Mail letters to Letters, Santa Fe Reporter, PO Box 2306, Santa Fe NM 87504, deliver them to 132 E. Marcy St., fax them to 988-5348 or e-mail them to
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COMMUNITY VOICE
Let's go beyond canned music, loud car commercials and national ad campaigns. Let's talk about the real reason losing independent media is a community concern [Outtakes, June 6: "Rebel Music"].
Independent media is the voice of a community. It can tell the locals' story, providing an opportunity that many small businesses and nonprofit organizations can't get from a media corporation. Without an outlet to tell our stories, to let our community have a voice, we lose the opportunity to strengthen our community.
Our local businesses choose to advertise on local stations and in local papers and magazines because they know they have an opportunity to reach their community. These local media outlets tailor-make products that serve the needs of local businesses, often negotiating deals so that businesses can understand the value of radio and print ads in a way that makes it affordable.
The Alliance advertises and works with our local independent media to educate the public on the importance of keeping our money local. Prices are negotiated, sponsorships are created, relationships are formed, businesses are supported. That is the power of local independent media-the power to give the community a voice, a community that includes our independent businesses and nonprofit organizations.
What happens when the Alliance can no longer communicate its message? Billboards are owned by corporations, radio stations are consolidating, newspapers are disappearing. Independent media is the voice of the Alliance and if we lose independent media we lose a voice for our local businesses.
We are grateful for the sources that exist in our community for independent media but we don't want to lose our "social capital"-a measure of a community's social and civic organizations and the degree to which the community participates. Santa Fe has a very high social capital but without our local businesses and local media we are at risk of losing our social capital.
If our businesses cannot advertise on local stations, the reality is that our money is no longer staying in our community. It is not recycled back to our local businesses, the tax base or given to our nonprofits. Beware of wolves in sheep's clothing, folks. A company can claim community involvement and that it is locally owned but the reality is that most of these companies are owned by major shareholders out of state and don't really know the community. Changing a stations's format doesn't make them any more committed to community. Ask to speak to the owner of these companies and ask the hard questions before you decide where your advertising dollars go. Independent media is your voice-your opportunity to communicate your message.
Vicki Pozzebon
Executive Director
Santa Fe AllianceBEYOND THE RATINGS
Concerning the "Rebel Music" article from last week, while it's true that Indie 101.5 is not a ratings powerhouse, I think the playing field should be leveled a bit. First, Scott Hutton cited the fact that Indie tied for 23rd place and that was one of his deciding factors why he was not going to carry Indie over to his "new" company. I thought it only fair to mention the fact that Indie tied with blu (KLBU 102.9), another property Scott Hutton is purchasing, and blu has been on the air nearly 2½ years longer than Indie and spent considerable amounts of money on advertising. We (Broadcast Partners) signed on Indie with little to no funding for the big hoo ha things that radio stations spend (waste) their money on and instead depended on word-of-mouth to carry us-and that's been the best money we never spent. The ratings book Scott culled that data from was a reflection of Indie being on a few short months and when you're dealing in grassroots marketing to see the small bump we saw after just a few months on air was more than satisfying. I could get into a big spiel about how its not about ratings-we don't care about them here. Apparently, neither do a large group of our advertisers who, after not even a year on air, have put us in the black.
As our g.s.m. says, we sell on client support, marketing analysis, and truly understanding what the client needs. If we can't help them, we'll help find a better fit for them. Its called out-of-the-box thinking, something Scott's new "big box" radio company doesn't understand, hence the reason he had to cite our truly misleading showing in the ratings book from last fall. Come to think of it, maybe that's the reason he's ditching our format too.
Sam Ferrara
Indie 101.5 Program DirectorIF IT AIN'T BROKEN...
There is always someone screwing around with the best radio stations in Santa Fe. Unfortunately, they always want to change the format to generic crap. I ask the universe to let Indie 101.5 remain in its current form.
Glen Miller
Santa FeGET OUTSIDE
Thanks to Laura Paskus and the Reporter for an interesting look at the wilderness situation in New Mexico, [Cover story, June 6: "
Going Wild
"].
For those who wish to know more about these areas-especially the Wilderness Study Areas-Bob Julyan's book
New Mexico's Wilderness Areas
is an excellent resource; we have it here at the New Mexico Public Lands Information Center on Rodeo Road, as do the better bookstores in town.
To explore the wonderful Ojito Wilderness, Santa Feans would drive down I-25 and hang a right onto US 550 at Bernalillo, proceed about 22 miles and look on the left for County Road 906, aka the "Cabezon Road," and follow the left fork of that dirt track about 10 miles to the Ojito Wilderness sign. After that, it's a walk in the country. Do plan to go on days when the wind is down-there's darn little cover out there.
Richard Atkinson
Manager, New Mexico Public Lands Information CenterRISE OF FACISM
Your article about private armies [Cover story, May 30: "Soldiers of Fortune"], was chilling, as we embrace as a nation the values of neo-fascism. In Utne magazine, an objective poll shows Europeans (and they would know) believe what America calls conservatives they would call fascists.
Our standards have shifted so far right, Democrats are really what we once called conservatives. Fascism is when government and corporations join forces against its citizens-look at the Wi-Fi and the microwave (cell) industry in our lives; it may be where brainwashing is occurring. Subliminal messages are programing us. It is further scary to me that you can't go in any corporate store where an armed presence isn't in our faces with their security forces…I don't know who said it first but, "Wake up and smell the Fascism in Amerika."
Robert Francis Johnson
Santa Fe
