autumn's blog

DMA Production Manager Jeff Shaw works with local high- school interns each quarter to produce a variety of programming. Recent interns have included Julia and Livia Morris; Aaron Kaplan; Meg Robinson; Emily Merten;  Dylan Taylor; Willian Bezzera, and Kevin Windt. Each receives hands-on production training in digital media, and gains experience in the field recording a variety of school-based productions. Our interns were busy last month recording a variety of band and symphonic productions at the middle and high schools.

One particularly effective and easy way to support DMA is through the donation of a care or boat. The Center for Car Donations processes donations of used vehicles (running or not) with proceeds benefiting KDRT. If you'd like more information, please visit here, and be sure to designate KDRT as the beneficiary.

We acknowledge business contributions to KDRT with brief on-air messages called underwriting. Underwriting is to community radio what advertising is to commercial radio. The difference, however, is clear: Commercial stations may air as much as 18 minutes of advertising time per hour. KDRT airs less than one minute of underwriting per hour, which means our underwriters aren't lost in a sea of commercial hype. Find out more here.

It’s a party! Each year, the board and staff of Davis Media Access (DMA) throw open the doors for a festive to-do. Whatever our individual traditions this time of year, it’s great to come together and have some fun, DMA style.

This year’s open house takes place on Monday, Dec. 7, from 6-8:30 p.m. Enjoy hands-on equipment demos, a “Feedback Booth,” and as always, copious amounts of food & beverage. At 7 p.m., Team Davis’s chorus will regale us with a short set of songs. During the rest of the evening. KDRT’s DJs will spin a variety of holiday tunes.

This is our treat to you – skip dinner, bring a friend or your family, enjoy some good company, and kick off the festive season. Hope to see you there! An Evite and Facebook invitations will be launched soon. 

Victims of disasters often turn to social media for updates and comfort, but what happens when Internet service is interrupted (or in poor and rural communities, where it’s inaccessible to start with)? And while those fleeing may have lost access to computers, tablets or phones, one medium that tends to stay available is terrestrial radio.

In my newspaper column published August 27th in the Davis Enterprise, I referenced the important role of local media outlets in communities when disaster strikes. Since then, two more stories have come to my attention. Over Memorial Day weekend, Wimberley, a small community located in the hill country of central Texas, was the epicenter of a record-setting flood. Homes and people were literally swept away with the floodwaters.

Each year DMA’s board & staff kick off the festive season with an open house. Please save the date and plan to drop by any time between 6 and 8:30 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 7. We’ll have food and libations, equipment to play with, some volunteer recognition, and more. Bring your friends and family, and hope to see you then!

Davis Media Access (DMA) offers a free orientation to its programs and services each month. This next general orientation will take place Wed., Nov. 4 from 6:30-8 p.m. at the media center, 1623 Fifth Street in Davis. DMA Studio Manager Diane Dedoshka will teach the orientation. Topics covered will include: 

 an overview of DMA’s services; information about internships, and training and volunteer opportunities available through DMA.

Professor Jesse Drew is back at DMA with this UC Davis Techocultural Studies students, producing another quarter’s worth of Technocult Radio. Hear their stories and stylings live on KDRT Tuesdays at 11 a.m.

Seasonally dark and atmospheric, the latest episode of “Davis Media Access: From the Vault” features “Lady Madeline,” a short experimental dramatization of Edgar Allen Poe's The Fall of the House of Usher.

Yolanda Torres, a staff member at DMA’s precursor, DCTV, produced the video in 1989. It features the acting talents of Ernest Davis, Jr., and photography by Robert Schultz and Janis Takamoto.

While our annual funding appeal happens in the spring, we accept donations year round. One particularly effective and easy way is to support KDRT through car donations. The Center for Car Donations processes donations of used vehicles (running or not) with proceeds benefiting KDRT. If you'd like more information, please visit here, and be sure to designate KDRT as the beneficiary.

Another is to make a donation of any size, at any point during the year. Your contribution is much bigger than just a donation – it’s a statement that independent outlets for community voices matter. Thank you for considering DMA among your year-end giving.

It’s mid-July, and on this particular day, the peasants pushed past the guards to commandeer my office. I’d be more alarmed, but the peasants are all short, around 10 years old, and remarkably good–natured. Welcome to the third of four summer youth camps at Davis Media Access (DMA). As far as I can tell, their collaborative production this week centers loosely on Shakespeare and carries an anti-bullying theme.

Thanks to YOU, our community of supporters, Davis Media Access (DMA) met its annual fundraising goal of $25,000 by June 30. This money provides most of the operational funds to keep KDRT 95.7 FM on the air, and also supports staff time for some of our key projects, including youth media projects and local election coverage. With a lot of non-profits doing great work locally, strong donor support is validation for all the work we do in the community, and we thank each and every one of you! See our complete donor list.

Davis Media Access is expanding its internships opportunities for the Fall quarter.  DMA's interships offer opportunities in all areas of Radio and Television production, from behind the camera to in front of the microphone.

KDRT, our low-power community radio station, is looking for some interns eager to gain experience in the following areas: Publicity and Social Media; Music Acquisitions and Curation; and Audio Production. Find out more.

For video production internships this fall. Interns get trained and develop hands-on experience in location-based video shoots.  We are also looking for interns to help with our video archive of over 10,000 locally produced programs.

Lynne Nittler, Interfaith Climate Conference Chair, writes ...

I've had time to listen to all the edited videos from March 6 & 7 and post the links in a blog on our website.  The ones of Kathleen Dean Moore and the panel are terrific.  I see why it really is so worthwhile to have professionals doing a video.  Thank you so much.  I'm hoping that many more individuals will get to hear the speakers now.  It's so heartening when non-profits reach out to help one another as they can, and in this case the tapes will allow us to extend the reach of the conference into our faith communities and beyond.  Many individuals were touched by the keynote addresses and the panel, and you have provided us with the means to carry that dialogue out into the community. Thank you for your fine work!

The Center for Car Donations processes donations of used vehicles (running or not) with a large portion of the proceeds benefiting KDRT. If you'd like more information, please visit http:centerforcardonations.org, and be sure to designate KDRT as the beneficiary