Davis Media Access Releases ‘Yolo County News & Information Ecosystem Report’

Yolo Local maps sector, outlines challenges and opportunities 

Sept. 29, 2025—Davis Media Access (DMA) announces the release of its “Yolo County News & Information Ecosystem” report, which presents ideas for addressing the reduced availability of local information and news in Yolo County.  

The 70-page report follows months of research, conversations and contact with people throughout Yolo County to understand how the decline of traditional local media outlets affects both information providers and Yolo residents. DMA calls its effort to address this decline Yolo Local.

DMA worked with Impact Architects, nationally known consultants; jesikah maria ross of Davis, a community-engaged journalist, and the 11-member Yolo Local Working Group. The community engagement, which primarily ran from April to August 2025, included a bilingual survey, direct engagement at events, one-to-one interviews, and roundtable discussions. 

The report is rooted in Impact Architects’ framework and methodology for large-scale ecosystem reports, and includes key comparative data about Yolo County, such as race and ethnicity, income, and civic wellness data. It describes the community engagement approach and strategies that Yolo Local used, and includes a list of organizations and individuals involved.


Key findings in the report include: 

● The need for expanded Spanish-language and bilingual media: While 36 percent of residents identify as Hispanic or Latino/a and nearly 20 percent speak Spanish at home, no news sources are specifically dedicated to serving Hispanic and Latino/a communities in the county


● The need for a backbone institution for the news and information sector: News outlets expressed interest in coordinating with other outlets, but lack a structure to do so. A backbone could act as an “assignment editor,” manage shared resources, and foster collaboration across platforms


● The call to cover critical topics, inclusively: Residents want deeper reporting on local governance, agriculture (including farmworkers’ voices), education, and perspectives and experiences of immigrants and people of color, which are often missing or misrepresented

●  An opportunity exists to create a central resource hub to connect local residents with community, government and nonprofit resources and services. Models in other U.S. cities show that news outlets can connect communities to vital resources

KDRT turns 21 ! Join us in celebrating the coming of age of our grassroots community station

WHAT:  KDRT 21st birthday bash with live music by The Cantaliers (Latin, Surf, Rockabilly) and live broadcast

WHEN:  Friday, October 3, 2025 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

WHERE:  Sudwerk Brewing Co. Dock Store and Hop Yard,  2001 2nd Street, Davis, CA 95618

WHY:  Celebrating 21 years of community-powered grassroots radio in Davis, CA!

The community is invited to this free, all-ages, outdoor event hosted by Sudwerk Brewing Co., Davis Media Access staff/board, and KDRT volunteers.

Food and beverages will be available at the Sudwerk Dock Store, upbeat live Surf, Rockabilly and Latin music will be provided by Sacramento's The Cantaliers, River City Marketplace vendors will be on-hand for local wares, and our hospitality and outreach tables will be staffed by friendly DJ volunteers.  During a time when LOCAL media is especially important, we look forward to gathering with our listeners and supporters.

Gratitude to Our Supporters 2025-26

Each year, Davis Media Access (DMA) appeals to our community for support for our programs and services. Direct support helps us provide local election coverage, support youth media training and mentoring, and provide critical operating support for KDRT. It has also helped support Yolo Local.

For the period beginning July 1, 2025 and ending June 30, 2026, we are grateful to the following supporters, as well as those supporters who wish to remain anonymous: 

$500-$999

Barbara Clutter & Betty Hesters   In Support of Yolo Local

Still here, still leading

By Autumn Labbé-Renault 

This column was originally published in the Davis Enterprise, Aug. 8, 2025

With the rescission vote to pull federal funding from PBS and NPR and the subsequent winding down of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, as well as mounting threats against journalists, the past few weeks have brought many questions my way. How does this affect Davis Media Access? How will DMA move forward? Will you be able to survive?

Welcoming Brianna Menson

Davis Media Access is pleased to welcome Brianna Menson to our staff as the first-ever Volunteer Coordinator for KDRT, our Low-power community radio station. Brianna joined us last month and has been busy getting up to speed for the quarter-time position.

As a student at the UC Davis School of Law with interests in entertainment law and education policy, Brianna expressed a deep appreciation for the "behind-the-scenes" of creative and informative works. She said she hopes to both contribute to, and learn from, Davis Media Access through aiding in the facilitation of KDRT operations.

Effort to map information needs continues

This column was originally published in the Davis Enterprise.

It’s been a while since I’ve provided an update here on Yolo Local, Davis Media Access’s project to map news and information assets and needs around Yolo County.

Yolo Local is grounded in the belief that our civic health, democratic traditions and capacity to address community issues are directly related to our ability to access local, accurate, trusted information in Yolo County.

Historically, many communities feel left out and disconnected by media content, especially where it’s not relevant or useful to them. That’s why a prime goal of this assessment is to ensure that we hear from voices that are not always in the room.

So much good work has happened in just a few short months. In April, we convened the inaugural Yolo Local Working Group. Together, we’ve been conducting a countywide survey in English and Spanish, and are engaging with the greater Yolo community directly at community events.

We are grateful to the many organizations that have stepped up to help. In the last couple of weeks alone, we’ve gotten commitments to share the surveys from Yolo County Housing Authority; Mutual Housing; Communicare + Olé’s Promotora program; Yolo HHSA; Yolo County Library — both from branches and Friends groups — and Yolo Works, on behalf of our county’s agriculture workers.

We’re also deeply appreciative of the cities of Davis, Winters and Woodland for sharing the information on their platforms, and for the nonprofits, service clubs, and faith communities that have also helped us get the word out.

We’ve run ads in this paper, the Winters Express and Woodland Daily Democrat, and we’re grateful to Radio Santisimo for their interview with working group member Alejandra Cuevas.

Organizers are working to get as broad a range of responses as possible from all areas of the county. Completing the survey should take about 10 minutes, and participants are eligible to win one of four $50 gift cards to Nugget Markets.

The survey close date has been extended until July 4. 

Community members can complete the English version of the survey https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/YoloInfoNeeds or the Spanish-language version https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/YoloLocalInfoNecCast

We’ve also been having a blast engaging directly at community events.  Coming up, we’ll hold a series of community roundtables in different communities.

Lastly, everyone is asking what we’ll do with all this info. Part of good community engagement is returning to the community to share what we’ve learned, and we’ll do that via a report to the community and further engagement this fall.

I need to really shout out 100+ Women Who Care Yolo County. On May 15, I had an opportunity to pitch Yolo Local, and happily ours was the winning pitch. An assessment process is expensive, and their $10,000 donation makes a tremendous difference in our ability to do this work. Learn more about this group here.

— Autumn Labbé-Renault is a journalist, community engagement strategist, and executive director of Davis Media Access (DMA). She’s currently working to map information needs across Yolo County via Yolo Local. She can be reached at autumn@davismedia.org.

Effort to map information needs continues

This column was originally published in the Davis Enterprise.

It’s been a while since I’ve provided an update here on Yolo Local, Davis Media Access’s project to map news and information assets and needs around Yolo County.

Yolo Local is grounded in the belief that our civic health, democratic traditions and capacity to address community issues are directly related to our ability to access local, accurate, trusted information in Yolo County.

Yolo Local launches countywide survey

Yolo Local -LOGO2 copy.jpg

May 9, 2025--Yolo Local has launched a countywide bilingual survey aimed at better understanding the news and information needs of community members in Yolo County.

Developed by community media nonprofit Davis Media Access (DMA), Yolo Local is delving into how the decline in locally available information and news is impacting both information providers and local residents. The survey is one of several community engagement and information-gathering strategies the project will carry out this spring via its volunteer Yolo Local Working Group.

“Yolo Local is grounded in the belief that our civic health, democratic traditions and capacity to address community issues are directly related to our ability to access local, accurate, trusted information in Yolo County,” said Autumn Labbé-Renault, DMA’s executive director.

“Right now, trust in media is at an all-time low; local news sources are disappearing, and digital platforms are stoking fragmentation and polarization,” Labbé-Renault said. “Many communities feel left out and disconnected by media content, especially where it’s not relevant or useful to them."

Organizers are working to get as broad a range of responses as possible from all areas of the county. Completing the survey should take about 10 minutes, and participants are eligible to win one of four $50 gift cards to Nugget Markets. The survey closes June 15.

Community members can complete the English version of the survey or the Spanish-language version

Labbé-Renault noted the Yolo Local Working Group is relying on its community partners to share and help amplify this survey, which will “help DMA determine how to move forward with a project that works to meet our county’s most critical unmet information needs.”

Yolo Local is conducted in partnership with Impact Architects and Davis resident and community-engaged journalist jesikah maria ross, and is being developed as a national pilot.  Financial support has been provided by the City of Davis, Yolo County Supervisor Lucas Frerichs, and the office of former Supervisor Jim Provenza, as well as private donors. Donations to support the project may be made here.