Sean Bowditch on air at KLCC’s studio.
KLCC FACES CRITICS
PUBLIC RADIO STATION DEFENDS
ITS PROGRAMMING
BY STEVEN SAWADA. ■ PHOTOS BY TODD COOPER
E
ugene’s popular public radio station KLCC at 89.7 FM wraps up another success-
ful Radiothon fund-raising campaign this week. The station continues to draw a
large audience and high media ratings, and enjoys a high level of financial support
from listeners and business underwriters. The station airs lively, national award-winning
local, regional and international news, and a one-hour Sunday talk show. But not everyone’s
happy. Critics assail the station for lack of daily local talk shows, lack of national liberal pro-
gramming, too much jazz (and not enough hip hop), and a lack of response to public input.
The criticism does not appear in polls or fund-raising numbers. The dissent is tucked away
amongst individual critics, former station employees and volunteers, and at least one small
community action group.
K
LCC’s management says independent Arbitron
ratings show that KLCC has steadily increased its
listenership over the years. But according to these
pockets of critical community members, the numbers betray
a disconnect to a large cross-section of Eugeneans.
David Zupan, chair of Eugene PeaceWorks’ Eugene
Media Action Committee (EMAC), believes programming
decisions should hinge on what’s positive for the communi-
ty, not Arbitron data. “Do what’s right, not necessarily what
will boost ratings,” he says.
Last fall, EMAC met with several of KLCC’s managers
including Steven Barton, KLCC’s general manager, and Don
Heine, the station’s program director. Among a list of sever-
al concerns, the group echoed the public demand for KLCC
to pick up the investigative news program “Democracy
12 OCTOBER 13, 2005
Now.” Zupan also brought up another recurring issue: the
block of time that NPR’s highly successful program “Car
Talk” takes on Saturday and Sunday.
“One suggestion was instead of repeating ‘Car Talk,’ why
not use that kind of valuable space for some more local pro-
gramming, public affairs, or maybe a labor show would be
appropriate,” he says, referring to Portland’s community
radio KBOO’s “Labor News” program.
Michelle Hollman, a former member of the now dis-
banded KLCC advisory board, agrees with Zupan. “Where’s
public access, why do we hear ‘Car Talk’ twice? There are a
lot of voices in the community that we could hear,” she says.
But according to both Barton and Heine, programming
decisions are based on many factors, some unseen by the
community at-large, and these decisions undergo much con-
sideration. In regards to picking up ‘Democracy Now,’
Barton explains that the show would compromise the sta-
tion’s mission to remain objective in its news reporting.
“We’ve heard a lot from people who want us to carry
‘Democracy Now.’ That’s a common thing and it goes in
waves,” Barton says. “The answer to the reason why we
don’t carry ‘Democracy Now’ is because it is clearly an
advocacy program. It advocates for certain positions. And it
is the host and staff of the program who are advocating.”
“’Democracy Now’ is a news program, where they cover
events of the day through a filter that Amy Goodman has
crafted,” Heine says in concurrence with Barton.
The management at KLCC is concerned with presenting
ideas on all sides of the political spectrum, Barton continues.
“Our position is that we’re here to raise the level of dialogue
to introduce ideas. We want people to have an intelligent and
informed knowledge of what’s going on, and an intelligent
and informed discussion about it.”
There was a similar conflict that bled into the news mag-
azine and call-in programs of author and former KLCC
reporter Alan Siporin. For more than 20 years, Siporin
worked at KLCC as a reporter, commentator and talk show
host. In the 1980s, he hosted KLCC’s acclaimed news mag-
azine show “The Blue Plate Special.” That show was even-
tually dissolved and Siporin was put in charge of a com-
mentary program, which aired on Thursdays and Fridays,
and a listener call-in program, “Critical Mass,” which aired
on Sunday. In addition to his work at KLCC, Siporin also
served as an editor and reporter for NPR.
Both Siporin and KLCC management contend that sepa-
rating news from editorial content was a constant issue dur-
ing his time at the station.
Initially, once a week, a live call-in program topped off
“The Blue Plate Special.” On occasion, Siporin would tran-
sition the two segments with a short political parody ala
“Saturday Night Live” or “The Daily Show.” This quickly
became a problem for KLCC management.
“The standards for KLCC News take into account that
people cannot leave all their beliefs and values at the door of
the news room. But we do expect people to keep their per-
sonal agendas out of their reporting,” KLCC’s News