Comments on KUOW

Hmmm not kosher to share those e-mails but okay to publish a cover letter for an intern position? Interesting.

this just goes to show that many KUOW listeners are asshats.

I wrote NPR and KUOW during the Virginia Tech coverage to tell them that it was a bunch of shit and no one will really care in a few months. and i was right.

The reply was, 'it is news for the moment and we will scale it back soon enough'

I definitely dont think telling them they are turning into fox news has any truth to it and it just serves to make the average listener seem like an even smaller person or group than they are.

i want to hear a big juicy controversy coming out of AM 880 KIXI

@1 - i'm assuming those emails were not critical of josh's article. anyone know if the $tranger has a "how-to-deal-with-dissent" manual like the one the public just got out of the white house?

Well, Arvid's e-mail did say "do not comment directly". I take to mean that folks shouldn't be going on the record. People seem to be commenting indirectly, i.e. off-the-record. Or maybe I'm just naive.

I'm stumped as to why KUOW would want to be making massive changes, considering they are more popular now than they have ever been.

However, it sounds like Ken V. has had issues with his boss for a very long time, not just due to recent changes.

Josh - Just forward those emails to Frizzelle. He'll publish 'em for you!

The Stranger is really the only source for news in Seattle. When I moved here from Brooklyn last March I was warned how white and backwards this town is. As a Jew I feel threatened by rural and small town people. The Stranger keeps it real and is the only reliable news source for Brookly transplants like me.

maybe they should just fire everyone and play endless repeats of car talk and prarie home comp.

I quit listening to KPLU because of Bird Note (I fucking hate the intro music and birds). Now, it appears KUOW is run by assholes. I just can't win!

I guess managers at KUOW think trying to gag a bunch of reporters and hoping the situation will go away is better than actually dealing with the toxic situation that they created.

@9... KPLU! I totally forgot about KPLU. It doesn't come in well on my part of Capitol Hill, but you can tune it in through cable...

What I hate is KUOW's awkward tagline: "KUOW: News and Information". It just sounds so badly done.

I want KUOW to keep the local content. Seems like they pretty much gutted the locally produced shows (Weekday remains, obviously), and I really like the local reporting.

I know Ken Vincent was around for a long time. I like long-timers. They're the best-timers. But, Jesus Christ, he was a close second to Deborah Brandt with the ole stumblemouth.

I think folks can tell this isn't about Ken.

The good work that comes from KUOW hides their dirty family secret. Traditionally public radio reporters and hosts care more about their good work than how they are treated but I guess everyone has a breaking point. There aren't many options for this kind of reporting in Seattle. KUOW, KPLU and the Seattle Channel.

I'm smirking a little because wages have been an issue for years but no one wanted a union. It's ironic that the so called liberals (in management) vote for the right people, take mass transportation, pity the poor can't even talk a good game when it comes to paying THEIR employees well. They take the philosophy that if people aren't leaving why give them raises?

Since there is no social contract, that's why you need a union.

Whatever happened to John Moe? And KUOW's weeknight local programming?

KUOW made a $2.5m profit last year...so what's the need for their semi-annual beg-a-thons, where the inference is they're going "tit's up" if we don't give...what a crock.

Are we sure that maybe Vincent isn't just a malcontent? I remember him mocking spotted owl protection while reading the news on the hour a couple of years ago. Now that's Fox News territory.

Doug @ 15:

John is now working for Americn Public Media's "Weekend America", with his old "Rewind" cohort Bill Radke.

Moe was a good one. So's Bill Radke. I like Ross Reynolds, too. He's plugged in.

when's their next pledge drive?

Doug: Comte answered the John Moe question briefly. The long answer is that John was at KUOW for several years, got an offer from Weekend America to go full-time (KUOW was a producing partner and he was contributing regularly already), and did so.

I appeared on John's The Works show many times over its few years in action, and then KUOW asked me to take over the name at the Beat, which I've been doing since about January.

What's funny reading all these negative comments is that I spend an hour or so every week or so over at KUOW, and find it a charming group of neat people who really care about politics and arts from the local and national angles, and put enormous amounts of time into making sure that smart and talented people (staff and guests) are heard broadly.

It's pretty obvious from listening to KUOW that that's what's going on there, too. That doesn't take away from any individuals' own philosophical issues.

I don't work for the station, so I don't know anything about working there. But I like the people and I like their work.

I love this. I've been a spokesman for two local public agencies for about 13 years. Arvid has tried to put me and the agencies I've worked for on the spot a number of times. It's great to see the shoe on the other foot. How does it feel Arvid? It's fun to air other people's alleged dirty laundry but how does it feel when your laundry is out there for everyone to see? Will it result in any empathy in the future? The news media, especially KUOW and the Seattle P-I, are utterly clueless when it comes to public policy. You're all so eager to get a scoop on some sort of supposed corruption that you let numbskulls lead you around by the nose, but you're all too lazy to do any real work. The result is a misinformed public and a bunch of self righteous so-called "journalists" who don't know the meaning of the term "fact check." The news media is the single greates threat to democracy today.

NPR! Wrrorwrrwwrwr! It's as if that splendid table lady shat on my friggen noggin. Arvid, Arvid, Arvid! Who is Arvid? I am Arvid. I'm Arvid. I'm Arvid.
Attention KUOW people: get back to talking about traffic circles. You're freaking me out.

The KUOW staff sounds great, sure sounds like they love their work because they are professional. I said before -- there is no social contract and that goes for 90% of companies. When I worked for a radio station in the 80's I needed to rush home because my dad was dying but I didn't have enough vacation time. My boss said: "Do what you need to do and don't be concerned about anything -- take care of yourself."

I had only been there a week. And this was one of the largest broadcasters in the US. Hint: It was founded by a general, who demanded he be referred to General Sarnoff. (google that) So rather to look at KUOW and say "tough that's the way it is today," why not say it doesn't have to be this way? ..... 'Some dream of what could have been and say why not?' Why not treat people as people rather than your means to your end?

I like old what's his fuck who quit. I like the cut of his jib.

Don't give a shit that he bounced though. Fuckin' NPR ain't populist.

The stupid working class, we're pub ed crazy. We like you to talk like us. Maybe deign to suck the shit out of our socialist assholes every now and then, Mercer Dad.

Quit whispering like you're gonna get scolded for talking over Howard Stern or something, pussies.

One of the prior writers noted the large profit last year at KUOW. I thought it was a million. The writer said it was 2.5 million. No matter - both are large numbers for an organization of their size.

I am on two non-profit boards as well as a commission. I know how finances work and how hard it is to raise money for most. KUOW has no such problem since they use their captive audience and I believe if not lie, clearly misrepresent their situation in their twice annual 'guiltathon'. They imply that times are challenging yet they do not clearly post their audit or state the real facts of their surplus (the term for profit in non-profits) or their plans for this surplus that justifies ongoing fundraising. My concern is that the general public naively gives to an entity that basically does not need so much money.

Don't get me started on some of their programming decisions, but reasonable people can differ on that. I will miss Garrison Keillor's brief spots.

I hope that the writer or someone will do an incisive story on KUOW's finances. That is far more salient to the public than an employer/employee dispute, where reasonable people can differ and one can't really infer any particular systemic problem.

One of the prior writers noted the large profit last year at KUOW. I thought it was a million. The writer said it was 2.5 million. No matter - both are large numbers for an organization of their size.

I am on two non-profit boards as well as a commission. I know how finances work and how hard it is to raise money for most. KUOW has no such problem since they use their captive audience and I believe if not lie, clearly misrepresent their situation in their twice annual 'guiltathon'. They imply that times are challenging yet they do not clearly post their audit or state the real facts of their surplus (the term for profit in non-profits) or their plans for this surplus that justifies ongoing fundraising. My concern is that the general public naively gives to an entity that basically does not need so much money.

Don't get me started on some of their programming decisions, but reasonable people can differ on that. I will miss Garrison Keillor's brief spots.

I hope that the writer or someone will do an incisive story on KUOW's finances. That is far more salient to the public than an employer/employee dispute, where reasonable people can differ and one can't really infer any particular systemic problem.