KBA'S WEEKLY NEWSLETTER

October 7, 2021

WKMS TO RECIEVE 2021 AL SMITH AWARD

FIRST TIME AWARD PRESENTED TO BROADCASTERS

KBA congratulates the journalists of WKMS-FM at Murray State University, winners of the 2021 Al Smith Award, presented for public service through community journalism by Kentuckians.

The institute presents the award with the Bluegrass Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. Chapter President Tom Eblen, a former Lexington Herald-Leader managing editor and columnist, said “WKMS has a history of reporting important stories in its region accurately, thoroughly and without fear or favor. It is a model for courageous public-service journalism, especially at a time when citizens are looking more to public radio to fill voids left by shrinking commercial media outlets.”

WKMS Station Manager Chad Lampe, who moved up from news director in 2015, said, "I am so incredibly proud of our newsroom and our station staff as a whole. We take an ‘audience first’ approach to all of our work and this is why we remain committed to telling stories that matter. I am particularly proud of our Murray State student journalists who we bring into our newsroom, train and mentor to produce professional news right alongside the work of our staff."

“We usually think of ‘community’ as one county, town or neighborhood, but there are geographic communities, and there are communities of interest. West Kentucky is a geographic community of interest, and WKMS has the only newsroom that covers the whole region and its interests,” said Al Cross, director of the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues at the University of Kentucky. “It does it well.”

The award will be presented at the Al Smith Awards Dinner in Lexington October 28, 2021.

OCTOBER 10TH

AN IMPORTANT DATE FOR YOUR PUBLIC FILE

Quarterly Issues/Programs List Due—All full-power radio, full-power television, and Class A television stations must upload to their Public Inspection File by this date the Quarterly Issues/Programs List covering the period July 1, 2021 through September 30, 2021.

Class A Television Continuing Eligibility Certification—Class A television stations are required to maintain documentation in their Public Inspection File sufficient to demonstrate continuing compliance with the FCC’s Class A eligibility requirements. We recommend that by this date Class A television stations generate such documentation for the period July 1, 2021 through September 30, 2021 and upload it to their Public Inspection File.

Quarterly Fundraising Reports—All noncommercial educational TV and radio stations that changed or suspended their regular on-air content to conduct third-party fundraising to benefit a non-profit organization must generate relevant documentation for the period July 1, 2021 through September 30, 2021 and upload it to their Public Inspection File by this date.

CAMPBELLSVILLE MASS COMM CENTER TO HOLD OPEN HOUSE ON FRIDAY

New Mass Communication Center to hold open house and...

By Chosalin Morales, student news writer and photographer, Office of University Communications CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. - This year's Homecoming will be back in-person after almost two years in lockdown due to the recent COVID-19 pandemic. The new...

Read more
www.campbellsville.edu

IS YOUR HEALTH INSURANCE PLAN TOO HIGH? JOIN TRINET'S FREE WEBINAR TO LEAN MORE ABOUT HR SOLUTIONS

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 20TH @ 2PM EDT

KBA member stations are cordially invited to attend "How your Station can Benefit from TriNet's HR Solutions," an exclusive webinar hosted by TriNet.

Professional Employer Organizations (PEOs) help small and medium size businesses (SMBs) with HR best practices and guidance, access to benefits, workers' compensation insurance and certain payroll and employment related taxes.

This webinar will help you learn how full-service HR can help you get time back in your day to focus on what matters. Know your options for handling HR, what a PEO is and how it can help you scale your business with big-company benefits and infrastructure. You will also get tips on finding the right HR solution for your organization.

You will learn the following:

Four options for handling HR
What is a PEO?
Advantages of using a PEO
Due diligence when selecting the right PEO

JEFF SCHMIDT'S SALES TIP OF THE WEEK

UNPLUG

This weekend I’m taking a 1,200 mile road-trip with my son, Carver. We are headed to Austin, TX where he will work for the next three months for a major technology firm as part of his collegiate experience. Along the highway about every 75-100 miles are rest stops strategically placed to help weary travelers take a break.

On Wednesday I was on a conference call with Erica Farber and a few others and we were discussing the breakneck pace of our business these days. “I don’t think it ever slows down any more,” Erica said. Kids have the summer off from school in most parts of the country, a three month period to relax, recharge, and refocus in an effort to get ready for another year of learning. When do we get a break?

Because our schedules are so busy, often we push non-critical tasks to the weekends. This means, that we never stop working. Our advice today is stop. This weekend, take some time to unplug, relax, and refresh. Psychology Today recently had an article about the long-term effects of all this constant stress and busy-ness is having on our mental health. People are more on edge, more stressed, and quicker to inappropriate reactions and hostility because of the pace of the world we live in.

So this weekend, unplug. Whatever it is, it can wait till Monday. There are plenty of things that you can do to unplug and recharge, the key is to do something you truly enjoy. Here are some suggestions:

Sleep in – If you normally get up at 5:30am every day, turn off the alarm and see if you can sleep in till 8.
Read a book for fun – hobbies, fiction, art, culture, pick a book that you wouldn’t normally use for business.
Visit an art gallery or a museum – admiring the creativity of others can be mind-expanding.
Take a walk – exercise has well-documented benefits. You don’t have to go nuts, just take a walk a bike ride. Get outside and enjoy some fresh air.
Appreciation Journal – spend some time thinking about, and making a list of all the things you have in your life that you are thankful for. Often we take our current situation for granted and only focus on the problems or the things we don’t have.
Surround yourself with people who make you happy and give you joy

Our business isn’t slowing down and that’s not a bad thing. There is always something more to do, something more to learn, more clients to help, more promotions to dream up. If the people who designed our highways had the foresight to put rest stops along the road, we need to occasionally unplug and take a rest.

Psychologist say we have a chronic pre-occupation with what we aren’t doing. Meaning, we are so worried about what we are not doing, we can’t focus on what we are doing and do it effectively. This weekend I can worry about all the things I’ll have to do next week, and the things I didn’t get done last week, or I can enjoy a road-trip and some great bonding time with my son. We’re going to choose to enjoy the journey. This weekend, we encourage you to forget about where you’ve been or where your headed from a work perspective and choose to take some time to relax, recharge, and refresh. If you have some idea’s about non-work activities that bring you joy, we’d love to hear about them.

Jeff Schmidt is the SVP of Professional Development at the Radio Advertising Bureau. You can also connect with him by email JSchmidt@rab.com or on Twitter and LinkedIn.

STATION AUTHORIZATION DOCUMENTS

WHAT SHOULD YOU HAVE FOR AN INSPECTION?

Although the requirement to post station authorizations has been deleted, it is still required to have certain documents and make them available to FCC or ABIP inspectors. In addition to verify the station has the authority to be in operation, these documents have valuable technical information to guide engineers in proper operation.

Among the documents you should have are:

Most current Station Authorization (station license). This includes main station, translators, boosters, and LPFM
Most current Station license renewal
Antenna Structure Registration (form 854)
Licenses for any Part 74 devices or systems (RPU, STL, TSL, wireless microphones and IFB)
Satellite Uplink License

You should review these documents to ensure all information is correct, including dates, ownership, and technical data. Notify management if any errors are found, especially expiration dates.

UPCOMING POYNTER WEBINARS

FREE FOR KBA MEMBER STATIONS

KBA presents the following journalism webinars from the Poynter Institute. The webinars are provided free to KBA member stations.

October 21, 2021 - Powerful Storytelling (Part 1) Register Now

November 4, 2021 - Powerful Storytelling (Part 2) Register Now

December 8, 2021 - Battling Bias Register Now

January 4, 2022 - Fighting Fakes and Truth Decay Register Now

KBA ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING

TO BE HELD VIRTUALLY ON OCTOBER 20, 2021 @ 9AM EDT

The annual membership meeting of the Kentucky Broadcasters Association will be held virtually on Wednesday, October 20, 2021 at 9:00 AM EDT. Active KBA members must register in advance to attend the meeting.