"A vibrant community is well informed and involved, embraces diversity, respectfully shares opinions and fosters economic and social justice. KVMR builds community by bringing people together to celebrate the music of the world and give voice to the community."Sounds good, but I'm a little concerned since I don't see an explicit connection between the first sentence and the second, which IMO creates ambiguity as to whether enhancing *all* mentioned aspects of a vibrant community lies within KVMR's mission; so, my #1 question is,
Is "making the community well informed" a part of KVMR's mission? (*)
It ought to be, & from the mission statement's first sentence you'd think so, but the [metaphorical] lawyer in me says that from the second sentence, you wouldn't - unless we just want the community to be well informed about itself, in a "mirror, not lamp" kind of way.
(Note: the ambiguity is cleared up in a May 20 update, at bottom of this post)
The same webpage also has KVMR's Core Values statement; my favorite being this:
[KVMR] promotes positive social values including equality, diversity, non-violence, a sustainable environment, and social and economic justice.But another core value is:
[KVMR] has the courage and integrity to allow expression of views that diverge from the mainstream
So, what should KVMR do when these core values conflict - when the divergent views don't promote the positive social values?
Discuss please.
May 20 update: KVMR's Broadcaster Handbook (pdf) is reassuring: "KVMR FM is a volunteer-based, listener-supported radio station fostering positive social change by entertaining, informing, and educating our community through the presentation of diverse music, cultural, news, and public affairs programming."
12 comments:
not sure if the silence here means I've committed yet another faux pas....
I do hope it's ok to bring it up - since in programming (of the software variety), when you notice ambiguity, and it's important that the code do the right thing, it's something you attend to.
Anna:
"So, what should KVMR do when these core values conflict - when the divergent views don't promote the positive social values?"
They didn't say they'll allow for expression of all divergent views, did they? ;-)
If you ask me, when it comes to 'mission statements', I suppose there are many organizations whose real guiding principles are more like 'well, here's a nice-sounding bunch of words which we call a mission statement, but actually we'll just be doing whatever our top honchos want us to be doing'.
From looking at their program schedule, it seems that they're more into the "celebrate the music of the world" part -- probably along with the belief that diversity in music will bring about diversity in voices and social justice, or something. They don't exactly seem like the kind of place with a strong tradition in rigorous scientific reporting or investigative journalism, but that's just my first impression.
-- frank
Playing the music of the world is pleasant for all; and it doesn't make anybody mad at you.
I have to confess I've made a personal shift on this issue. Back near the dawn of NCFocus I did a blogpost suggesting that KVMR focus more locally; and now I'm arguing for the opposite.
(The argumentative-theory-of-reason part of my brain is searching desperately for the words to justify this...)
...which would be, that when the world is headed for hell in a handbasket nationally, & it's for the reason that people aren't exposing themselves to the information they need in order to be informed citizens, then having the local radio station provide not-just-local info is one of the more effective ways to counter this, among listeners.
(I hope nobody read that old blogpost.)
I don't read or feel any disconnect in the KVMR mission statement sentences.
Further this is another "drive by" scenario. The somewhat obscure issue is raised, then "Discuss please" statement left. Opposed to suggesting changes or a full simply stated direct opinion of KMVR news policy. Is this indirectly addressing George Rebane's show? (and for the record to those bloggers who think they know me, anyone who knows me even slightly would not consider me 'conservative').
Divergent opinions expressed make all of us more well honed to examine how we behave and feel on a person-to-person basis which translates to community, state, federal, and global scopes.
But injecting obscurity, innuendo, nod-nod, conjecture, and insinuation is what pulls us apart in part by our innate nature of fear. This is the very tactic that many national political groups use...
Can't we embrace a different framework?
(And PLEASE do not try intimidating me to respond further. This is my, and my only, statement.)
chip:
You complain about Anna doing a "drive by" insinuation, right before you yourself state that you are in fact doing a drive-by ("This is my, and my only, statement").
Projection much?
* * *
Anna:
"Playing the music of the world is pleasant for all; and it doesn't make anybody mad at you."
Until someone writes a song about the Koch brothers... (Um, wait...)
"then having the local radio station provide not-just-local info is one of the more effective ways to counter this, among listeners."
But if (as I guess) they're more a music station than a news station, then they're probably not going to put so much care into selecting what news to air. What you want and what the station is don't seem to fit well.
-- frank
Chip, I couldn't intimidate you if my life depended on it. The mouse avatar is there for a reason...
:-)
It sounds to me like both of you (frank, chip) are quicker to jump to conclusions - or to want to jump to conclusions - than I am, here. Me, I've learned (or rather, continue to learn; alas my perc rate ain't what it should be, but I'm doing the best I can) not to go forth & bloviate, else all too often I find myself yearning for a temporal Undo button.
> having the local radio station provide not-just-local info is one of the more effective ways to counter this, among listeners
(Kudos to Amy Goodman, and to KVMR for running her program.)
Anna:
Point taken. I should talk less and read/listen more. :)
-- frank
I'm negating my statement and responding for clarification and restating my question:
- Frank: there's old history here about "drive by's" that Anna knows.
- Anna: though a mouse avatar, words are or can be very powerful. And you do have the ability, and have in the past, intimidated... That is simply a fact.
What is the intent of raising the question about KVMR's mission statement? What specifically -- stated simply -- is KVMR doing that necessitates questioning their mission statement?
As often said on radio -- "I will take the response 'on-the-air'".
Respectfully to both Frank and Anna.
-chip
> And you do have the ability, and have in the past, intimidated
Actually, I kind-of-recently had a colleague tell me he viewed me as a "kinder, gentler Ann Coulter" - which made me just about die laughing, I'll cherish it as much as the "you're compulsively neat" remark applied by a not very observant friend, decades back. Just goes to show...
Let's meet & get to know each other. Actually, there's a great community project we could get going...which would require donation-or-loan of a laptop or otherwise reasonably portable/luggable computer for blogging, that could be used with a wireless internet connection (which may or may not currently exist in that location...)
Call me please, I'm in the book. It will be cool, I promise.
And Frank, I appreciate your chivalry, but please, I don't want a duel here on NCFocus right now.
Testosterone timeout, comment moderation turned on.
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