KDVS gets no tax support
Re: Don’t spend my tax money on this
To begin, KDVS is not a tax-supported entity. We probably don’t get any money from the average Davisite unless he or she donates in our annual fundraiser. The remainder of our budget comes from ASUCD funds, which are paid by students, and general sponsorship that comes from local businesses interested in sponsoring our programming.
Secondly, we are not supporting Al-Jazeera other than dues we pay to the Pacifica network, which is composed of other alternative news shows like Free Speech Radio News and Democracy Now! The reason we play Al-Jazeera is because the network has access to sources and has reporters in places many news organizations do not or cannot.
As for the Goebbels comment, I find that to be a gross misrepresentation of the network. Al-Jazeera is mostly composed of ex-BBC reporters and executives who are dedicated to providing news without a Western Euro-centric perspective.
While I cannot agree with every minute of their coverage, I definitely think there is some merit to an organization that Hillary Clinton, our secretary of state, called “real news” and praised above the media conglomerates that dominate our airwaves.
To pretend that MSNBC is not funded by a company that designs nuclear weapons or to pretend that Fox News is not run by ex-Reagan campaign workers and officials is a dangerous assumption about our own news organizations, perhaps even more dangerous than assuming Al-Jazeera is a propaganda outlet.
KDVS is a non-commercial entity dedicated to providing the public with perspectives and music not heard elsewhere. We provide our listeners with a wide variety of programming determined by our volunteers and programming staff who are not beholden to shareholders or advertisers.
Our community and student support enables our free-form programming and we do not see a cent in tax-dollar support so that we do not risk censorship by the university.
Neil Ruud
General manager, KDVS, Davis
Printed 4/20/2011 in the Davis Enterprise
