Tim Gaffaney hosts Davis Poet Laureate Julia B. Levine. She read two of her poems and talked about the context in which they were written. She discussed how she came to writing poetry, how she has enjoyed her role at the poet laureate and her plans for Davis, including a contest.
For more info: sites.google.com/view/juliablevine
Recorded: 1/17/22
Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021 is Giving Tuesday, and on this worldwide day of generosity we at Davis Media Access invite our community of local media advocates to show your support of our beloved grassroots radio station KDRT 95.7FM. It operates 24/7 from the power of passionate volunteer programmers, and stays on-air due to your support at kdrt.org/donate
Meet Kyle Parker, the founder and CEO of ClipDart, and a recent transplant to Davis. In a conversation with Jeff Shaw, Kyle talks about his own experience understanding the importance of a simple haircut, and the centrality of a barbershop, especially in black and brown communities. He discusses his mission to help neighbors in need who want to look their best, and the ways a haircut can contribute to mental wellness. Learn more about the Day of Duty, which will offer barbering, free food, clothing, school supplies, and support services here in Davis. 12-6 pm Oct.
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 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.
During the 24 hours of Big Day of Giving (BDOG) on May 6, Davis Media Acccess and KDRT received close to 100 donations, and we exceeded our 24-hour goal for the second year in a row. Thank you for the generous support of our community media! In Yolo County, 98 nonprofits received $1.5 million -- up 75% from the pre-pandemic 2019 figures, according to the Yolo Community Foundation.
As the name implies, Davis Media Access (DMA) is a community media center, but it’s generally classified under the larger umbrella of arts and culture organizations. This is one of those things that has bearing as we apply for grants, but it also plays out in our day-to-day work, as we teach both media technology and media arts.
One of the hats I wear in our community is as chair of Arts Alliance Davis. We're a coalition of arts-minded folks from all around Yolo County: we're artists, we staff diverse arts organizations, and we promote arts opportunities. In normal times, we meet approximately six times per year to network and strengthen the arts in Davis and beyond. I love this role, as I’ve learned much about many hidden gems (people and places) across Yolo County.
It’s been an excruciatingly hard year for many of our participating organizations and artists. As Julie Baker of CA Arts Advocates recently noted on Facebook, “From the CA $227 billion budget, CA is in good shape financially with a $15 billion projected surplus. Preliminary read for creative industries, looks like state arts agency stays around the same with $25 million for Cultural Institutions in grants in the next round of $575 million for small businesses.
“It is a start but considering the devastation to the creative industries as compared to our economic impact pre-COVID (larger than that of both construction and transportation) it is simply not enough,” Baker said.
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.
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.
This column was originally published in The Davis Enterprise May 8, 2020
By Autumn Labbé-Renault
Special to The Enterprise
All is quiet within Davis Media Access as I wrap Episode 15 of the “COVID-19 Community Report” on KDRT. Last month I wrote about my decision to launch this twice-weekly live radio show.
Davis Media Access (DMA) invites you to help document the history we’re making during the COVID-19 pandemic by participating in a collaborative, virtual storytelling project here in Yolo County. Upload videos to https://davismedia.org/diary. Read on to learn more about the project.
Historians are as informed by first-person recollection and ephemera as they are by world events. Think about those who kept diaries during the flu of 1918, or the spread of smallpox through the Americas. What we experience as individuals adds to a greater understanding of the crisis we’re weathering as a whole. In this spirit, DMA is launching Life in the Time of COVID-19: Yolo County Community Diary as a collaborative storytelling project during this time of societal shift.
Welcome to the Community Diary Project!
To look at some examples visit our YouTube playlist.
Ready now to start?
1.Using your phone camera create a short diary entry.
2. Go to Dropbox to upload and follow the instructions it provides asking for name and email and select your video.
You will see when the upload is complete and will be sent a confirmation email.
That's it and THANK YOU for participating.
Dr. Scott hosts Dr. Bela Matyas, Solano County's Public Health Officer, to discuss COVID-19, aka the Coronavirus.
It has been no small challenge these past two months to learn how to manage Davis Media Access and all its projects remotely. But in an effort to protect our community of volunteers, public visitors, and staff, and consistent with current public health guidelines, the media center remains closed. Like everyone else, we're practicing social distancing, and learning to work within our "new normal."
While I'm offering the COVID-19 Community Report on KDRT weekly, DMA's staff is working with KDRT volunteers to start getting other KDRT programmers back on the air, remotely. And it's happening. Check the schedule at kdrt.org to see what's ramping up. Similarly. there are new projects and collaborations percolating behind the scenes at DCTV and DJUSD.tv as well/
DMA's staff is working from home to manage operations. The best way to reach us during this time is email to info@davismedia.org.
