Brandon Booth
MollieFive other options
From being on the Board for Communication Services, I know that there were many other options to save money at KFUO other than getting rid of its premier program. The only program, it bears repeating, with wide appeal, national syndication and a sizable podcast audience.
Here are five other options that David Strand could have chosen instead of canceling “Issues, Etc.” and saved the same amount or even more money:
1. Get Dennis Stortz, KFUO general manager, to take early retirement. He is the highest paid employee at KFUO and has been employed at KFUO for more than three decades. Mr. Stortz’ bookkeeping is what made “Issues, Etc.” vulnerable.
2. Fire Jim Connett, KFUO-FM program director and Chuck Rathert, KFUO-AM program director. The BCS did this in January 2007. Mr. Connett doesn’t have a regular air shift. KFUO-AM could have hired a part-time announcer to fill Chuck Rathert’s “Bible Study” shift. This is done when Mr. Rathert is on vacation. There are several individuals currently on staff that could have assumed Mr. Connett and Mr. Rathert’s other responsibilities. Stortz, Connett and Rathert represent the upper-level management that have been in charge of a $3.5 million loss since 2001.
3. Fire “Morning Show” Co-Hosts, Paul Clayton and Diane Summers.
4. Automate the midday and evening shifts at KFUO-FM. They have been automating overnights for more than a year with virtually no listener complaints.
5. Get rid of the LCMS Foundation as the fundraising arm for KFUO. They’ve proven to be extremely inefficient. Do development in-house.
When my BCS tried to do #2, Synodical leaders stepped in to thwart our action. These same Synodical leaders had no problem with canning Jeff and Todd.
Numbers 4 and 5 were recommended years ago by an independent audit of the radio station.
Filed under: Updates
It is nice to know out here, but how does this get to Synod officials? Does any of them actually see the petition signers and their comments. I feel like we are “singing to the choir”!
FWIW, I’d do #5 as #1.
A Roman Catholic friend asked me, years ago, “What does the Lutheran church need with a classical music station?” I was so ingrained wtih the idea that Lutherans brought the classics on-air to the ‘hood that I could only reply, “Why not?”
Now, with classical stations an endangered speciis across the USA, it makes eminent sense for the current owners to shop around for investors who would like to keep the FM station going.
As others have pointed out, the $25M or so that the sale would provide could be plowed back into the AM station and also, I’m sure, into the Violet Vatican.
Reply to Linda: I may be wrong, but it sure seems there’s plenty of readership by the Synerdical* officials on this and other websites. The letters they’re sending out seem (to me) to reflect on things we say here.
*Couldnt’ help myself. Just this once.
I daresay some clerk is delegated to look at the petition, if only to make a blacklist of the pastors’ names & addresses.
As revgeorge said, us pewsitters are small potatoes.
No, we’re not entirely singing to the choir. If we complain till we get tired and then move on, Jerry will have his way.
If instead, we get an organization going which will provide funding and an alternate site for Issues, Etc., we will have accomplished something.
an alternate site for Issues, Etc. would be excellent. Are there any real plans for accomplishing this? I want to channel some of my frustration over all this in some constructive direction.
Option #6:
Fire the Council of Presidents and the Praesidium of Synod. It’ll take just over two years, but I can be patient.
http://housemdiv.blogspot.com/2008/04/article-99-dereliction-of-duty.html
Option #6.
Fire all the District Presidents and the Praesidium of Synod.
For rationale and more info, see my little blog.
After Synodical restructuring the congregations and pastors who are members of the Synod will not be able to fire anyone, even in convention. The suffrage of the congregations has been corrupted the last two cycles. The dispute process is a gordian knot, the only avenues we plebes have left to register our displeasure are closing or pocketbooks and voting with our feet.
This may not fit in the flow of this posting, but I understand neither Kieschnick nor Strand realized just how far Issues Etc reached; nor did they recognize it was syndicated–I believe. Apparently then they were probably not aware of the expense involved in broadcasting in different markets. Still, how did they account for its high cost, if they thought it was just local?
Stone the crows: I don’t think those are your only options. Become informed and consider being a delegate at your district convention and a delegate for your circuit at the synodical convention. At the same time you are informing yourself, inform others in your congregation and circuit. Use the outrage of this action to move you into action. I think we can be confident this will be happening in other places as well.