| 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

KDRT presents its first CD project, 'Holidays at the Hall'

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KDRT is producing this limited edition CD/digital download as a thank you gift with donations of $75 or more.

Always a crowd favorite, the Davis Odd Fellows' annual Holiday Show for Thursday Live! each December typically features several diverse local bands, each preparing an imaginative short set of seasonal songs. KDRT's Jim Buchanan often features his live recordings of these shows in his December "Live Tracks" episodes.

Volunteer Spotlight : Philanthropy Day Honoree Tim Gaffaney

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Philanthropic deeds come in all different shapes and sizes — charitable giving, volunteering, board service, etc.— and each Nov 15, National Philanthropy Day is celebrated in the United States.

Locally, Yolo Community Foundation (YCF) provides an opportunity for area nonprofits to recognize an outstanding volunteer via its Yolo Philanthropy Day Celebration. Our pick this year is Davis resident Tim Gaffaney.

Live on KDRT This Election Night

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Listen to the show here: https://kdrt.org/audio/november-2022-local-election-show

Live on KDRT from 7:30-9 pm on Election Night, Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022: Autumn Labbe-Renault and Don Shor check in with candidates & community leaders. Here's the schedule:

7:30 Welcome & overview - Where to listen, what we’ll be talking about, station ID, etc.

7:32 Prerecorded interview with Yolo ACE Jesse Salinas

Towards Fair & Equitable Housing

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"In the Studio," Autumn Labbe-Renault hosts Ellen Kolarik and Vera Sandronsky, co-chairs of Interfaith Housing Justice Davis. Discussion centers on the group’s origins, its work to date, and hopes for the future.

The interview previews a forthcoming event on Nov. 17, when Interfaith Housing Justice Davis and the Davis Area League of Women Voters host an evening with Lea Rothstein highlighting her forthcoming book, "Just Action." The book describes what we can do now, in our own communities, to undo racial segregation and begin to repair the harms it has caused, as well as strategies for building inclusive housing.

Watch the interview here and see the flyer linked here for registration info. Davis Media Access supports this effort by staffing and recording the Zoom presentation at this hybrid event.

For more info: InterfaithHJD@gmail.com Recorded: 10/25/2022 #fairhousing #interfaith #communityaction #communityevents #davisca #redlining #racialsegregation #inclusivehousing #davisca #yolocounty

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

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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.

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KDRT Highlights

In the Key of Folk, Nov. 4, 2026

Election day has come and gone and we're here on In the Key of Folk with the before and the after moods. What does that mean, well tune in: we have a great crop of new releases and then we go back to Ireland and the UK to catch up on treasures that miraculously appeared in record shops, whoohoo! Tracks by Rags Rosenberg, Zera Starchild, Mary Gauthier, Chris Williamson, The Bothy Band, The Pogues, and more. Step outside, enjoy the fresh air, the beautiful sunlight, and the flora and fauna, but wherever you are, enjoy the music!

Dashboard Diaries – Nov. 4, 2026

This week on Dashboard Diaries, DJ RayK stakes out his new territory on Wednesdays with a raucous playlist that includes Rare Earth, the Stones, Wilson Pickett, Jackie Wilson, the Doobie Brothers, and dozens more. Hop in and hold on this Wednesday, 3-5 p.m.

Election warm-up special, or protest songs to get you ready, on Sonic Rehab, Nov. 2, 2026

Election Day is nearly upon us, and DJJJ is bringing some fiesty, jaded, hilarious and groove-laden music to get you in the voting mood. Mixed bag? ABSOLUTELY. He'll be dropping tracks from protest classics like Gil Scott Heron, Fela Kuti, and Nina Simone, as well as some folks you may be less familiar with, like The Honey Drippers, Antibalas and Bugz in the Attic. PLUS MUCH MUCH MORE! Tune in this election eve from 1-3 p.m. PST on KDRT 95.7 fm or stream live on kdrt.org.

Jazz After Dark, Nov. 3, 2026

Some upbeat jazz tonight: Pete Fountain, Peggy Lee, Glenn Miller, Frank Sinatra, Tommy Dorsey, Benny Goodman, Ahmad Jamal, Louis Armstrong, Ben Webster & Johnny Hodges, Duke Ellington, Joe Morello, Cannonball Adderley, Ella Fitzgerald with Duke Ellington, Jo Jones, Bobby Hackett, Big Miller with the Bob Florence Big Band, New Orleans' Own The Dukes of Dixieland, and the Claude Bolling Big Band.

Davisville, Nov. 2, 2026: Yolo’s evolving library expands into south Davis

A second public library will open in Davis in early 2027, at 2660 Lillard Drive. Maybe the expansion is not surprising when education is the town industry, but the library’s growth diverges from the trajectory of other traditional media centers like printed newspapers, book and record stores. As categories, they're shrinking. How have libraries stayed current?

Today on Davisville we talk with Crista Cannariato and Scott Love, Yolo County library regional managers, about the new south Davis branch, what it will offer, and how libraries have changed over the years. Books are still essential, and community meeting rooms are a major attraction now.

“We’re in a profession where change is not something we’re afraid of or against,” Cannariato says.“Taking the community’s needs and interests at heart allows us to kind of change and develop over time, using that as our guidance.”

We also talk about artificial intelligence. The profession is figuring out what it means for libraries, Love and Cannariato say. They have seen some AI books, Love adds, that were “sloppy and weird.”

This Yolo County illustration depicts the circulation desk in the new Walnut Park Library