Friday, October 7, 1983
Public radio flourishes in Eugene community
KWAX ‘Friendraiser’
reaches for support
In addition to wood products, grass seed,
world-class runners and losing inter
collegiate athletic teams, the Eugene com
munity is becoming known for another
commodity it produces successfully: public
radio.
The term "public radio" may be foreign
to afficionados of funkadelic, bubble-gum,
or Top 40 radio stations, but locally public
radio is successfully competing with its
commercial counterparts. Public radio sta
tions do not broadcast advertising, but in
stead receive their funding from listener
contributions and funds provided by
governmental grants.
Story by Tom Hall
Graphic by Shawn Bird
Eugene is home to two radio stations af
filiated with the National Public Radio (NPR)
network, both highly rated nationally in
listenership. KLCC-FM (89.1), located at
Lane Community College, and KWAX-FM
(91.1), here on the University of Oregon
campus, are among the top TO NPR stations
in the country, based on Arbitron ratings.
Catherine Gilbert, KWAX station
manager, says that "each station has a cer
tain type of listener who becomes 'ad
dicted,' and will only listen to public radio,
but will switch between the two stations,"
and then confessed, "I do, too."
Both KLCC and KWAX offer their listeners
more than entertainment, however. They
provide almost limitless opportunities in ex
perience, professional development and
creative outlet for those interested in pur
suing a career in radio broadcasting. Like
many stations affiliated with colleges or
universities, both rely heavily on volunteer
i -
help. KLCC obtains its corps of volunteei
primarily from the community, and prefei
the term “community radio." Its sister st
tion, KWAX, relies primarily on studei
volunteers from the University.
The different focus of programming be
ween the two stations is readily apparen
KWAX concentrates on classical musi>
although it carries its share of jazz and fol
music as well. Its news and features repo
ting has a "magazine-on-the-air" approac!
says Nancie Fadeley, KWAX's public affair
director.
s KLCC is more eclectic, and carries a mix
s tore of jazz, folk, opera, special-interest
t- features and “hard news" reporting.
"We're fortunate to have two good sta
tions like KWAX and KLCC here in Eugene,"
says Gilbert, "because that frees both sta
tions to offer more diversity, without
duplication." She adds, "We're really more
c symbiotic than competitive. We both try to
serve an audience which would not be serv
ed otherwise.”
s Gilbert assumed her post as KWAX sta
tion manager just last month, transferring
here from another NPR station affiliated
with the University of Utah, because
"Eugene seemed to be a community ideally
suited for public radio — a very arts
oriented, aware community where the
visibility of KWAX and KLCC is very high."
The visibility of KWAX may be especially
high this week, with its semi-annual fun
draising or "Friendraiser" drive dominating
its air time: While the practice of asking for
money from it listeners may strike a disso
nant chord among a public accustomed to
'free" radio, both stations could not exist
without listener contributions, says Karen
Kammerer, director of development for
KWAX.
‘ We ’re fortunate to have two good
stations like KWAX and KLCC
here in Eugene — that frees both
to offer more diversity, without
duplication,'
— Catherine Gilbert
One-fourth, or $50,000 of KWAX's annual
budget of over $200,000 is obtained from
the two telethons, an amount roughly equal
to that contributed by the University itself,
with the remaining half of their budget
coming from the Corporation for Public
Broadcasting and other grants. "We need
all the help we can get," says Gilbert.
Parallel with its financial outreach, KWAX
is launching a drive to recruit new
volunteers to run the station, which only
has the minimum (to maintain NPR affilia
tion) paid staff of five. Students may par
ticipate as work-study employees, work for
practicum or internship credit, or be "a
purely altruistic volunteer," says Tom
DuVal, KWAX's new program director.
"We're looking for people with a working
knowledge of classical music, who can pick
selections, announce them, and answer
Continued on Page 8B
Local radio producer finds unusual poetry in everyday
, If one were to look for a rags-to-riches
success story, it would be hard to find one
more engaging than that of M'Lou
Zahner-Ollswang. Zahner-Ollswang is a
local radio producer who is attracting na
tional attention for her features segments.
The devoted listeners of the highly ac
claimed National Public Radio broadcast
All Things Considered faired at 6:00 p.m.
on KWAX-FM) and its a.m. counterpart
Morning Edition will recognize M'Lou's
work as those warm, witty, and simply
wonderful vignettes which break up the
orderly procession of news reporting. In
between the latest from Lebanon and the
newest from Nicaragua, a national au
Story by Tom Hall
Photo by Paul Ollswang
dience is captivated by "cameos:
miniatures in sound," as M'Lou calls
them, on such universal subjects as:
• the stuff you find under your couch
cushions.
• the state-of-the-art cure(s) people have
for hiccups.
• the joys/traumas experienced by people
whose last name begins with "Z".
• the impact that moving has on people in
our mobile society.
It is this search for "universals" which
drives M'Lou, and a profound sense of
compassion tor others. "That's what radio
is all about," she says, "trying to translate
experiences which will touch people's
lives. People are such delicate beings, and
what they say about everyday things is
very...well, poetic."
A poetic case in point is a radio spot
M'Lou Zahner-Ollswang. a local radio producer, is attracting national attention for her
feature segments.
about a mysterious, mucilaginous and oft
maligned vegetable, simply entitled
"Okra," which aired last week. "When I
interviewed someone locally, she describ
ed the smell of okra cooking on her
grandmother's stove, and recalled the
sensation of biting into that first mouthful
of the slimy stuff, over potatoes. That
evoked a sight, smell and taste sensation,
an image, in many people all over the
country," she says. "That is real poetry —
when people stop and say, ‘Oh, yeah — I
know about that,' and are touched by a
common experience," she added.
The eye (and ear) for detail which M'Lou
possesses is one key to her success, but it
was more difficult, she says, than some
people might think for her to break into a
national market for her work. "Most
editors I deal with are pretty ruthless,"
she says, "so I've learned to tailor my
shows to their needs, in two ways: by do
ing more advance research, and by
building in a 'fudge factor' which allows
them to cut a little without ruining my
concept.''
"Not many people will succeed at what I
do," she asserts, "because not many peo
ple are willing to do what is necessary to
break in and stay there." She described
how she read NPR's submission
guidelines to a 'T,' and sent them six dif
ferent spots. One was accepted.
"I 'cultivated' my editor, and still do; I
also go back to Washington, D.C. (NPR's
headquarters) once a year to do the 'Let's
have lunch' bit with the staff of All Things
Considered,” she said.
The cultivation of her own talents in
radio began just a few years ago, locally;
"Believe it or not, I went to KLCC as a
volunteer, with the express idea of getting
onto National Public Radio," she said.
She did just that.
Now, however, her demand for ex
cellence and freedom of expression has
led her away from radio stations, she says,
because most radio personnel aren't will
ing to match the dedication and time she
finds necessary to produce a show of the
quality she demands. Where does she
produce her shows? "In a room in the
upstairs of my house," she says.
The production of her popular radio
spots has led to bigger and better things
for M'Lou, such as her receiving a $12,000
grant from the Satellite Development
Fund of the Corporation for Public Broad
casting, to produce two half-hour radio
segments on the Washington Public
Power Supply System (WPPSS) controver
Continued on Page 8B