autumn's blog

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.

We here at Davis Media Access/KDRT/Yolo Local are gearing up for a big day on May 1. We extend good wishes to everyone in our Yolo County nonprofit community as we embark upon another Big Day of Giving. You can support our work here -- thank you!

Local community media nonprofit Davis Media Access (DMA) has announced the inaugural members of its Yolo Local Working Group.

Known for its longtime civic engagement work, DMA has spent the past 18 months moving from “curiosity about how DMA could help the decline in locally available information, to concrete action towards that end,” said Autumn Labbé-Renault, DMA’s executive director and principal developer of the project.

“We believe the shrinking of local newsrooms and corresponding loss of vital news and information affects every aspect of community life. When information is scarce or inequitable, civic engagement is diminished and our communities suffer,” she said. “Davis Media Access is working to build a civic information project for Davis and beyond, and we’ve named this project Yolo Local.”

Though based in Davis, the organization has strategic partnerships across the county. The first phase of Yolo Local is a countywide community information needs assessment. Labbé-Renault said the goal is to better understand our local news and information ecosystem, both in terms of the “supply side” or information providers, as well as from the “demand side” of local residents’ information needs and preferences.

The assessment will take place over the next four months and include a bilingual survey, engagement at community events, focus groups, and listening sessions. To assist with this project, DMA has convened a Yolo Local Working Group. Members will bring their personal, professional, and community experiences to the space to inform and help build the work.

Members and their affiliations include:

• Spencer Bowen: Communication & Strategic Policies Manager, City of Woodland
• Bill Buchanan: Award-winning journalist; retired from UC Davis; Host and Producer of “Davisville” on KDRT
• Alejandra Cuevas Rash: PhD in Communication Studies; teacher; bilingual consulting; Ethnic Studies development, DJUSD
• Laura Galindo: Interim Public Information Officer, Yolo County; Office of Emergency Services; formerly Yocha DeHe Wintun Nation
• Linda Henigan: ED & Founder, Woodland’s Dinner on Main; Founder and former Executive Director, WAVE TV; fomerly Woodland Chamber of Commerce
• Anahi Monter: Program Director, Yolo County Children’s Alliance; extensive experience working with diverse cultural communities throughout county
• Leonie Pickett: Teacher (Da Vinci Charter Academy); City of Davis Human Relations Committee Vice Chair; UU Church of Davis
• Josh Redman: Solar Housing Association; Third Space art Collective; Food Not Bombs, Good and Weird Davis
• Jenny Tan: Director of Community Engagement, City of Davis; Board Member for Yolo Community Foundation, former Public Information Officer for Yolo County
• Anthony Volkar: Public Information Officer, Yolo County Office of Education; connected to 30,000 students throughout county
• Alyx Volzer: Business Owner, Massage Therapy Institute; Yolo Sol; LGBTQIA+, community organizer

Working Group members were vetted and selected by an ad hoc committee comprising DMA’s board, staff and volunteers. Labbé-Renault said the focus wasn’t on journalism experience for this phase, but on “individuals who are connectors, do-ers and committed to working collaboratively.” Labbé-Renault noted the need still for representation from Winters, rural Yolo County, and youth.

DMA's partners in this process are community-engaged journalist and Davis resident jesikah maria ross [she does not capitalize her name], and Boulder, CO-based Impact Architects, who are providing the framework and methodology for this undertaking. The project has received financial support from the City of Davis, Yolo County Supervisor Lucas Frerichs, and former Supervisor Jim Provenza, as well as private donors, and is actively pursuing other funding.

Labbé-Renault encouraged interested community members to email yololocal@davismedia.org to sign up for a forthcoming newsletter about the project.

Davis Media Access is pleased to be one of the co-sponsors of Songs in Solidarity, a benefit concert to support the people of Los Angeles devastated by the January fires. 

Organized by Winters Open Mic in partnership with local organizations and businesses,  the benefit concert will feature three beloved local bands: Island Crew, Putah Creek Crawdads, and the Big Poppies. Beer, wine, and other beverages will be available for purchase. Proceeds from the ticket sales and concessions will go to the California Community Foundation, to aid in their rebuilding and revitalization efforts in the affected areas. The evening provides an opportunity to gather in community while listening to uplifting tunes. Produced by Winters Open Mic at the Winters Opera House. More info and tickets available here

Davis Media Access (DMA) has announced a new partnership with Impact Architects, a nationally recognized firm that partners with nonprofits, philanthropy, and businesses to address complex challenges on a global scale. Impact Architects will provide the framework, methodology and data analysis for Yolo Local, the community information needs assessment DMA is driving.

The firm has worked with public media outlets and universities to evaluate the impact of their programs, and with large foundations including Ford, Knight and the Walton Family foundation to assess the impacts of their giving around engaged journalism. One of their most recent projects was an information needs assessment for the state of Wyoming.

DMA’s Executive Director, Autumn Labbé-Renault, said DMA is not a typical client for Impact Architects, but their approach at the right moment—brokered by Davis resident and Yolo Local advisor jesikah maria ross—yielded an opportunity to be the pilot for a program that Lindsay Green-Barber, founder and principal of Impact Architects, calls a hybrid model.

“Over the past five years of doing local information ecosystem assessments we've learned that the work is best when we have strong, engaged, local partners,” Green-Barber said. ”In this hybrid model, we'll bring our research expertise and strong assessment model, and our local partners will bring their relationships, deep knowledge of people and place. Together, we hope to deeply understand the opportunities, needs, and gaps in information across Yolo County."

DMA manages multiple media projects out of its facility on Fifth Street in Davis, including Davis Community Television, DJUSD.tv and community radio station KDRT 95.7FM, and works with public and private partners throughout Yolo County. With its historic funding in decline, the organization has been exploring its future strategic directions. Labbé-Renault notes one of the project’s goals is to pilot a process that community media centers elsewhere could use.

In late 2023, she led DMA in the launch of an exploratory process that started with her curiosity about how DMA’s technical infrastructure and expertise, as well as its deep community connections, might help turn around the decline of locally available civic information? With the support of DMA’s board of directors and staff, she talked with nearly 50 community leaders, raised $25,000, including support from the City of Davis and Yolo County Supervisors Lucas Frerichs and Jim Provenza (former), and branded the project Yolo Local.

Working under a framework that Impact Architects provides, DMA will form a working group for Yolo Local, which will in turn drive the on-the-ground community engagement work comprising a survey, focus groups and listening sessions throughout the county. The timeframe for this is February-September of this year.

“Ultimately, Impact Architects will deliver a comprehensive, data-driven report that details how our Yolo community views its information needs, which in turn will drive the next phase of Yolo Local,” Labbé-Renault said. “We know it's critical to take the time to listen to people in an inclusive way, and to get good data. The opportunity to work with IA levels up our project in multiple ways, and we’re most grateful for the opportunity to explore this collaboration.”

Labbé-Renault said DMA needs to raise another $25,000 to fully build out the assessment phase, and that she is actively identifying and pursuing funding opportunities.

By Autumn Labbé-Renault

This was originally published as a column in The Davis Enterprise

It’s been about 18 months since I began developing a vision for a project that would reframe the work of the nonprofit I lead — Davis Media Access — while working towards addressing a growing news and information gap in our community.

Davis voters have elected Linda Deos (pictured) to the City Council, re-elected Lea Darrah to the Davis school board, and handily approved two tax measures to pay for city services and the Davis public library.

According to unofficial results available Wednesday morning on the Yolo County elections website:

• Deos won the council’s District 2 seat, the only contested council position this election, with about 52 percent of the vote. Victor Lagunes placed second with 27.3 percent, followed by Dillan Horton with 20.6 percent.

Davis Media Access (DMA) will present a live election-night program from 8-9:30 pm PST on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. The show airs on KDRT 95.7 FM and streams live at kdrt.org. Hosts Don Shor and Autumn Labbe-Renault will conduct short interviews with some of the candidates for local offices, as well some current elected officials. Due to the short length of the show and its individual interviews, hosts will not field call-ins from the public.

Davis Media Access (DMA) is pleased to be part of the Yolo Voter Education Grant, funded by the Walter & Evelyn Hass Fund and Yolo County, and administered through the Yolo Community Foundation. The purpose of the grant is to ensure that voters understand the “days and ways” to vote since all the changes enacted with the Voter Choice Act’s implementation in Yolo County two years ago.

The goal of the grant is to increase local voter understanding of how to vote. This includes changes to when (longer timeframe leading up to the election), where (fewer but centralized voting locations, mobile voting locations), and how (in person, by mail) voters may cast a ballot. The funders are particularly interested in reaching young/Latinx/Asian Pacific Island voters in precincts with historically low turnout.

DMA proposed an innovative project working with our partners in West Sacramento and Woodland. In West Sacramento, we’re partnering with community radio station KYWS to broadcast voter education messaging in five languages: English, Hmong, Punjabi, Russian and Spanish. We’re also airing these on KDRT in Davis, and we’ve made short animated videos that we’ve added to our Election November 2024 Programming. And at Woodland Community College, we’re doing direct outreach to students with bilingual English/Spanish materials. 

Davis Media Access (DMA) and Sudwerk Brewing Company are pleased to invite our community to a 20th Anniversary Celebration of KDRT--low-power, high-octane community radio.

The party kicks off at 6 pm on Friday, Oct. 18, outdoors at the Sudwerk Dock and Hop Yard, 2001 2nd St in Davis. KDRT DJ Preacher will kick things off by spinning tunes chosen by KDRT show hosts to showcase the many sounds of KDRT.

At 7 pm, live music launches on the Hop Yard Stage with openers Max and Julian of The Big Poppies, and headliners Cowboys After Dark. Local artist groups will staff tables, and we'll hear some kind words and accolades for our beloved grassroots station, including recognition by Davis Mayor Josh Chapman. The Dock will have beverages and items from a limited menu for sale.

By Autumn Labbé-Renault, Executive Director

In 2016, I convinced the board at Davis Media Access (DMA) that we needed a media lab. There was $225,000 in restricted capital funds sitting at the City. They couldn’t touch it, as it was earmarked for community media purposes. We’d never had bandwidth to consider its possible uses, until I proposed it be used to remodel the facility in order to build a media lab that could be used to further serve the community. So I pitched my idea to City Council and staff, and got the money—eight years ago. And then:

• Because the money was passed through the City, it was subject to prevailing wage, meaning that anyone who worked with DMA on this project would also be subject to significantly more paperwork and regulations

• As a result, we were declined many times over by architects unwilling to take that on for what was a relatively small commercial project. In 2018, then-board member Valerie Jones twisted the arm of Bruce Playle at Indigo Hammond+Playle Architects, and he was instrumental in moving the project forward (thank you, Bruce!)

• We then experienced a similar hiccup in hiring a contractor, but in the end signed a contract with Joe at Albertazzi Construction Inc. We were scheduled to start the remodel in April 2020, and you can guess how that went.

• The next couple of years were governed by the pandemic, and influenced by things like supply chain issues, contractor availability, and a 30 percent increase in the cost of materials. In 2022, we were able to regrade, resurface and otherwise make amendments to our parking lot as required by the City.

Last month we welcomed Eva Spiegel to our board of directors. Eva is a strategic communications consultant with decades of experience in nonprofit, journalism, local government and small business communication. Her portfolio of work comprises a wide range of products including reporting, writing, editing, strategy, messaging, scripting, social media and press relations.

Eva began her career in the nonprofit sector working with a small organization that was funded by major national foundations to improve the quality of commercial broadcast radio with stories airing on CBS Radio’s “The Osgood File.” She transitioned to public affairs communications working largely with local government at the League of California Cities.

Eva currently works for Kearns & West, a California-based, national firm specializing in stakeholder facilitation, mediation and public engagement. A long-time Davis resident and UC Davis graduate, Eva first moved to Davis in 1979. She left for a decade after college but returned in 2001.

July was one for the record books, with a heat wave that just wouldn’t end. At Davis Media Access (DMA), we watched as various contractors worked through that heat to put up drywall and paint it; reroute and add new ductwork, and otherwise complete some of the heaviest work of the remodel project. It’s interesting to work under ceilings still open to all the ductwork and insulation, but when I gave a tour to a couple of volunteers this week, they echoed my own feelings: it’s starting to feel real. 

Elsewhere, my summer is centered on pursuing funding for the community information needs assessment phase of our envisioned civic information project. For the moment, I am gratified to have earned early support from Yolo County Supervisors Lucas Frerichs and Jim Provenza, and from the City of Davis. Each has contributed $5,000 towards seeding the countywide assessment effort. The Supervisors’ contributions are made from their American Rescue Plan Community Benefit Funds, and the City’s support was made with the support of all five council members.

If you’re wondering why DMA is pursuing this project in stages, it’s because civic media practice includes connecting with community stakeholders to find out what information they need, how and when they will access it, and what’s important to them. And so this next phase of our work is about creating an inclusive process, asking strategic questions and listening deeply. I’m personally driven to create something meaningful and with lasting impact, and proud to be leading this effort.

In community,

Autumn Labbé-Renault, Executive Director