2008 Woodie Awards
KZUM volunteers provide community with alternative, independent programming
Barry Reutzel
Issue date: 2/26/08 Section: Opinion
KZUM radio was formed in 1978 on Valentine's Day from a nucleus of campus and social activists tired of listening to the same music and same formats and wanting an alternative to commercial radio.
We are happy to report 30 years later that we are alive and well and still adhering to our mission of providing alternate music to a diverse community.
What's so special about KZUM is that it is "powered by the community," as we like to say. We have around 90 volunteer DJ's providing 150+ hours of live, locally produced programming each week.
KZUM is not driven by corporate motives, and our programmers are not compelled to play just the "Top 40" in order to stay financially viable. No CEO hands us a list of tunes to play for the day.
Diversity is our mission. We reach out to under-served segments of our community. We currently have programs in six different languages: Spanish, Chinese, Bosnian, Russian, Vietnamese and English.
Diversity also means our English speaking shows are scattered in content. Weekday afternoons feature blocks of various blues programming with other blues shows scattered throughout the week. Jazz is another genre well represented on our schedule.
But if you like other types of music, we have it. Our weekly schedule includes oldies, folk, reggae, soul, gospel, acoustic, urban, heavy metal, Celtic, international, big band, polka and rock. We also offer talk and comedy shows.
Sometimes we think of ourselves as the Baskin-Robbins of music.
The biggest difference between KZUM and commercial stations is our unfettered ability to offer music on our airwaves featuring local and regional artists. Our jazz and blues programmers are very active in recruiting artists to perform live on their shows. We have had performers travel from as far away as Denver to play live on our shows.
Aside from music, our lineup includes "Conversations," a community talk show; "Interrobang," a talk show of topics generally more national in scope; "Canine 360," a dog training program; "How's it Growin'?," a show on plants and gardening; "The Computer Show," keeping everyone updated on computer trends and problem solving; "The Servative Hour," a diverse topic show; and "American Muslims Today," examining Muslim issues in today's society.
We are happy to report 30 years later that we are alive and well and still adhering to our mission of providing alternate music to a diverse community.
What's so special about KZUM is that it is "powered by the community," as we like to say. We have around 90 volunteer DJ's providing 150+ hours of live, locally produced programming each week.
KZUM is not driven by corporate motives, and our programmers are not compelled to play just the "Top 40" in order to stay financially viable. No CEO hands us a list of tunes to play for the day.
Diversity is our mission. We reach out to under-served segments of our community. We currently have programs in six different languages: Spanish, Chinese, Bosnian, Russian, Vietnamese and English.
Diversity also means our English speaking shows are scattered in content. Weekday afternoons feature blocks of various blues programming with other blues shows scattered throughout the week. Jazz is another genre well represented on our schedule.
But if you like other types of music, we have it. Our weekly schedule includes oldies, folk, reggae, soul, gospel, acoustic, urban, heavy metal, Celtic, international, big band, polka and rock. We also offer talk and comedy shows.
Sometimes we think of ourselves as the Baskin-Robbins of music.
The biggest difference between KZUM and commercial stations is our unfettered ability to offer music on our airwaves featuring local and regional artists. Our jazz and blues programmers are very active in recruiting artists to perform live on their shows. We have had performers travel from as far away as Denver to play live on our shows.
Aside from music, our lineup includes "Conversations," a community talk show; "Interrobang," a talk show of topics generally more national in scope; "Canine 360," a dog training program; "How's it Growin'?," a show on plants and gardening; "The Computer Show," keeping everyone updated on computer trends and problem solving; "The Servative Hour," a diverse topic show; and "American Muslims Today," examining Muslim issues in today's society.
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