I missed the first day of it, but this week is one of confusion and change.
First of all, transmitter work was supposed to knock many of our broadcasting stations off the air, or force them to operate at reduced power. That really was news to me when I was asked to write a promo for that Tuesday morning (is that really a promo?) with my limited knowledge of how all that technical stuff works. If I have a question, I usually just ask one of our engineers, but they're hard to find this week.
Anyway, I'm told by some staffers that everything is fixed now and all of our stations are back on the air. Unfortunately, there has been no official announcement. If you tune in and can't find us, we're still off. If we're there, we're back.
Did I mention this is all happening during our crucial fundraising period for TV? Oh yeah, programming is also being changed at the last minute based on how the shows fared on other channels during pledge times (sorry Josh Groban), so I don't really know what's on, or if we're even on the air.
All in all, I'm confused and now you probably are too. All I know is that KUAZ is on the air as normal and KUAT-FM is on at 89.7 FM (maybe 90.5 too) and we're always available online.
And one final thing...as the "purveyor of podcasts" at the station, a musical group we interviewed keeps changing its name, which make its hard for me to get the story online.
Questions? Call 621-5828 (just don't ask for me, okay?)
The first half of 2009 is almost gone, and I’m continually amazed at how much has transpired at Arizona Public Media.
In early-March, KUAT Channel 6 and our public media organization celebrated 50 years of service to the Tucson community and Southern Arizona. Ironically, at the end of March, we signed-off KUAT Channel 6 (analog) and this month on June 12th, we will terminate analog program services on sister station KUAS Channel 27. After June 12th Arizona Public Media, like all broadcasters, will provide program services as digital channels only -- and we will continue to offer what we believe to be the best content on television, radio and online.
As we wind down our fiscal year this month, your support has never been more important. I hope you will take pause to consider joining, renewing or making an additional gift in support of program services, which are provided as a benefit to you and our entire community.
I am gratified by our many successes, thanks to your continued support. During our March fund raising month for example, we heard from over 7500 viewers and listeners who joined, renewed or made an additional gift. During these times of economic turmoil, we were especially pleased to have such a demonstrable vote of approval. It is just another example of the unique nature of the Southern Arizona community.
For a half-century we have delivered consistent, award-winning, in-depth news and public affairs, science and nature, arts, entertainment and educational children’s programming, and we have moved in a bold way into the digital age, offering our content in virtually every available delivery platform. We provide exceptional original content for and about this community from Arizona Illustrated, Arizona Spotlight and The Desert Speaks to last year’s Phoenix Mars Mission: Ashes to Ice and last week’s Tucson Remembers: The Korean War, to name but a few.
If you are a fan or supporter of our stations, we thank you. If you haven’t tuned in lately, we invite you to see all the new offerings and classic favorites that Arizona Public Media offers through television, radio and online. Our hope is that you will continue to find us worthy of your time as a viewer, listener and supporter for the next 50 years.
Sincerely,
Jack Gibson
Director and General Manager
Arizona Public Media®
Tucson Water is going hi-tech this year, announcing the annual "Beat the Peak" conservation program during an online news conference.
The "news conference," posted on "Pete the Beak's" MySpace page (yes, he has one), says the mascot is being transformed into a master of computer and social networking..."Pete the Geek!" Watch it for yourself:
I don't know...I like the old news conferences better. They don't have that incessant music.
The video is becoming a YouTube hit, but was it the right thing to do?
A motorist in Virginia saw an officer driving too fast (while not not a call) and decided to take matters into his own hands, breaking the law himself by speeding.
The full video apparently is laced with profanities, so I'm only including the edited version, as presented on a local television station. What you do from there is your own business.
It won't be noticeable, unless there is a breaking story as you read this, but we now have live coverage of all hosted and un-hosted NPR news coverage of breaking national stories.
![npr-logo][npr-logo-seg]
The link will appear just below the box that says "NPR News" under this blog on the KUAZ page. When nothing is happening, all you will see is the link for "NPR Hourly News," which is active at all times.
So, the next time you want to hear a live Obama speech that we're not carrying on the radio, or whatever else NPR offers that we don't take on the air, it's yours for the asking on this website.
Keep in mind that it's hard to promote breaking news, so if you hear of a big story happening and it's not on our air at the moment, just visit the KUAZ page. Of course, if it's a BIG story, we'll have it on the radio,or just listen online to our regular over-the-air feed.
I know it has only been a few days, but I must say the new Tucson Citizen online version is just a waste of bandwidth.
Some of the early topics on this new "editorial" and "opinion" site include poems, forwarded emails about dog and cat diaries, sad stories about how the the paper used to be, people who liked the paper, people who hated the paper, but no actual substance of any kind.
Only two employees remain, so I know it's hard to function. Heck, we have four people working on our website (including myself) and we have a hard time getting everything done that we want to do.
I really do wish the Tucson Citizen the best of luck, but if it continues, please re-brand it and leave some sort of legacy to the newspaper, whether people like that legacy or not.
