| Page 5 | Davis Media Access

A Note from the Director

Recently, KDRT DJ Eddy Owt and DMA Studio & Facilities Coordinator Ray Orosco teamed up to record touring band Black Viiolet in the newly relaunching Davis Media Access (DMA) TV studio. By all accounts it was a worthwhile endeavor and fun, although not everything went as expected.

Sharing in these conversations, I found myself repeating something that’s been a mantra for many years: DMA is not a production house, but a community-based learning lab. We learn by doing, and we help others learn by doing as well. We’re lean on resources but rich in ingenuity and enthusiasm.

So yes, moving from an analog to a digital mixer is a learning curve, and good audio is as vital to a video production as the video itself. I trust Ray and Eddy (and others) will practice more and figure this out–and then help others along the way.

I’m excited to see–at long last–our TV studio coming back online following a long pandemic and an even longer remodel process. Back in the day, we supported public access and the desires of individuals to get trained in TV production. Countless changes in both media use and media technology later, and the call for individual use is scant. Instead, we focus on community-benefit projects such as local election coverage, arts and culture performances, and nonprofit partnerships.

There will come a moment when we once again offer PSA Day and some open studio time, but maybe let us get that new switcher dialed in first…

Further thoughts on Yolo County

On a call recently with a nonprofit executive director who is new to the area, she said “Yolo County is very intimate - everyone seems to be connected to everyone else.” I think that’s true, and also not true.

As I’ve been navigating the county and developing new partnerships through our Yolo Local project, I keep returning to the almost wholly unmet information needs for the Spanish-speaking population. As our ecosystem assessment highlighted, that’s one-fifth of our total population. This week my collaborator jesikah maria ross and I applied for a grant that would allow Yolo Local to connect more deeply with folks who need civic information in their own language. Although it’s a daunting time to be doing such work, we are pressing forward on that front.

Meanwhile, we are pleased to be in cahoots with our friends at PBS KVIE/Abridged for the launch of their weekly Yolo County newsletter, which will lean into Yolo Local’s assessment findings to inform editorial. They’re a great group of folks and I’m looking forward to digging in. A reminder that you can sign up for the weekly newsletter, which drops Wednesday afternoons, here.

In community,

Autumn Labbé-Renault

Executive Director

City Council Candidate Forums

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On September 26, 2022, Davis Media Access was proud to record a City Council Candidate Forum at the Davis Community Chambers, hosted by Indivisible Yolo, Yolo Democratic Socialists of America, Yolo People Power. View the two sessions at https://dctv.davismedia.org/content/election-november-2022-davis-city-co... The next forum on September 29 at 7pm organized by the League of Women Voters was live-streamed and recorded, view at

How to Obtain DJUSD Graduation Recordings

For the 2022 Davis Senior High School graduation ceremony (as well as Da Vinci High School, Martin Luther King High School, and Davis School for Independent Study), Davis Media Access will forego video duplications this year and provide a free link to view and download the graduations once they are edited.

If you'd like to receive that link, please fill out this form.

Congratulations to all graduating seniors throughout the Davis Joint Unified School District.

Sen. Dodd Names DMA Yolo Nonprofit of the Year

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DAVIS – Davis Media Access, which operates community radio station KDRT 95.7 FM and two local cable channels, providing an essential forum for city government, schools and other community groups, has been named Yolo County Nonprofit of the Year by Sen. Bill Dodd.

In the Studio: State of the Arts in Davis

In The Studio - State of Arts

Tim Gaffaney hosts Rachel Hartsough, who is the City of Davis Arts & Culture Manager. They discussed the mission of the office, showed images of projects they have done and are working on, using art to promote social action, sustainability and environmental stewardship, and how Covid has affected the arts landscape.

Congressman Garamendi presents 2021 Women of the Year awards - DMA Executive Director is one of 12 honored from Yolo County

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DMA’s Executive Director Autumn Labbe-Renault was honored Nov. 9 as one of the 2021 Women of the Year for the 3rd Congressional District. Presented by Rep. John Garamendi, D-CA03, the annual awards honor women who go above and beyond serving their communities.

One of 44 women honored throughout Solano, Sutter, Yolo and Yuba counties this year, Autumn was honored specifically for her media coverage that helped communities around Yolo County stay connected during the pandemic, though Garamendi also noted her longtime work on local election coverage.

Advocating for the Arts

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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 national award

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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.

Mental Health Month Spotlight: DMA revisits three interviews with local mental health professionals

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May is Mental Health Month, and we at DMA see that as a prime time to get resources and information in front of the community. DMA's Executive Director Autumn Labbe-Renault said, "our staff lost a good friend when our own Brian Holsten died by suicide some years ago. We believe in promoting resources and having discussions towards normalizing mental illness, and to that end, it will always crop up in our programming from time to time."

DMA Annual Report video for 2020 highlighted by Alliance for Community Media

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How do you document the significant changes that our community and our organization have gone through over this past pandemic year? DMA's Annual Report 2020: When Everything Changed is a 5-minute video that takes the viewer through the key changes, challenges, and creative and resilient adaptations that DMA/DCTV/DJUSD.tv/KDRT experienced last year while finding new ways to connect to our community. From assisting many nonprofits with the transition to "virtual" online community celebrations, events, and live local election night coverage, to last summer's youth online workshop week "Hollywood from Home" to training staff and volunteers to produce their interview and KDRT music programs at home - we continued to grow connections. We were thrilled to have our video selected by the national advocacy organization Alliance for Community Media to serve as an example of telling the 2020 store of resiliency. To learn more about DMA and our work this past year, you can check out our short and recently released Annual Report Video.

Thanks for supporting DMA/KDRT on May 6, BDOG2021

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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.

Bob Dunning Parade - Celebrating 51 years at the Davis Enterprise, part 2

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DAVIS, Calif. (April 19, 2021) — The popular Picnic Day Parade and the Davis Children’s Christmas Parade were canceled by the pandemic. But the community is invited to enjoy a do-it-yourself parade Saturday, April 24, to honor Davis Enterprise columnist and sportswriter Bob Dunning on his 51-plus years with the newspaper.

Arts Alliance Davis - Connections increase impact of Davis arts sector

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By Wendy Weitzel for the Davis Enterprise (April 15, 2021) Local artists continue connecting and sharing their craft, knowing their voice is amplified when they work together. That was the message April 8, 2021 at a virtual meeting of Arts Alliance Davis. The 18 attendees heard first about the newly formed Sacramento Alliance for Regional Arts. The nonprofit promotes and advocates for arts, art education and cultural equity in the greater Sacramento region.

Davis Media Access: Getting back into the routine (Column for Apr 1, 2021 Davis Enterprise)

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Excitement is building for vaccine availability and the prospect of life beginning to return to normal. I’m starting to field many questions about when Davis Media Access will “reopen,” and would like to take this opportunity to address a number of them in one place. Some things to know:

Tune in for "Celebrating Bob Dunning" on Friday April 9 at 4pm!

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A celebration of Bob Dunning's unprecedented career at The Davis Enterprise on Friday April 9 at 4pm. The presentation includes his early years in Davis, covering community and UC Davis sports, writing a widely-read newspaper column, supporting community activities and raising a family. Special appearances by friends, elected officials and community members. Hosted by Bob Bowen, set a reminder and watch the event here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8JQBnfTOAc

Concern for the Creative Economy (column in Feb. 26, 2021 Davis Enterprise)

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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.

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KDRT Highlights

Laid back Friday on Listening Lyrics -- June 26, 2026

Grab the closest hammock you can find and tune in for Listening Lyrics on KDRT 95.7 FM / KDRT.org at 4 p.m. Pacific!

Dashboard Diaries -- June 25, 2026

This week on Dashboard Diaries, DJ RayK plays a veritable smorgasbord of music… some ska, a bit of reggae, a few highlights from the Davis Music Fest, some '60s garage band classics, and several eras of soul music. It’s all over the map, just as the radio gods intended. He thinks it’s really worth a listen this time.

Davis Garden Show, June 25, 2026

Today’s topics: Verbena bonariensis, managing whiteflies, hillside grasses, pumpkin flower problems, flowers in June, and more.

The Electric Compost Heap welcomes summer! -- June 26, 2026

Hey there! Tonight at 6 p.m. Pacific on The Electric Compost Heap, your host Dug Deep catches up on recent releases, including new tunes from Pokey LaFarge, Weird Nightmare, and LA LOM and Los Mirlos (playing together!). And since this is the first program of summer 2026, we'll spin a basketful of summer songs, too! Yep, see you soon at KDRT 95.7 FM and KDRT.org!

In the Key of Folk -- June 24, 2026

Today In the Key of Folk spends some of the hour remembering Bill Wagman and the more that 300 musicians that he brought to his house concerts during a span of over 30 years. You'll also hear a new release or two and classic tracks by Chris Webster, Robert Earl Keen, and Driving With Fergus.

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