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In the Crossfire of KEET-TV

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Former Employee Speaks Out about Local PBS Station’s Difficulties

 

Skippy Massey
Humboldt Sentinel

 

 

We welcome the discussion about media on the North Coast.

The following opinion letter by Matt Knight, a former employee of the Public Broadcasting Service’s local station affiliate KEET-TV, highlights some of the concerns the organization is currently undergoing while it attempts to stay above water– and on the air– given its serious financial woes as of late.

Slightly abridged and with his permission, we thought you might want an inside look of some of the key underlying issues Mr. Knight brings forward.

 

A Difference of Opinion
 Matt Knight

keet satellite dishAs a KEET volunteer of over 15 years and employee for just under three years, I read your (NCJ: “Keet at the Crossroads) article with interest.

I left the station in October of 2012 under circumstances which were both puzzling and sad.  I loved my job.  Probably too much for my own good so what I’m about to relate could be characterized as sour grapes.

That said, I’m a true believer in the station and in public broadcasting.  However, going from volunteer to employee was an eye-opening experience.

Senior staff seemed more focused on running out the clock than advancing KEET’s mission.  In my opinion, KEET’s leadership almost completely lacks the energy, motivation and insight for the many challenges ahead.  Leaders at KEET have adopted a deer-in-the-headlights approach to the onrushing media change and its financial crunch with predictable results.

Mr. Schoenherr pegged the Corporation for Public Broadcasting support at 46 percent in a February 2011 San Francisco Chronicle article.  Perhaps the one-time gift bequest of $200,000 brought the figure down to one-third of the annual 2012 budget, the amount he mentions in your article.  But this event is not likely to be repeated and isn’t a basis for a solid financial future.  He says a merger is unlikely– but he also doesn’t say that the station may have very little choice in the matter.

Even more troubling are the people that cared the most were treated the worst.  Many of us joked about “working on the plantation.”  That was pretty much the prevailing attitude of superiors.

keet control roomStaff meetings were rarely held and when they were held, word was put out beforehand that certain topics were off the table.  New ideas were discouraged or given short-shrift; fundraising goals were never openly stated and presumably never met; and with the possible exception of the two most high-profile events, the Director of Development and the General Manager were rarely present at the fundraising activities.

For such a small station all hands must be on deck to be effective.  This was almost never the case in my experience.

A callous disregard also extended to station volunteers. Certain long-time volunteers and community members deemed “unsuitable” were never asked back to fundraising events. Others were more disrespected and devalued, and as a result, it became difficult recruiting them for fundraising activities.

This led to the curtailing of the twice-yearly live local pledge nights– down from seven to 10 days in the past– to as little as three today.  It was simply easier (and less work) putting up the national fundraising feeds than finding and scheduling community members for live broadcasting.

This was a crucial misstep.  The station simply left itself to the mercy of government for major support, and making the least effort possible being involved or being relevant to the community it supposedly serves.

The station’s local productions were– and continue to be– among the bright spots, but even these were a challenge to mount as senior staff were openly hostile to them.  I was told by the station’s engineer that they were “more trouble than they are worth.”  In one case, the former Outreach Director was reprimanded for buying food for the hardworking volunteer crew of North Coast Sessions.

Yes, some great local television got made, of which the station can be very proud, but only in spite of itself.

Also plaguing the station was, and still is, a singular lack of oversight.

I found KEET’s Board of Directors to be both lazy and inattentive, meeting once a month to swallow wholesale whatever platitudes were served up by senior staff.  They set fundraising goals which they didn’t meet; and once unmet, they were simply abandoned. The board simply did not behave like a body charged with making hard decisions.  There is no better evidence of the poor stewardship than the mess the station is finding itself in now.

KEET inspired memberEven so, I would urge your readers to continue to support KEET.  It is a treasured resource, and one that would be sorely missed.

However, such support should be made conditional upon the replacement of KEET’s tired leadership and the deadwood on its Board.  KEET needs people who are ready, willing, and able to see it into the future.

Otherwise, it seems unlikely there will be one.

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But how do we tell it to Big Bird?

 

 

 

 

 

 

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