WEMC cuts back Democracy Now!

Photo by Josiah Garber

Six community members came to WEMC on Monday evening to mourn the cutback of Democracy Now! and talk with WEMC General Manager Jon Kauffmann-Kennel (right). Alumnus Earl Martin (second from right) explained his reason for showing up: “I think it’s only appropriate that, if a friend dies, then we mark the passing of that friend.”

Amid rumors of unethical donor influence, appalled listeners are questioning EMU’s decision to reduce air-time for Democracy Now! on the EMU radio station, WEMC, from a daily afternoon rush-hour show to once a week at 6 p.m. Friday.

Democracy Now! is a controversial independent news program founded in 1996 and was first aired on WEMC (91.7 FM) in the summer of 2002 by former station manager Phil Easley. Until Sept. 3, the show was aired from 5 to 6 p.m. every business day.

Those behind the decision to cut back the show say it is too negative, poorly produced, overplayed, and highly polorizing in the community.

"It's disappointing to hear that open process and realistic compromise are still not occuring at WEMC," said recent alumnus Johan Grimsrud, who resigned early from his summer job at WEMC in protest of the decision.

Easley, who introduced Amy Goodman, host of Democracy Now!, to an overflow crowd Saturday evening at the Community Mennonite Church in Harrisonburg, told the Weather Vane: "When we did our first on-air fund drive several months after the program was added to the schedule, our normal 55 or 60 pledges of support (over the course of a week) became 100. Around 50 of those supporters cited Democracy Now! as their favorite program."

Some 50 EMU faculty and students attended the rally Saturday at which an enthusiastic crowd of community listeners and JMU students applauded Goodman in her passionate plea for an increase in independent media voices in the community.

Easley says that he had anticipated complaints about the show, but he was "pleasantly surprised" to hear none before he left WEMC in the spring of 2003. He notes that the first negative comment that he heard about occurred after he left EMU, at about the same time as the invasion of Iraq began.

Easley’s replacement, current WEMC General Manager Jon Kauffmann-Kennel, said he was warned that Democracy Now! was a controversial program as early as his job interview. Kauffmann-Kennel’s experience with Democracy Now! is far different from Easley’s.

"We had a student running the station and somebody called up and said, ‘How does it feel to work for Saddam Hussein?’" said Kauffmann-Kennel, who has received numerous complaints about the so-called strident, negative tone of the program. While Kauffmann-Kennel does not remember critics accusing Democracy Now! of factual inaccuracy, he finds that the show tends to give one-sided coverage of issues. "I don’t think it’s a well-produced program," he added.

President Loren Swartzendruber raised additional concerns about Democracy Now! in an April 29 WEMC Board of Reference meeting. The minutes state, "An EMU Board member has expressed strong concerns that Democracy Now! does not fit the mission of EMU. The concern was so strong that the board member has stated that further contributions will not be coming to EMU unless the program is taken off the WEMC format ... Is it possible to find a win-win solution?"

The minutes state further, "The committee’s decision whether to keep Democracy Now! a part of the format should be based on content of the show, not the threat from the board member. The committee suggested proposing to the board member that he fund a weekly journal radio station, real voices of real people, i.e., participants of the Star Program, cross cultural participants, etc. Loren will meet with the board member to discuss these options."

Swartzendruber denied that the threats by some donors to withhold donations factored into the decision to cut back Democracy Now! He said, "There’s no evidence whatsoever that the changes that have been decided are going to satisfy any donors. I have no evidence that the change is going to restore funding."

On a hypothetical level, Kauffmann-Kennel sees donor influence as a complex issue. He speculates, "What if there was somebody who said, ‘I’ve got $10,000 a year I’ll give the university for student scholarships if you take that program off the air’? – I have no idea how to balance those kinds of things out."

Kauffmann-Kennel believes he had the full cooperation of the WEMC Board of Reference when he made the decision to cut back Democracy Now! airtime from five daily shows to one show per week. The Board of Reference consists of nine EMU faculty, administrators, and students. Said Kauffmann-Kennel, "I think all of us agreed that this was the decision for the best interest of the station and the university ... No one said, ‘This is not what we should do.’"

Theater Professor and WEMC Board of Reference member Barbra Graber is a fan of Democracy Now! because, in her words, "it’s the only news show that really gives a voice to the people."

However, Graber supported the recommendation to cut back Democracy Now! She said, "Democracy and living together in community in the Anabaptist tradition is a complex thing, and you don’t always get your way."

Easley does not accept the administration’s argument that Democracy Now! is too polarizing, because listeners who don’t like it can easily switch to a different station. Says Easley, "My best guess is that the decision-makers–EMU’s Board of Trustees, administration, WEMC’s Board of Reference–have become polarized, and are assuming that their discomfort is true for others ... The end result seems to be a submission to the fear that the cost of ‘Walking boldly in the way of peace and non-violence’ is too high."

Since the cutback of Democracy Now! was announced, WEMC has received at least 19 emails and letters expressing disappointment. But at least one listener wrote, "Thanks so much for cutting back on Democracy Now! ... I wish that we could cut it out altogether."

Asked their opinions of Democracy Now!, the three local EMU Board members had varied responses. Bomberger said the Board’s chair speaks for the Board. Curtis Hartman said he didn’t know much about the show. Paul R. Yoder, Jr., M.D., had “no comment."

Starting this week, the former Democracy Now! time slot will be filled by the British Broadcasting Corporation World Service.

WEMC’s annual operating budget is about $60,000, costing EMU over $40,000 per year in 2000 and 2001. Aside from listener contributions, much of WEMC’s income is provided by "underwriters," or local businesses who sponsor programs in return for a brief mention on the airwaves. Democracy Now! has garnered no underwriters. However, it is produced by Pacifica Radio, which prices the show based on the station’s ability to pay. EMU gets to air the show for free, after routine station operating expenses.

According to an Arbitron report on radio stations, WEMC had a weekly listenership of about 4,000 as of Fall 2002.