Late into the evening of June 29th at KZYX's Board of Director's meeting with three public comment times somewhat successfully navigated and budget reviews from past and present years sufficiently dissected, there was a feeling of information saturation making one wonder if there was anything left to say at the fourth and final comment period. Noticing that for the very first time in a long history of this public radio's run of Board meetings, there was not only the first official recording of the meeting by Larry Pendleton, a thirty year veteran of filming TV news crews, but a second camera from Mendocino TV quietly manned by Derek Hoyle, programmer of Music Out of Bounds and well known to the Fort Bragg community as the Chair of the Fort Bragg Planning Commission. Sitting behind me was Sarah Reith, program host for Women's Voices, freelancing as a reporter for the Ukiah Daily Journal, and myself, who’s been writing accounts of KZYX for the AVA for four years. Four separate avenues for disseminating information to the greater community waiting the four-plus hour meeting out to the bitter end is usually indicative that there is something still to come worth waiting for. We were not disappointed. Hoyle approached the microphone with a three page letter to the Board informing them that a “directive” was received from Program Director, Mary Aigner, stating that the Federal Communications Commission policy of “Safe Harbor” is no longer in effect at the station. “Safe harbor” is a federally mandated free speech time on broadcast radio from 10pm to 6am where “adult” content may be aired for the enjoyment of the adult listening public. All late night programmers had to sign a document from the Program Director saying they would adhere to the new policy which means looking up the language of every song played on their shows for “sensitive language or content.” Hoyle noted that many new songs are not yet in the database for review so the policy restricts available creative content. Hoyle stated that putting a huge burden of time consuming work on programmers who already spend many hours a week in putting a show together with no compensation and under the threat of losing their shows would stifle creativity to a great degree. The essence of Aigner's decree is this: “There is no first offense warning letter. Any language or content violations will now result in a suspension from the air pending a meeting with staff.” (Aigner?) as who else is there to decide such things? A second violation will result in removal from the air. The new policy may include a programmer being punished for offensive content of callers or guests on talk shows which is accidental and beyond the control of the programmer who at the remote studios of Willits and Mendocino, do not have the benefit of a seven-second delay (a la Open Lines and Doug Mckenty's sudden loss of his show over a year ago.) Hoyle characterized the new policy as draconian in its denial of the right of a programmer to a fair and impartial hearing concerning that individual situation, a change he holds may not be legally defensible. What, you may ask, precipitated this overboard reaction from KZYX's hatchet wielding Program Director? One complaint to the UDJ about hearing repeated swearing on a late night show. Upon investigation, the incident turned out to be three swear words repeated at the end of a song. Although it appears the complaint never made it to the hands of the FCC, Aigner is using fear of legal fees in case a response from FCC savvy attorneys is required which may cost the station thousands of needed dollars as the reason to censor Safe Harbor off the airwaves. Fear? Paranoia? The Peter Principle of rising to the level of one's incompetence?
Any and all of the above. The fact that this sudden policy change came in the last days of the seven-year reign of the departing Executive Director/GM John Coate speaks volumes of his influence, involvement and tacit approval — like a last kick in the gut to a radio station that spurned his leadership. Why was it brought to public attention by the courageous action of a programmer? Why was it not raised at the meeting by the Programmer's Representative, Board President, Stuart Campbell? Certainly, he was aware of the situation and just as certainly, it is a programmer's issue and one that fits his job description as their representative. Hoyle stated his strong opposition to programming from a defensive mode and requested the Board of KZYX immediately rescind the damaging and faulty policy and restore Safe Harbor to the public through the station's airwaves. In my final comment to the Board, I stated my belief that Aigner had exceeded her authority in creating station policy. I reminded the Board that they are charged with making or changing policy and any far reaching policy change such as the the elimination of a federally sanctioned Safe Harbor time should be discussed in the Bylaw & Policy Committee and should come before the Board and the public for a full discussion and vote. Tim Gregory, a programmer with 15 years of late night show experience, observed that such a policy goes against the image of a public radio station's freedom to offer adult material at appropriate times.
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