#kplu

[bikefox]

(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBwCGznryBg)

[peaksandhikes]

Northwest Senators Renew Call To Revise Federal Wildfire Fighting Funding

Listen Listening...

It’s wildfire season again. 

[borrowedplanetblog]

These storm drains empty directly into Puget Sound 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. They are located all over the coastline of the Sound.

When the rain huts the concrete and asphalt, the water washes the oil from the road and chemicals from the lawns into the Sound.

Additionally the land under the pavement is dead because it has been unable to absorb water since the land was developed.

Some estimates state that as much as 15000 pounds of stormwater waste empty into the Sound every day.

Copyright: Laura James and KPLU

[ceevee5]

Roy Hargrove Quintet, "Soulful" - live at KPLU Seattle, December 2009

[solarbird]

Big shout-out to Amazing Obscura at Montco Radio, and there's a matching grant live in the effort to save KPLU

I don't care how oldschool it is, hearing your band namechecked on the air is still fucking awesome

[solarbird]

I’m going to take a minute to step entirely out of character and write about something local – the effort to save KPLU, a highly popular non-profit radio station. I know, I know, nobody cares about radio, but you should care about journalism and media consolidation, and that's also what this is about.

KPLU has been owned by Pacific Lutheran University since its founding. It’s a jazz and news station, with very good local coverage – something sadly lacking in mass media. However, the university decided to sell it; they see radio as a declining-value asset, and the school needs the cash. But they negotiated this deal in secret; the first hint that they had any interest in selling was an announcement that they’d reached a deal with KUOW and the University of Washington.

Now, once upon a time, KUOW – UW’s NPR outlet – was a decent station. Not the best, but not the worst, and I was a regular donor. That time is long past. They have virtually no local programming or news anymore; I stopped listening to them because since they hired their new east-coast programming director and station manager, they sound like an NPR corporate station operating out of Washington, DC, not a UW station operating out of Washington State. And, all too predictably, they immediately announced their intent to fold KPLU into their broadcast network as an all-jazz second station, eliminating KPLU’s very good independent local news and information bureau.

We are already suffering – as are most of the US-controlled territories – with a near-collapse in anything that can be seriously called journalism. In-depth coverage is all but absent, and local coverage in particular loses out. Media consolidation sucks.

For all of these reasons, a large local movement arose to demand that KPLU be given the chance to buy itself out, and go independent. You see, despite what PLU likes to say, KPLU is entirely self-supporting now. It just had a record fundraising drive during the secret sellout negotiations. Its listenership is quite large. Its citizen advisory board demanded to know why they’d been kept out of the process, once it was announced, and asserted immediately that the sale was deeply inappropriate.

So, following massive protest – well, massive, given the scale of non-profit radio – we’ve been given a shot. It was begrudgingly given; KUOW really wants to own KPLU’s transmitters. But it was given, so we have a chance.

We have six months; they need seven million dollars. I’ve already pledged. If you’re interested at all in supporting Puget Sound news coverage, I hope you will too.

Click here to help save KPLU.

Mirrored from Crime and the Blog of Evil. Come check out our music at: Bandcamp (full album streaming) | Videos | iTunes | Amazon | CD Baby

[cherseattle]

I personally hope KUOW goes down in flames on this deal... but if it comes to pass, I'll be really sad to lose KPLU. Please don't let this happen!

[noflamingmarshmallowsasaweapon]

The Secret Deal Without revealing the prior negotiations to the public, PLU has agreed to sell KPLU to the University of Washington's KUOW for 8 millions dollars: 7 million in cash and 1 million in underwriting announcements. KPLU will no longer exist, with its news operation being terminated and the jazz part retained in a future KUOW jazz outlet. KPLU staff will lose their jobs, although they will have the privilege of applying for jobs at KUOW (no guarantees). Of the 7 million dollars, 4.5 million will come from KUOW's "reserve"--which means the cash they have piled up from pledge drives. The rest will be derived from a loan from the UW.

Please, please do what you can to try and save KPLU.