autumn's blog

DMA offers the following workshops in our Core Competencies series this month & next. These workshops are free to community members who have attended DMA’s General Orientation.

Final Cut Pro X: Titles, Credits & Motion Graphics – Wed., Feb. 7 2018, 7-8:30 p.m.

Covers the basics of putting titles and credits on your production. Topics include titles and motion graphics, typography, color, and lower-thirds. Lecture w/ overheads and Q&A.

DCTV Website: Reservations & Resources Training – Tuesday, Feb. 20 2018, 6:45 - 8:00 p.m.


Required to participate as a volunteer producer at DMA. Training for how to use DCTV's website to make reservations, create show records, add episodes, and otherwise manage your production(s) at Davis Media Access. A review of available equipment and the requirements for checkout or use will also be included. Moving forward, this workshop and the skills learned in it will be required to make use of DCTV's facilities. Bringing your own laptop to follow along is suggested, but not required. Class can accommodate 20 people Lecture w/ hands-on and Q.& A

DCTV Television Studio Workshop – Wednesday, Feb. 21, 3:30 - 5 p.m
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Required to crew for studio productions. Training for how to crew a DCTV television production. You’ll learn how to run a studio camera, be a floor manager, and run the studio audio board in the control room. You’ll also learn how to set up and tear down the studio for a production, including the proper stowing of cables, configuring lighting, setting up microphones, and flipping the On-Air switch! Class can accommodate 8 people.
 Wear closed-toe shoes and comfortable clothing. Hands-on demonstration w/ Q.& A.

Canon XZ-25 Orientation & Camera Basics: Lighting (Double Workshop) -Wed., Feb. 21, 2017 - 6:45 - 7:45 pm & 8 - 9 p.m.

Register for either one or both hours. Learn the basics of operating and configuring the Canon XA-25, DMA’s workhorse HD camera. We’ll cover the automatic and basic manual configuration, as well as various audio options. Hands-on demonstration with Q & A.

The second workshop covers lighting for your video projects. Learn the basics of proper exposure for a well-lit iage and how you can adjust the exposure for various effects. This workshop will help the filmmaker, documentarian, and photographer understand the ways in which lighting can help communicate with the viewer. Lecture w/ hands-on and Q.& A.

DMA is pleased to announce it has received one of the City of Davis Community Arts Grant awards for 2018. This annual funding is awarded through the City of Davis Arts & Cultural Affairs program, and has received a substantial boost in the past few years through expanded support from City leadership. The program provides funds for a wide variety of community-based arts programs and projects that foster excellence, diversity, and vitality in the arts, and this year is no exception.

DMA’s project, “Connecting Community Through Personal Storytelling,” will take place April 14 & 15, with a public workshop and screening on April 25. All events take place at the Mary L. Stephens Library in Davis, and we thank the Yolo County Library for its partnership. We’ll have more info and an invitation to participate soon, but for now, we’d like to thank the City for its wholehearted support of arts and culture.

I write frequently about the state of national media, here and elsewhere. And with each passing month, the news seems to get worse. From corporate favoritism and the death of Net Neutrality under the “watch” of the Federal Communications Commission, to the reorganization and downgrading of newsrooms at major dailies across California, to additional layoffs at our own community newspaper, the news about those who report it, is dire.

The Fourth Estate in this country used to be venerable, a watchdog against corruption. As CALMatters Editor David Lesher recently wrote, “Media is declining nationally, but unique pressures have made California into America’s laboratory for a dangerous experiment about what happens to the public interest when policy is made without the public’s awareness or accountability.”

This leaves non-profit community media centers such as Davis Media Access (DMA) facing new challenges. For years, our mission was to facilitate the production and distribution of content created by community members. Over the decades (DMA will celebrate 30 years of operation this October), that mission shifted to include more local content creation.

Monday, Dec. 11, 6:30-8:30 p.m. - Each December, DMA throws open its doors and holds a Holiday Open House. You are cordially invited to come share hearty nibbles & festive sips. Meet your favorite DJs, find out what fellow programmers are doing, and learn about the many opportunities available through DMA. Just bring yourself and a willingness to engage with the DMA community! (Parking is challenging, but should be available along Fifth Street and at that hour, in the DMV parking lot).

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October went by in a flash, and was filled to the brim with community events. Davis Media Access (DMA) and KDRT 95.7 FM were happy to support the Oct. 22 community Fire Relief Benefit. Elected officials, local businesses, and community organizers came together with many generous donors to raise more than $26,000 in four hours, all benefitting those affected by the fires in Napa, Sonoma, Lake, and Mendocino counties. We were glad to be on hand with a radio broadcast live from the Sudwerk Dock Store.

That same day, the KDRT community of programmers and volunteers kicked off a weeklong on-air fall fundraiser. I’m delighted to report that we met the $5,000 goal for the week, which is part of the $25,000 we raise each year to support the station. A big thanks to the KDRT Operations Committee, and to Sudwerk Brewing Co., Thai Canteen, Teabo Café, Yoloberry Yogurt, Woodstock’s Pizza, and Berryessa Brewing Co. We thank these local establishments for generously donating a portion of each day’s proceeds towards our fundraiser, and thank all of you that attended, or who donated online. We are also grateful to the bands, musicians and artists who performed at our special events including: DJs Trop’a and Mr. Glass, Justin Cox, The Big Poppies (twice!), Fong Tran, The Philharmonik, and The Nickel Slots.

Fire relief fundraiser planned in Davis Oct. 22

If you’ve been wondering where or how to donate to fire victims, look no further: a group of local elected officials and community organizers in Davis has come together to mount a response to the unprecedented wildfires that devastated Sonoma, Napa, Lake, and Mendocino counties last week.

Spearheaded by Davis City Councilmember Lucas Frerichs, the group has organized a Fire Relief Benefit, to be held Sunday, Oct. 22 from noon to 4 p.m. at Sudwerk Brewing Company, 2001 Second Street in Davis. 

Interested in expanding your skills?  Davis Media Access is holding a one day workshop in Television Studio Production, October 18th, 2017.  You will learn how to run a studio camera, be a floor manager, and run the studio audio board in the control room.  You’ll also learn how to set-up and tear-down the studio for a production, including the proper stowing of cables, configuring lighting, setting up microphones, and flipping the On-Air switch!

We require you attend a general orientation before hand.  The next general orientation is October 11th at 6:30pm.

KDRT will also hold a regular fall fundraising drive from Oct. 22-29. Highlights include special programming, and fundraiser nights at venues including Thai Canteen, Teabo, Sudwerk, Yoloberry, Woodstocks, and Berryessa Brewing. Please visit kdrt.org for dates and details.

KDRT has always been a hyper-local, grassroots effort. Hyper-local means exactly that - we are a team - your neighbors AND your community radio programmers, all depending on generous listener support from the citizenry of Davis.

The City of Davis, UC Davis and Associated Students of UC Davis, are planning the 12th annual Davis Neighbors’ Night Out on Sunday, October 15. Davis Neighbors’ Night Out (DNNO) is a celebration of our community, initiated to encourage neighbors to get to know one another. Connected neighborhoods often make safer neighborhoods with residents looking out for one another.

Neighbors, neighborhood associations, Neighborhood Watch Liaisons, apartment complexes, and/or homeowner associations are encouraged to be a “Party Sponsor.” Anyone interested in more event information or how to host an event, may visit the City of Davis website: Cityofdavis.org/neighbors or contact Carrie Dyer, City staff, at CDyer@cityofdavis.org or (530) 757-5602.

The City of Davis announced the opportunity for artists and arts organizations to apply for a 2018 art grant.  Community Arts grants provide funding for a wide variety of community-based arts programs and projects that foster excellence, diversity, and vitality in the arts, and have been awarded by the City since 1973. This year, the City of Davis has again demonstrated a renewed investment in the arts in our community by increasing the city’s Arts budget, including $50,000 toward Community Arts grants. This money will be awarded to artists or local organizations for projects taking place between January 2018 and June 2019.

Please Save the Date for our always fun and well-attended Holiday Open House, Monday, Dec. 11, 2017 from 6-8:30 p.m. We’ll recognize some volunteers, roll out a winter calendar of workshops and events, and put on a festive spread.

This fall, Davis Media Access (DMA) celebrates 29 years of operation, and 13 years of community radio. It was October 1988 that our antecedent, Davis Community Television, began as a public access station. In 2004, we launched KDRT 95.7 FM, a move that fundamentally changed our organization and necessitated rebranding. And 10 years ago, DMA emerged as the rebranded non-profit offering community media and digital technology services to the community.

Launched on Sept. 24, 2004, KDRT airs an eclectic mix of music and public affairs programming, and builds community by promoting dialogue, encouraging artistic expression, and acting as a forum for people who typically lack media access. KDRT’s mission reflects its values: localism, social equality, public participation, media literacy, diversity, and, of course, community media.

This week, I participated in a research study looking at links between community media, media literacy, and libraries, conducted through the School of Library and Information Science at Simmons College in Boston, MA.

They first asked for my definition of media literacy, which is as follows: media literacy is the ability to understand what media is, its role in our lives, and the kinds of messages it sends. To teach media literacy is to deconstruct media, with an end goal of understanding it well enough to create one’s own messages.

I believe this is particularly important for our youth, who spend inordinate amounts of time online. I’ve heard adults discount youth by saying, “real life is not about likes and followers.” And yet for many of our young folks, it is. So let’s not discount that. Let’s understand that in order to get the likes and follows, first, they become content creators. They’re putting stuff out there that in many ways is very personal. They’re making themselves vulnerable. And why are likes and followers so important? What role is media playing in their lives, and what hole is it filling?  As a mom of two teenagers and one young adult, these are things I’ve spent a great deal of time thinking about.

Donations, whether by local businesses, donor-advised foundations, or individuals, keep KDRT on the air, and help support our work on local election & youth media services. We fundraise all year, but conduct our major drive during the spring months, with on-air fundraisers on KDRT in both fall and spring. Our goal for this year was $30,000.

DMA's donors and supporters make possible a great deal of the work we do. We appreciate you!

$1,000 & Above

• Arp Family Foundation
• Craig & Darien Blomberg
• Jessica Kelly Via a workplace match from Cisco/Bright Funds Foundation
• Cynthia Moyer

$500-$999

• Sharon Hale & Dawn Student
• Nikhil Joshi
• Beth & Robert Post
• Unitarian Universalist Church of Davis, via a special collection
• Judith Wydick In Honor of Autumn Labbe-Renault

$250-$499

• Clyde Bowman
• Davis Parent University
• Nancy Flagg
• Andrea Jones
• Pieter & Jeanne Pastoor
• Don Shor
• Kate Snow & Bart Wise
• Sudwerk Brewing Company
• Karen Vikstrom
• Bill Wagman
• Woodstock's Pizza

$100-$249

• Betsy Allen
• Beulah & Ezra Amsterdam
• Elizabeth Banks
• Elaine Barrett & Jim Cheney
• Sherry Bass
• Nikki Baumrind
• Ezra Beeman In Memory of Howard "Zeke" Beeman
• Matthew Blake
• Marleen Blomberg
• Gerald Bowes
• Sharla Cheney
• Gary Chew
• Eunah Cho
• Anya Clasen
• Jacqueline & Ed Clemens
• Jesse Drew
• Delaine Eastin
• Richard Ellis
• Thomas Estes
• Marilee Eusebio In Honor of Lois Richter
• Roberta Fanning
• Nancy Flagg
• Frank Fox
• Curtis Fritz
• Marnelle Gleason & Lou Fox
• Rick Gonzales/Yolo County Concilio
• Laura Grindstaff
• Ann & Charles Halsted
• Alan Hirsch & Vera Sandronsky
• Cyrus Hui In Honor of Dr. Marvin Goldman
• Hiram Jackson
• Brian Johnson
• Valerie Jones & Joel Brungardt
• Doug & Jessica Kelly
• kristen kralovich
• Lorenzo Kristov
• Joe & Janet Krovoza
• Autumn & Craig Labbe-Renault
• Mary Ann Laumas
• Eric Lee
• John Lescroart
• Karen Leyse
• Richard McCann
• Patrick McGuire
• Lee Maddex
• Benjamin Millam
• Diane Moore In Memory of George Moore
• Rod Moseanko In Honor of Jolene Jolene
• John Mott-Smith
• Nikki Nicola
• Lynne Nittler
• Ted Parks
• Mike Pesola/Bedrock Construction
• Peter Peterson
• Vaughan Ramon
• Judith Reynolds
• jesikah maria ross
• John Mott-Smith
• Benton Rundquist
• Peter Schiffman
• John Seeger
• Linda Sharrow
• Debbie Shoup & Bob Morrison
• Ajay Singh
• Maynard Skinner & Christy Jensen
• Virgil Smith, CPA
• John Stegall
• Marian Stephenson
• Mary Superak
• Danny Tomasello
• Doug Walter
• Judith Wydick

This article originally appeared in the September 06, 2017 issue of the Davis Enterprise.

During my early years working in community media, the topic of hate speech arose frequently at conferences and on listservs.