6A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2017
KMUN: Station plagued by murky finance reports, revenue shortfall
changes planned. It’s more
a matter of, just, being as
responsive as possible to what
our members’ feedback is.”
Continued from Page 1A
Change is not an uncom-
mon word tossed around these
days at community radio sta-
tions, which are experienc-
ing multiple transitions and
even funding threats. Despite
a consultant’s recent warning
that it may not survive another
decade, those who work and
volunteer at the 34-year-old
station are defiant.
“We all went, ‘Well, no
way. We’re not going to let that
happen,’” Rideout said.
Federal funding
Better reports
The station was plagued by
murky finance reports, a rev-
enue shortfall and a lack of
members when Rideout —
who has been with the station
as a staffer or volunteer for 15
years — took over. Since then,
the station has been able to
present more financial reports
of its nearly $500,000 bud-
get to its board. Staff wages
have risen, and the station pays
more for NPR programming.
“We don’t have to figure
out whether to buy milk or
eggs. We can buy milk and
eggs,” Rideout said.
Rideout hired staffers
such as Development Direc-
tor Susan Peterson, who was
tasked with boosting the sta-
tion’s marketing presence.
Overall, she has created a
more stable and harmonious
staff, Nystrom said.
“The cultural of personal
interaction is probably one of
your biggest achievements,”
Nystrom told Rideout as they
sat for an interview recently at
the headquarters — Astoria’s
Tillicum House on 14th Street.
“It’s a happy family here, and I
don’t think it was before.”
More original stories
Now, Rideout, 64, will
return to her true passion. In
her journalism career, she has
been a Coast River Business
Journal reporter, a freelancer
and reporter at the station. She
has also filled the void left by
Brewster’s departure.
“The more I did that, the
more I realize that this was
where my heart was at this
Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
Graham Nystrom, left, and Joanne Rideout outside the Coast Community Radio station in Astoria. They will assume
new roles at the station beginning in November.
point,” she said.
Rideout hopes the station
will be able to report more
original stories as she transi-
tions into her new role.
“One of the things that’s
really important to keep us
viable is local news, because
we’re competing with so much
else,” she said. “But one of the
things that nobody else can
outdo us at is talking about our
own hometown.”
Stepping up
Meanwhile, the promotion
of Nystrom, 39, represents an
attempt by the station to attract
younger listeners and mem-
bers. Rideout also recalled
her own hiring process, which
took nearly a year before she
was promoted from within the
organization.
“What I really wanted was
someone who understands
KMUN and Coast Community
Radio, somebody who has the
heart for it and the wisdom to
run it,” she said. “It needs to
embrace a new generation of
listeners.”
Rideout
approached
Nystrom to gauge his inter-
est in potentially assuming her
position someday. His 14-year
career as a technician includes
experience as a live sound and
recording engineer for bands
and venues, along with stints
at Live Wire Radio and Ore-
gon Public Broadcasting.
“I’m genuinely passion-
ate about electronics and gear
the way Joanne is passionate
about news,” Nystrom said.
The hiring of a new oper-
ations manager who also spe-
cializes in technology, Brian
Bovenizer, could allow the sta-
tion to more rapidly update
its equipment — including
its emergency generator and
workstations in production
studios.
“There’s, kind of, always a
certain amount of gear that’s
getting long in the tooth,
because there’s a lot of gear
involved,” Nystrom said. “I
think there are just a lot of com-
plementary skill sets that are all
coming together and, sort of,
reinvigorating the ship.”
While programming and
content will remain largely the
same, Nystrom hopes to ease
listeners’ access to content
through a streaming service
and podcasts. He also hopes
to expand the organization’s
internship program, currently
centered on music, to include
opportunities in journalism
and technology.
“There’s going to be an
effort to expand the medi-
ums through which we access
our listeners,” Nystrom said.
“There are no big, sweeping
One issue Nystrom may
have to grapple with is a
potential loss of federal fund-
ing. President Donald Trump’s
proposed budget earlier this
year called for cuts that would
eliminate more than 20 percent
of the station’s budget.
While the station staff-
ers expressed concern at the
time, they now are cautiously
optimistic.
“At the moment, appar-
ently, there are even people
of the conservative mindset
who believe in public media
and don’t want to get rid of
it,” Rideout said. “There isn’t
a whole lot of political will to
get rid of public media right
now.”
Nystrom noted, though,
that the station is not com-
pletely sheltered from an
“unpredictable political envi-
ronment.” Should the sta-
tion lose the money, it would
need to increase revenue from
underwriting, membership and
grants.
Janet Fryberger, the sta-
tion’s new membership spe-
cialist and volunteer coordina-
tor, will play a role on some of
those fronts.
If its situation becomes dire
enough, the station may need
to cut NPR programming.
“Nobody feels like we can
really lose any of it,” Nystrom
said. “It’s generally acknowl-
edged that a big part of pub-
lic and community radio sta-
tions is the emergency alert
system.”
Like other managers
throughout the station’s his-
tory, Nystrom will attempt to
grow the station and handle
issues both old and new.
“It’s a stewardship thing.
This station doesn’t really
belong to any of us. It belongs
to all of us,” Rideout said. “I
sort of saw my role as almost
like the steward of a park. It’s a
community resource and I had
my turn. This was my turn, and
now it’s Graham’s turn.”
WORLD IN BRIEF
Associated Press
Oregon man charged with
arson for summer wildfire
GRANTS PASS — An arson charge has been filed against a
southern Oregon man accused of igniting wildfires.
Authorities say 60-year-old David Ross Callaway started
three separate blazes near Galice in August.
Karl Witz of the Oregon Department of Forestry said two
of the fires were small, but one spread to 40 acres before an air
attack stopped it.
Callaway has yet to enter a plea and court records don’t list an
attorney to speak on his behalf.
A conditional release order forbids the Grants Pass man from
possessing matches, lighters or other fire-starting materials. He’s
due back in court Nov. 15.
Police and prosecutors have not said how the fires were set.
Though humans cause many wildfires, an arson charge is rare
because it requires intent.
3 boys arrested in Creswell mill fire
CRESWELL — Three teenage boys are accused of starting the
fire at a Creswell mill Sunday night, and they are suspected of start-
ing at least three other fires in Creswell during the past month.
A 16-year-old and two 13-year-olds were booked into the
Lane County Juvenile Justice Center on Wednesday, charged with
first-degree arson, second-degree arson, first-degree criminal mis-
chief, reckless burning, first-degree burglary and second-degree
burglary.
The 16-year-old might be charged as an adult because of his age
and because first-degree arson is a Measure 11 offense.
The names of the teenagers have not been released because of
their ages.
The fire started just before 7:30 p.m. Sunday at Fore Lumber
LLC, 82946 Butte Road.
Lane County sheriff’s deputies evacuated a nearby home and
provided traffic control as South Lane Fire and Rescue battled the
blaze.
JFK Files: Thousands released
but Trump holds back others
Pentagon chief Mattis stresses
diplomacy in Korean crisis
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has blocked
the release of hundreds of records on the assassination of Presi-
dent John F. Kennedy, bending to CIA and FBI appeals, while the
National Archives came out Thursday night with a hefty cache
of others.
“I have no choice,” Trump said in a memo, citing “potentially
irreversible harm” to national security if he were to allow all
records to come out now. He placed those files under a six-month
review while letting 2,800 others come out, racing a deadline to
honor a law mandating their release.
The documents approved for release and made public late
Thursday capture the frantic days after the Nov. 22, 1963, assassi-
nation, during which federal agents madly chased after tips, how-
ever thin, juggled rumors and sifted through leads worldwide.
They include cables, notes and reports stamped “Secret” that
reveal the suspicions of the era — around Cubans and Commu-
nists. They cast a wide net over varied activities of the Kennedy
administration, such as its covert efforts to upend Fidel Castro’s
government in Cuba.
For historians, it’s a chance to answer lingering questions, put
some unfounded conspiracy theories to rest, perhaps give life to
other theories.
PANMUNJOM, Korea — On his first visit to the tense but
eerily quiet frontier between North and South Korea as U.S. sec-
retary of defense, Jim Mattis conveyed the message he hopes will
win the day: Diplomacy is the answer to ending the nuclear crisis
with the North, not war.
He made the point over and over — at the Panmunjom “truce
village” where North literally meets South; at a military observa-
tion post inside the Demilitarized Zone, and in off-the cuff com-
ments to U.S. and South Korean troops.
“We’re doing everything we can to solve this diplomatically —
everything we can,” he told the troops after alighting from a Black
Hawk helicopter that had ferried him to and from the border some
25 miles north of central Seoul.
“Ultimately, our diplomats have to be backed up by strong sol-
diers and sailors, airmen and Marines,” he added, “so they speak
from a position of strength, of combined strength, of alliance
strength, shoulder to shoulder.”
At Panmunjom, where the armistice ending the Korean war
was signed in July 1953, Mattis quoted Secretary of State Rex
Tillerson as saying, “Our goal is not war.” The aim, he said, is
to compel the North to completely and irreversibly eliminate a
nuclear weapons program.
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