Davis Community Television--was the first public access center in the nation to launch a Low-Power FM radio station.

With 34 local programmers, the station provides an eclectic mix of music and public affairs programming, with live streaming and podcasts available, and listeners around the globe. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the majority of its volunteer programmers learned how to record from home, keeping the community well connected despite distance and isolation.

Mental Health Month Spotlight: DMA revisits three interviews with local mental health professionals

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May is Mental Health Month, and we at DMA see that as a prime time to get resources and information in front of the community. DMA's Executive Director Autumn Labbe-Renault said, "our staff lost a good friend when our own Brian Holsten died by suicide some years ago. We believe in promoting resources and having discussions towards normalizing mental illness, and to that end, it will always crop up in our programming from time to time."

DMA Annual Report video for 2020 highlighted by Alliance for Community Media

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How do you document the significant changes that our community and our organization have gone through over this past pandemic year? DMA's Annual Report 2020: When Everything Changed is a 5-minute video that takes the viewer through the key changes, challenges, and creative and resilient adaptations that DMA/DCTV/DJUSD.tv/KDRT experienced last year while finding new ways to connect to our community. From assisting many nonprofits with the transition to "virtual" online community celebrations, events, and live local election night coverage, to last summer's youth online workshop week "Hollywood from Home" to training staff and volunteers to produce their interview and KDRT music programs at home - we continued to grow connections. We were thrilled to have our video selected by the national advocacy organization Alliance for Community Media to serve as an example of telling the 2020 store of resiliency. To learn more about DMA and our work this past year, you can check out our short and recently released Annual Report Video.

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