 “Welcome
to the center of positive energy and great music” is how
Station Manager Jeff Flanders greets people that come to KZMU.
Everyone involved in this unique, energetic little radio station
just south of Moab on Rocky Road shares his wonderful outlook
on their work. And “everyone” is quite a number of
people. KZMU enjoys the talents of 66 DJ’s, 20 substitutes
and hundreds of ex-DJ’s. Collectively they have contributed
a total of 10,000 volunteer hours each year. Moab’s community
radio station is an operation driven on volunteerism and a passion
for music.
KZMU is a non-profit, community public radio station.
In 1967 Congress created the Corporation of Public Broadcasting.
Its primary purpose was to reserve a small amount of radio frequencies
for non-profit stations to allow public participation and access
to the airwaves in order satisfy First Amendment rights. It
was also meant to provide alternative programming to commercial
radio’s musical and news programming. Indeed, KZMU operations
revolve around the core of free speech and alternative musical
and news programs.
In 1990, Moab didn’t have a radio station. A cadre
of dedicated people decided to take on the bureaucratic process
of obtaining a public radio station license and frequency. Through
the efforts of Kyle Bailey, Carl Rappe, Suzanne Mayberry, Bill
Benge, Nan Norris and many others, KZMU went on the air in April
of 1992. The station’s home was a dilapidated, beat-up
trailer on top of Rocky Road. The trailer sat on a piece of
land owned by the Loveridge family who generously donated the
land to KZMU in 1996.
As in any collective endeavor, KZMU went through the normal
growing pains of staff changes, financial stability, DJ turnover
and defining itself. There are literally hundreds of people
in Moab who have been involved in the station as it evolved
through the 1990’s. One of the biggest challenges was building
a permanent station. Using seed money from the City of Moab
and Robert Fulghum, a cement pad was poured. Seven years later,
using the donations from the community and volunteer labor from
a construction community, a modest but comfortable permanent
station was completed.
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With the new facility, KZMU has been able to invite everyone
from the community to be on the air primarily through its weekly
interview show “This Week in Moab” (Mondays 7-9 am
and rebroadcast from 5-7 pm). This free, public air time has
been utilized by almost every non-profit organization in town
to help promote events and messages they want to get out to
the community. “This Week in Moab” has had practically
every public service group on the air from the Mayor, to City/County
Council members, the Water & Sewer District, Planning and
Zoning, the Moab Police and County Sheriff’s offices, Search
and Rescue, candidates for public office, and even Governor
Leavitt and Senator Orrin Hatch Bon Kelly, who managed KZMU
for over 3 years, had the vision to purchase the equipment to
broadcast the City and Council meetings live every week. This
has been a tremendous public service since the listener gets
to hear the discussions and comments live in the comfort of
their own homes. Governor Leavitt said he didn’t know of
another city in Utah that had their council meetings broadcast
live.
The station operates on $75,000 a year. It is common for “NPR”
(National Public Radio) format stations like KUER (out of Salt
Lake City) to operate on 1.5 million dollars a year. Even KZMU’s
“sister” community station in Salt Lake operates on
over $600,000 a year. It is a small miracle that KZMU exists
at all. You just don’t find very many non-profit community
stations in towns the size of Moab. About $25,000 comes from
a grant from Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the other
$50,000 comes from the extremely generous listeners in Moab
and businesses that underwrite KZMU’s programming. Donations
are solicited twice a year during KZMU’s spring and fall
radiothons. These fundraisers feature 10 days of highly energetic,
creative shows that usually have special themes.
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A few folks have a misconception about KZMU, namely that it
is an "entity" with a political bias. KZMU is an
informational outlet for a diverse collection of views not
commonly heard. It's mission is served by offering thwe airwaves
to those in the community who wish to be heard. The 66 DJ's
that volunteer their time get the opportunity to express their
views. Their opinions are their opinions - not those of anyone
else. KZMU encourages the community to take advantage of free
speech radio.
In spite of talk shows and personal opinions, KZMU is 95%
music. Contrary to the controlled formats of other radio stations,
KZMU has mostly 2-hours shows that feature whatever the host
DJ wants to play. This approach allows total creativity and
freedom. Each DJ can cultivate their audience without management
intervention. Our local programming usually goes from 9am
to 11pm. During the other hours, we are fortunate enough to
broadcast a feed from KRCL, Salt Lake City’s great community
radio station.
Aside from showcasing jazz, blues, folk, bluegrass, country,
Americana, Latin American, African, Celtic, reggae, Native
American, Broadway musicals, big band, electronic and all
kinds of rock ‘n roll, there is “Children’s
Shine Time” on Saturday mornings where a parent and child
(usually between age 6 – 8) play children’s music.
Also broadcast are City and County Council meetings, an all
Spanish show for Moab’s Hispanic community, live music
and interviews with musicians who are playing in town. The
hilarious Trading Post show that is hosted by the thespian/comedic
Kiffmeyer brothers who keep the laughs coming for 90 minutes.
A program guide can be found in the Moab Happenings. In a
world of television, print, and radio media that is overwhelmingly
impersonal, over-commercialized, canned, controlled and censored,
KZMU is a breath of fresh air. It’s real, involving real
people who live right here in Moab who share their favorite
music with the community. KZMU radio is about DJ’s giving
to the listeners and the listeners giving back in the form
of donations twice a year.
Manager Jeff Flanders summed it by saying “KZMU
connects the listener to the community in a fun and entertaining
way. It’s not particularly polished, we don’t always
know what we’re going to do next, but you can be sure
that whatever you hear will be spontaneous, fun and full of
positive energy. Indeed, our mission statement reads that
KZMU’s mission is to inform, educate, engage, entertain
and delight’. Like the call letters say, ‘Krank
Zee Music Up!’”
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