For KPCC, then, the question is not whether changing its programming to appeal to an ethnically diverse audience is a good idea. (Everyone at least gives lip service to the idea that it is.) The question is whether three older white guys — Bill Davis, Russ Stanton and Craig Curtis — are the right people to decide what Southern California diversity should sound like.
"You can put someone with a Spanish surname on the air, but I think most importantly you need to have a production team — producers and editors — who have lived this life and intuitively get it," Max Benavidez says.
Benavidez was project director at Los Angeles Public Media, which was created in 2009 by a $2 million grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting very similar to the One Nation grant.
The grant was awarded to Fresno-based Radio Bilingüe, the most successful Latino public radio organization in the country, boasting more than 100 affiliates.
The 2009 grant that created Los Angeles Public Media was trumpeted as "first-of-its-kind, multiplatform" programming for Los Angeles' "young, diverse and underserved audience." A raft of minority journalists were hired.
But the organization could not convince any radio station with a signal in the Los Angeles area to host its programming. First Southern California Public Radio walked away from the project, and the possibility of broadcasting on California State University Northridge's signal fell through, too.
The organization created content for a website called LA>Forward, but in June 2011, Los Angeles Public Media suspended operations. The organization lost its funding when Congress cut $30 million from the CPB's budget last spring — and most digital-only projects got the ax.
The irony about all the trouble KPCC has encountered in its search for a Latino host is this: Back when it was a scrappy college station, KPCC had a hugely successful Latino-hosted show with massive grassroots support. It was called The Sancho Show.
The Sancho Show started as a one-hour program in 1984, but over 16 years on the air grew to six hours. On any given Saturday evening, Daniel Castro would be joined in the booth by 10 to 12 volunteers answering phones.
"I could have all 12 or 15 lines lit up for three hours straight," Castro, a silver-haired college administrator, remembers with a laugh. "We had a following. It wasn't three people listening. We had a following from Santa Barbara all the way to San Diego."
And that was just on the phone lines. "There were times when I could go out in that parking lot and have a parking lot full of low-riders — two or three car clubs would show up. I went out there one time, there was a whole motorcycle club out there. I had Boy Scout troops, USC Latino Alumni Association — it was crazy, folks from all kinds of places would show up," he recalls warmly.
The idea was to play multigenerational music — from bolero to the Texas Tornados, Linda Ronstadt, Canned Heat, Tower of Power, Malo — the kind of stuff the family could sit around and listen to together. That act alone, Castro believed, would strength the family unit and the community.
In 1998, Vice President Al Gore called The Sancho Show "a perfect example of non-elitist public programming." In 2000, KPCC yanked it off the air.
Minnesota Public Radio was taking over the station and transitioning to an all-talk lineup, one that left no room for The Sancho Show.
Castro wasn't even allowed to say goodbye on the air.
When he asked why he couldn't do a final show, as Castro told L.A. Weekly at the time, the general manager said, "We don't believe you need six hours to lament why you're not going to be on the air anymore." Castro added, "That's a quote."
Madeleine Brand, of course, did not get to say goodbye on the air, either. In the same press release announcing her departure, the station added that she'd been replaced:
"89.3 KPCC and Southern California Public Radio announced today that Alex Cohen has been named co-host of its 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. weekday newsmagazine show, joining current co-host A Martínez at the microphone beginning Monday."
The new show settled on the name Take Two, chosen, in part, as a self-aware nod to the show's early stumbles. ("At least they didn't call it 'Take Dos,' " one Latino listener quips.)
This week, Brand started a new job at KCET's public affairs show, SoCal Connected. At a dress rehearsal attended by the media, Brand sat across the table from longtime host Val Zavala, looking almost like a co-host. Her official title: special contributor. Brand will be conducting a nightly interview segment.
The biggest difference between radio and television, Brand tells reporters, is "makeup. I got up in the dark at a quarter of 5 every morning to do my radio show, so not a lot of time to do full makeup."
She declined to discuss her departure from KPCC, other than to say, "Of course I miss radio — I love radio. It's my first and longest-lasting love."
One question that remains is whether KPCC, like The Madeleine Brand Show, will lose all resemblance to its former self as it pivots to attract a new and different audience.
Madeleine's gone and so am I. What a shame. Actually you lost me support when the station became close to a commercial one with constant ads and support requests all under the guise of no pledge break. Bull! Tom Hanks says no break for seven months...BULL!
Good luck to you. I'm off to KCRW. You made a bad decision to cancel her show. She was one of the few intelligent ones.
Dane
Huntington Beach
Hey, Weekly, the fact that you misspelled a pretty common word in Spanish (amor) in your story tells me that you need to familiarize yourself with the other Los Angeles. It's important because as much as you may have liked the MB Show, you don't understand that there are millions (millions!) of us out here who don't like the same things you do. We want our culture/outlook/priorities represented on the air too. Judging from the election results, you are not the only entity that needs to wake up.
I am Xicano and yes, I like listening to "take two" in the mornings. i like both anchors. their exchange with each other and their guests is lively. Really, I dont think I would ever use the term "lively" until having listened to the dead air and tortured attempt to engage guests that was the brand show so now i know what lifeless radio can be. I gave the brand show a chance when it first came out but i couldnt bear it any longer so i went back to "democracy now" and its seemingly 5 pledge days a week format but hey at least it wasn't boring. I have nothing against ms. brand at all but her show was just not engaging whatsoever. Ms.Brand seemed tired. In fact, I thought she left because she wanted to retire. Regarding A Martinez, i think he is pretty good and he certainly has a voice for radio. Maybe he should point out his views regarding steriods, we need to hear alternative views on this subject since it is actually prescribed by doctors as way to maintain muscle that withers away due to aging. Of course, it has its drawback too, especially its abuse by youth. Yet, didn't the anal Hollywood/Westside rag that is the LA Weekly have an article on alternative views on HGH just a few years ago?
@Mexica You did not notice this bogus "A Martinez" stole the "A" nickname from a respected and well loved actor whose elders all had names beginning with "A" so he went from "Little A" to just "A" which was m
"With $11 million in pledge support annually, Southern California Public Radio can afford to pay its president and CEO, Bill Davis, a healthy $445,285 salary."
Get the F out. How can that even be reported without the people who donated burning down this guy's house? This is a separate issue from the article but any organization that would give 445K out of 11M is completely irrelevant and unworthy of continued existence, and any person who would accept it is subhuman and unworthy to breathe the same air.
Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, here's a thought: If this lady actually had anything worthwhile to say, she could podcast. But she doesn't. Her job was to provide a sort of daily filler and stories that reconfirmed the biases and worldview of her listeners. If they can't seek out that information on their own, or if they won't seek her out independently to keep informing them of it (even if there was no additional reporting whatsoever, just a "you need to know about this" available for download), what does it tell you? IT TELLS YOU THEY NEVER REALLY CARED ABOUT HER STORIES, OR THE PEOPLE IN THEM, OR WHAT THEY WERE ABOUT, OR DOING ANYTHING ABOUT THEM. It was all just a regularly scheduled feel-good session, like most of these shows are. It was a freaking daily devotional, a replacement religion, just like the people who listen to Democracy Now, just like the morons who listen to Fox or MSNBC. She was their avatar who took them to their holier-than-thou haven and gave them the illusion of power and superiority that comes with the illusion of knowing more than the next person. In reality for the passive listeners the knowledge is useless and it is all about reinforcing illusions about how they see themselves and what they already believe the culture should be.
Public radio's quest to bring in more latino listeners reminds me of what's happening to the El Paso Times. As reported by EXTRA!, the Times articles targeted to its English-speaking readers have a "mom and apple pie" vibe, while its articles aimed towards Spanish-speaking readers (and chosen by latino staff members) profile barely clad women and narco-violence. Is this kind of sensationalism the future of public radio?
The Madeleine Brand Show was a fine show. And Take Two is a perfectly worthy followup. Especially in the past few weeks, it's been finding its rhythm. Furthermore, if the audience is growing, along with the diversity of that audience as it seems to be, then more power to the station. What's the fuss about? Yes, it would be great if there were more minorities in executive media positions. Until then, a prominent Latino host and more ethnically diverse audiences is a great step in the right direction.
@letsbereasonable The numbers go up because of the Presidential Election every 4 years. Watch them fall . . . and KPCC with them.
@Guest @letsbereasonable You've got to be kidding. Worthy. The show is unlistenable. Your IF and THEN are illogical or self-serving. If the greedy white bosses got the federal money by promising diversity thereby destroying the #1 public radio show THEN they are corrupt.
@1lawoman2 Was #1. Not above having Co-Host. But feel free to make up whatever you like.
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/showtracker/la-et-st-madeleine-brand-20121105,0,235661.story
@FoolMeOnce @Guest @letsbereasonable
Excuse me, but why is Madeline Brand above having a co-host? She was on public radio, and as the correction noted, her show wasn't even top rated in its time slot. Radio stations make changes all the time. Brand didn't have very good ratings, and that was the real issue.
interesting that 2 middle age lighter colored women were sent off and dismissed to have more sporty males spout their interests, instead of the hosts who are very witty, smart, current and relevant to all LA residents ...regardless of hi-low any income. while KPCC was my favorite station it is quickly being downed, drowned into being either PC poifect or $$$$ grubbing more than " public sevice" focused. sign of the times of course. isn't money and getting "ethnic minorities equality goals on every signpost, station, advert, and political blurb too ? It is not quality of programming and delivery but " looking good" to status groups , or more ways to get more grants " ...because you see, we can now Represent dem 'others' too " not just the prior paid subscribers. they say - " We want to get more and look better!" a poor change - poor choice - lost listeners - Big Mistake.... and their undisclosed reasons and explanations are faked damage-control, but dont work none. another fan and payee here down de drain...gone !!! losing listeners to appeal to political biases is bad business too. I disagree with these losses that more of LA now misses.
Thank you LA Weekly! I didn't know what the hell happened to 2 of my favorite shows! Really disappointed. with KPCC.
Of course I agree that the station should seek a diverse audience, but I have a problem with what sounds like a lack of class analysis in their thinking and rhetoric. It may be true that the Madeline Brand show appealed to mostly older, affluent white listeners, but another way of looking at it is that it appealed to college-educated people. A Martinez may appeal to more Latinos, but it sounds like the attraction is not his name but his sports background, which is big among working-class folks.
KPCC, please don't portray Latinos as airheads---it's about class!
Agreed. Public radio's audience is diverse; there are listeners who are latino, black, asian, white, and other. What unites them is class.
@sandritam To clarify, I'm not saying that public radio listeners are sufficiently diverse; I do think they are overwhelmingly white, middle-class and college-educated, and that's a problem because public radio should seek to draw in people of all backgrounds. What I'm saying is that seeing this challenge merely as one of appealing to nonwhite ethic groups is simplistic; it implies that Latino (and probably nonwhite) listeners inherently require less intelligent or literate entertainment when, in fact, socioeconomic class is the variable that more squarely explains why public radio is so homogenous. Its programming appeals to the educated, the intellectually oriented. KPCC should re-frame its challenge as one of also informing and educating those who don't come from a privileged background. In other words, it should seek to attract more working-class listeners---who will, of course, be largely Latino and black, but also white, and who may not be able to contribute monetarily as much---in order to democratize public radio while contributing toward a more-educated, better-informed society.
Finally, the answers to burning questions. Thank you, L.A. Weekly, for this well-researched and exhaustive reporting. It is interesting to see what happens when the non-profit world seems to reflect the dog-eat-dog world of the market. Does anyone remember the reign of Ms. Ruth Seymour at KCRW and her dismissal of Sandra Tsing-Loh? The air waves can change with the click of a button, and the violence of a decision. Radio, for those of us who live so much of our lives in our cars, is a constant companion, and it's challenging when our radio friends leave us. Hell, I still miss Noah Adams and Michelle Norris! I suppose the quality and quantity of our listening is all that we can really control, so I have taken to turning everything off and listening to the traffic and the sound of my car tires moving along the road. At four dollars and seventy-five cents a gallon, it's a rich and meaningful sound. My community is rich and diverse, and it's all around me. We're all driving each other crazy, and we're all getting along.@babaramdodge#
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It's all about markets. Shooting for quantity, not quality. People were loving and paying attention Downton Abbey and indie music? Not RIA garbage?
Political correctness is a cancer that eats away at societies.
Invading microbes love cancer because the body ignores them while it concentrates on the cancer. The social parasites that have moved west to L.A. need the Latinos to distract from what they have been up to for the last forty years. Command and control of everything cultural and economic.
Want a job? If you are a relative, you are in. If not, beg for an internship and then after working for free for them for a year or so in hopes of being hired it's "we've found someone who better fits our needs".
No wonder our interview with Madeleine Brand never hit the airwaves! Can't wait till the day that it resurfaces from the archives. Ask a Mexican
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This is a fine piece of journalism on a subject of importance to Los Angeles. The writer and the Weekly can be very proud of this story.
What saddens me most about the article is that it was not published in the Los Angeles Times, the region's loudest media voice.
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I'm sorry, but the explanation of how Madeleine Brand's co-host got his name is hilarious. Hey Martinez, it could have been worse; that old boss for example could have opted instead for the appellation "Yo Martinez!"
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CPB (the DMV of media) squandered millions of dollars by seriously micromanaging and at times dictating partnerships, vendors and even hires. They initially funded LA Public Media but then pulled the grant because neither KPCC nor any other public radio station would partner with them. Then they ironically hand KPCC (the whitest media entity in So. Cal) a grant to diversify their audience. Imagine how many media scholarships or new media start-ups could have been funded with that wasted $10 million.
They used to play Masterpiece Theatre (or something like it) right after Tavis Smiley, kinda felt like they were sayin' "You don't have to go home, but you can't stay here". That always made me laugh.
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My disagreement with KPCC was not the addition of a person of color to its lineup--it should definitely be reflective of the community which it serves. My disagreement was with Martinez who is plain awful on air. I was surprised to hear that he had prior radio experience. I agree that there were much better voices to be added. Desperation and the chase of money are what make critics of public radio happy. Bye-bye KPCC>
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i thought this was a great story, one i had heard about from the inside (folks who were WAAAAY more qualified than A!) and was waiting for this story to get out. kudos la weekly! if you look at the comments on the kpcc stories, lots of folks switched to KCRW -- i know i did. the fact that raul campos, for example, is just a staffer who HAPPENS to be latino versus this blatant pandering means a lot to me as a college educated Latina with disposable income. i'd given to KPCC in the past, but now my money is going to KCRW, where they don't treat me like a stereotype.
Madeleine Brand is an egotistical racist white lady who made a big public hissy fit because she didn't want to work with a brown person. She didn't even give Martinez the chance to get used to the public radio way of doing things. Typical liberal behavior of pretending to be progressive and open to other cultures, only to scoff and bitch when you're forced to interact with minorities.
@ElBuki IDK if she's a "racist" white lady (your alignment with "white" - she's Jewish, though the article doesn't mention that - as automatically "racist" is as racist as the article's ageist and racial attacks on Stanton & Davis), so much as an entitled one, and more to the point, one who doesn't particularly care for men, of any color. Having had the pleasure of knowing Ms. Brand at CAL (Berkeley), & listening to her LA Times podcast about children's books, it's amazing to hear her entitlement and contempt for men remain intact (a favorite diminishing phrase, "Men are boys" - interesting since she supports her husband, Joe, and their two kids.) One a personal level, Madeleine's "open-minded" in the way of say, a progressive civil servant - as the article points out, a middling thinker, gifted more with sass and sarcasm than any compelling interest or sensibilities. (Skillrex? At 46 y.o.? She sounds like Bananrama preserved in wax. That Mad girl, what a hipster!) And though no one would dare comment upon it, Mr. A Martinez's Brown Man ascendence, must be particularly frustrating to a feminista who had no problem, a few years back, appropriating Che Guevara's image for her twitter account image (a rebel of what, some wondered, different mustard brands?), and has never hesitated to use her considerable beauty to charm older men and smooth her career ascendence. And it's truly sad, almost pathetic really, to see her attempt to enter the most most ageist media of all - television - at the moment when her appearance will be primary, and not quite the dependable fall back of so many years past. Maybe it's time for Miss - er, Ms. - Brand to consider teaching? Two public firings, and one mommy blog later, how many reinventions does someone of arguably slim talents have left?
That's right! She's an evil feminist(a) who had a bunch of white men on the show (Sklar Brothers, Luke Burbank, John Moe, Dinner Party Download, etc. etc) to uh, ah destroy them!
She sure let Gov. Jerry Brown walk all over her:
http://www.kcet.org/shows/socal_connected/content/interview/qa-with-jerry-brown.html
And she used her "considerable beauty to charm older men" (WTF Dude? Drool much?) to let Aaron Sorkin off the hook:
http://kpcc.tumblr.com/post/25891028821/madeleine-brand-interviews-aaron-sorkin-at-l-a-film
Then she had a brown man on . . . oh wait I forgot that she is racist.
COMPARE THIS LATINO TO THE ONE THEY GOT!!!
Juno Diaz is the level of the public radio latino audience . . . not A Martinez sports fans!! @letsbereasonable
@MyFirstLoveIsRadio So . . . you hate her because she's a Jewish, beautiful, powerful, and successful radio journalist? And, you claim the article is racist and agist against Stanton and Brand? Dear "My First Love is Radio" . . . it sounds as if you've made yourself green with envy and twisted with hatred that she is so, so successful (#1 in LA) at what you love so much and probably have failed so hard at trying to be.
First Love Radio . . . Biggest Hate Self.
@FoolMeOnce @MyFirstLoveIsRadio in fact, Madelein Brand is so "successful" that she's been publically fired - twice - and her most appealing opportunity could only be found on L.A.'s lowest rated public tv station? Madeleine's greatest skill, bar none, was always collecting slightly less good looking women around her, and convincing them they were her equal, when they were - as this article and all the comments in defense of someone who is the definition of ordinary and unexceptional evince. Because she's been able to glide by on her looks, Madeleine never had to develop the political skills to play ball with a Stanton or Davis; using the Weekly as a surrogate to advance her cause (Madeleine Brand for head of public radio?) is about as clumsily conceived gesture as one could dream up. As for you belief that I (or, others) "hate" Madeleine? No, but I do pity her. It's hard being a woman, harder still when you've made a career out of your looks, and find that being a 46 y.o. white hipster / middle-aged doesn't have quite the cachet that it did at twenty-five. That would have been an interesting article but Madeleine, so "successful" that she couldn't be bothered to comment on an article that would be certainly read and commented upon, has only herself to blame for letting the narrative get away from her.
Madeleine's not Jewish.
Madeleine doesn't support her husband: http://www.dwell.com/articles/Self-Preservation.html
Che? Uh, I think that was a B&W icon of her . . . but whatever you need to support your anger dude.
Madeleine wasn't fired . . . ever, from anything.
Why do you hate women??
Why do you assume I'm a woman? Many women at CAL, and throughout her "storied" career have been nauseated by her provisional feminism and, apparently, biographical erasure. Her father was Jewish, her mother English - or, is this the "revised" Madeleine, the one who claims she grew up in "Hollywood" (more like visiting dad's Palisades' estate and living with mom in Palo Alto)? Pardon me if I don't grasp your inaccurate accusation of anti-semitism, but I made the point only because ElBuki cast her as a clueless, entitled white lady - yes, she is clueless & entitled, but she's also a minority, apart from her much heralded "feminism," and if she denies her Jewish'ness, that's sad. But then, "Mad" has always been able to shape herself into what people want, esp. men - her list of male mentors is a mile long - without really extending herself towards others. Calling out her condescending attitude towards men, stabbing them in the back while using them to climb her way to the top, is "hating" women? Sorry, Madedeline, er, "guest" that's a syllogism, a term you might have picked up writing your English thesis on Orwell. Good for Joe - once Tower Records closed, apparently he figured out a job was a better bet than a professional career in the five fingered discount department. And, "guest" the twitter image, color, or B&W was offensive to anyone who'd ever encountered Madeleine's total lack of political conviction. The only cause she's ever advocated for is the Madeleline Brand Brand. & no, "FoodMeOnce," I'm hardly green with envy or Madeleine's "success" - smiling and wearing tight tee-shirts works for some people, but not for me.
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@ElBuki You have no idea how totally wrong you are. Go ask people like ¡Ask a Mexican! Gustavo Arellano (who is quoted in the article you presumably just read).
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I was really bummed when this whole thing went down, and it really made me feel differently toward KPCC. In an effort to attract a new audience they basically gave the old audience the finger. But I guess as long as those donations keep coming in, that doesn't matter.
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