{"id":1317777,"date":"2020-01-20T00:04:00","date_gmt":"2020-01-20T07:04:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/aspen-public-radio-removes-bulk-of-music-programming-moves-to-focus-on-news\/"},"modified":"2020-01-20T00:04:00","modified_gmt":"2020-01-20T07:04:00","slug":"aspen-public-radio-removes-bulk-of-music-programming-moves-to-focus-on-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/local-news\/aspen-public-radio-removes-bulk-of-music-programming-moves-to-focus-on-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Aspen Public Radio removes bulk of music programming , moves to focus on news"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Aspen Public Radio has decided to eliminate most of its local music programming to make way for more community-driven news initiatives, according to station officials.<\/p>\n

The decision was announced Friday afternoon to the roughly dozen locals who hosted a variety of music shows on the KAJX station, like Jazz from Aspen.<\/p>\n

For Tammy Terwelp, executive director of APR, and her staff, the decision to cancel all of the afternoon and evening music programs \u2014 except for the grant-funded classical music programming hosted by Chris Mohr over the summer \u2014 was the result of months of research and discussion on the future of APR and its drive to be the a \u201clocal news of record\u201d source for Aspen and the valley.<\/p>\n

The station is adding renowned national and international programs such as Fresh Air and BBC Newshour to its afternoon and evening schedule starting Monday, Terwelp explained, and has a handful of new local community engagement and journalism programming in the works.<\/p>\n

But for Jeannie Walla, a longtime Jazz From Aspen host who has been a part of APR in one capacity or another for decades, and many of the KAJX music hosts, Friday was the day the music died for Aspen Public Radio and a slap in the face of its longtime volunteers.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo have this group of dedicated and talented music hosts on air for three-hour shows, which took hours to prepare for, and who were all volunteers is extraordinary,\u201d Walla said Sunday. \u201cNow they are more than insulted after getting kicked to the curb and receiving no thank-you for up to 30 years of work for no pay.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Sunday, The Aspen Times talked with six of the now-former KAJX volunteer hosts about the recent decision to cancel the Aspen radio station\u2019s local music programming.<\/p>\n

Most expressed feelings of shock and disbelief, stating that their music shows were a \u201clabor of love\u201d and they felt disrespected at Friday\u2019s meeting when staff canceled their programs immediately and reportedly didn\u2019t show any appreciation for their volunteer efforts.<\/p>\n

The hosts, many sharing their musical expertise on air since the late 1990s, talked about connecting with the Aspen community through their jazz, classical, blues or oldies music shows, and of how the public radio\u2019s music programming aligned with \u201cthe Aspen Idea,\u201d or longtime guiding vision of Aspen as a place where people can nourish their body, mind and spirit.<\/p>\n

\u201cInformation in and of itself isn\u2019t enough,\u201d said Stu Huck, longtime Jazz from Aspen host. \u201cMusic programming is so important and was in the very beginning at Aspen Public Radio. It\u2019s been there from the very beginning and is what the community has come to expect.\u201d<\/p>\n

Huck went on to say APR\u2019s music programming, particularly its jazz shows, not only supplements the station\u2019s news reporting but also is what makes the station uniquely Aspen. He and other longtime hosts said they feel doing away with it may be an irreparable mistake.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s hard to quantify the impact. I can read off a list of compliments or tell you how many people called to say they loved what I was playing,\u201d said Andrea Young, longtime host of the \u201cAspenbeat\u201d show. \u201cThat kind of connection through music has been a significant part of the fabric of Aspen Public Radio and of Aspen life for a long time. But how much does that matter to the community? I don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n

For locals like Greg Poschman, who serves on the Pitkin Board of County Commissioners, it means a lot. Poschman said he\u2019s spent countless nights listening to his favorite local hosts on KAJX, and is sad he won\u2019t be able to moving forward.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese people are authorities on these genres of music, and I know I\u2019m not the only one who appreciates that,\u201d Poschman said, noting that the recent APR decision has been a hot topic of discussion in person and on social media.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s something unique about the connection you share with someone spinning records on the radio. \u2026 It\u2019s irreplaceable and helps us hold this small community together.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Terwelp, the decision to cut the bulk of APR\u2019s music programming wasn\u2019t made overnight, nor pursued starting when she joined the APR team almost exactly one year ago.<\/p>\n

Terwelp said based on her public media and radio experience, along with local listener survey information and email correspondences, she, her staff and the APR board of directors felt moving toward a more news-focused station was in its best interest.<\/p>\n

She explained that the feedback she and APR staff have received about its programming created a \u201cpush-pull environment,\u201d as some listeners wanted to hear less news and others wanted to hear less music.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe felt this decision would help stop the push and pull, which wasn\u2019t serving anyone,\u201d Terwelp explained. \u201cIt is difficult to maintain and grow two different audiences.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why Terwelp said the Aspen station\u2019s focus is on growing its news-based audience through adding more national and international programming to the weekly schedule<\/a> and launching new local journalism initiatives like the \u201cRocky Mountain Why?\u201d program that answers listeners\u2019 questions and curiosities about Aspen life, encouraging a sense of place; \u201cTell Me More,\u201d a community engagement initiative where APR\u2019s reporters will travel up and down the valley to learn more about what news listeners feel needs to be reported; and \u201cGen Z Tea,\u201d a podcast hosted and driven by the experiences of two local Gen Zers set to launch Jan. 28.<\/p>\n

In response to the feelings of disrespect and lack of appreciation expressed by many of the local music hosts as a result of the Jan. 17 meeting, Terwelp said the APR staff intent was to help make the transition easier on the volunteers, not harder.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is really hard, and I don\u2019t want to come across as patronizing because I\u2019m not,\u201d Terwelp said. \u201cWe handled things the way we did because dismissing someone and then expecting them to continue on for another week just felt wrong. But it kills me because it\u2019s very difficult. I\u2019ve really taken this to heart. \u2026 We are thankful for all of our volunteers and their hard work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Terwelp also explained that although APR is cutting the majority of its music programming, one of its sister stations, KDNK, is known for its eclectic and multi-genre music platform for volunteer DJs up and down the valley.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, APR staff reached out to KDNK, which is based in Carbondale but also serves Aspen-Snowmass, to see if its staff would consider bringing on some of the former KAJX music hosts, according to Gavin Dahl, KDNK station manager.<\/p>\n

Dahl said the station is more than happy to have the KAJX hosts on air at KDNK, but he noted that there are already over 100 adult and 50 young adult DJs who share their music on air, so space is limited.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur schedule right now is packed full of passionate music lovers. We can\u2019t promise anything, but are really excited to have the KAJX hosts get involved if they want to,\u201d Dahl said, noting that two of the former KAJX music hosts have already reached out to KDNK.<\/p>\n

Dahl also said that survey data collected in 2019 show KDNK listeners ranked local music as what they enjoy hearing most on the station, and that it has already successfully welcomed a former KAJX music host, Dan Sadowsky, or Pastor Mustard, into the KDNK weekly schedule.<\/p>\n

But regardless of what the data shows and where each station is headed, both Dahl and Terwelp expressed their passion for public radio to thrive locally as a whole, and are both grateful for their stations\u2019 collaboration and the diverse radio offerings the Roaring Fork Valley has to offer.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not an either\/or thing,\u201d Dahl said of the two public radio stations. \u201cI think the distinction between KDNK and KAJX is clear and that both are worthy of support.\u201d<\/p>\n

mvincent@aspentimes.com<\/a><\/p>\n

via:: Post Independent<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Aspen Public Radio has decided to eliminate most of its local music programming to make way for more community-driven news initiatives, according to station officials. The decision was announced Friday afternoon to the roughly dozen locals who hosted a variety of music shows on the KAJX station, like Jazz from Aspen. For Tammy Terwelp, executive […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[160],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1317777","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-22 11:37:08","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSKE Ski Country","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1317777","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1317777"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1317777\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1317777"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1317777"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1317777"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}