This month marks 23 years that I’ve written this column in The Davis Enterprise, which has allowed me and many others to write about nonprofits, businesses, lifestyle, arts, climate, culture, and more, for decades.
The City of Davis will honor the legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with a virtual celebration including highlights of speakers and entertainment from past years recorded and archived by Davis Media Access. It also contains current messages from local youth, as well as an introduction from Mayor Gloria Partida. It first airs at 9 a.m. Monday, Jan. 18, 2021, via the City of Davis website at www.cityofdavis.org where it will be available through the end of the month.
Tuesday, December 22, we rebuilt our computer automation system. And, due to the pandemic, we are currently limiting studio access. Which meant we turned off our transmitter while we did the work. If you heard intermittant periods of no broadcast, that was why- things are back to normal at this time!
Please consider a year end donation to your locally owned, locally operated, all volunteer programmed, low power radio station- go to https://kdrt.org/donate - any donation goes to keep the station on the air!
A beloved local tradition - the "Home for the Holidays" concert - continues this year streaming online. The event will be simulcast Thursday December 17 at 7 PM on KDRT 95.7 FM and DCTV Channel 15, and will be available for video and audio streaming at kdrt.org ( a link will be provided there the day of the show). Concert producer Bill Fairfield has brought together many returning favorite local musicians, as well as adding some new special guests to this year's video program.
During this time of COVID-19, DMA is proud to say we grew community during a time of separation. 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 foundations—keep KDRT on the air, and help support DMA's work on local elections and youth media services. This list includes donors from July 1, 2020 to now. We thank you!
$1,000 & Above
Craig & Darien Blomberg
Jessica Kelly Includes a volunteer match by Cisco
Alison Kent & Allan Hollander Via Car Donation
Richard Krogsrud and Rebecca Ryland Via Car Donation
Anthony Roy Via Car Donation
Sunny Shine
$500-$999
Clyde Bowman
Shelley Bronzan In Honor of Matthew Bronzan (includes car donation)
Nancy Flagg
Marie Graham In Honor of "Praise Time with Preacher"
Don and Julie Saylor
Sharmila Shinde Via a Car Donation
Davis Media Access (DMA) produced a live, election-night program on Nov. 3, 2020, highlighting local races and local ballot measures. The show aired live, and streamed on KDRT and YouTube. Providing free, non-partisan local election coverage to local candidates has been part of our mission for more than 30 years.
Earlier in the season, DMA produced “Meet the Candidates,” a series of short interviews highlighting candidates for races from school board through Congress, as well as local ballot measures—in all, 26 interviews. The media center has also aired forums from the League of Women Voters Davis Area and the Yolo Committee for Diverse and Inclusive Elections. All content is available at https://davismedia.org/election.
Co-hosts are for the evening were DMA's Executive Director Autumn Labbe-Renault, with Davis City Councilmember Dan Carson from 8-9; Davis City Councilmember and former mayor Brett Lee from 9-10, and Davis Mayor Gloria Partida from 10-11.
Free Speech Week has been celebrated in the U.S. since 2005. To kick off this special week, we're joining with non-commercial media centers across the country for Community Media Day on October 20th, and will debut a short video highlighting our wide array of grassroots activities and local projects. Throughout the week, we will continue to post special videos and photos on our social media pages - Davis Media FB and KDRT FB .
Davis Media Access (DMA) has completed videoing 26 candidate and campaign statements for local elections. To view link here. DMA is the only nonprofit community media and technology center serving Yolo County, and providing free local election coverage to candidates from school board through Congress has been part of our mission for more than 30 years. Diane Dedoshka, DMA’s Studio Manager and election producer, noted how different this year is from all other years. “During COVID, we don’t have access to our TV studio, teleprompter, etc. We’ve had to figure out how to do what we do, remotely.” DMA will produce 25 “Meet the Candidate” statements, as well as pro/con statements for local ballot Measure B. Normally, candidates face the camera directly and read their prepared statement from a teleprompter, or speak extemporaneously. Owing to the remote production platform DMA is using at this time, Dedoshka said she’ll direct while DMA’s Executive Director, Autumn Labbe-Renault, conducts 5-minute interviews with each candidate. Recording took place in late September and early October, with programs airing on DCTV Channel 15 on Comcast Davis; at menu 99 on AT&T’s U-verse, and online at https://davismedia.org/election starting in early October. A block of election statements will run each morning and evening through Nov. 2. Additional programming will include Zoom forums organized and recorded by groups such as the League of Women Voters Davis Area, and the Yolo Committee for Diverse and Inclusive Elections. DMA is also planning a live, election night program for the Nov. 3 election. The show will air from 8-11 pm and highlight many local candidates.
Since closing the facility on March 13, we’ve navigated a broad range of operational/technical/programmatic and administrative challenges during quarantine. We’ve helped some of our radio and TV volunteers as they’ve navigated producing from home--and commiserated with those who couldn’t. And we’ve adapted on other levels, working to fill budget gaps that are a byproduct of this time, while striving to respond to community requests for help with events that are now virtual. In short, though the building has been closed, the organization has not!
Through it all, we’ve kept abreast of the ever-changing laws and public health orders. In particular, we are following the guidelines for reopening developed by the John Hopkins Center for Public Health and Yolo County Public Health. Our policy and timeline has been developed by staff, and was vetted and approved by the DMA board at its June meeting.
