As most of us already know Issues, Etc. was
unexpectedly cancelled last Tuesday (3/18/08) and its host and producer summarily dismissed from the staff of KFUO. Many of us are saddened at the loss of what was the best Christian talkshow broadcast on the radio and the Internet. Some are making plans to attempt to
persuade the Synod and KFUO to reconsider their decision. Overall, I'm not sure that
some of the efforts are the best course of action.
We can all speculate, complain, and cast aspersions over what happened, but the fact is, it happened. Even if we are successful in getting the show reinstated at KFUO, I believe that the effort would
only be temporary at best.
From what I have read and know about the program, the following information seems to be evident:
1) There is already a loyal international listener base for Issues, Etc.
2) There is already a significant funding base for the program specifically because of it's "Christ centered, Cross focused" message.
3) There is already a network of stations with Sunday night (or other times) blocked out to carry the weekly 2 hour program.
4) There is already a significant Internet listenership.
Basically, from a cursory point of view, it's almost a turnkey program that needs a home. It has listenership, financial support, a network of guests, all committed to bring the pure, unadulterated Gospel of Jesus Christ to the world and protect the sheep from wolves.
My proposal is simple - instead of trying to temporarily put Issues back on KFUO where it's future will be uncertain in the hands of capricious bureaucrats - we attempt to build an infrastructure to support the program independent of KFUO and the Synod.
The plan would need to be enacted QUICKLY to avoid losing the existing listener and contribution base. Starting it will NOT be cheap as there will be equipment and infrastructure costs in the short term and in the long term there will be significant expenses for salaries, services (phone lines, internet connections, satellite time [?], etc.). But given the support I've seen so far, I don't think it is undoable.
Consider if 500 people spend an average of $200 on gas, meals, lodging, etc. to participate in a rally at the International Center (perhaps that's an optomistic number, but I'm not sure it's unrealistic) - that's $100,000 right there. Just guessing, but I would guess that it's probably enough to cover equipment and the first several month's operating costs & salaries to get the daily program back on the Internet and the weekly program on the Sunday night timeslots (assuming previous donors continue to cover airtime at affiliate stations). If we could syndicate the daily program too (like the Sunday night program), perhaps we could increase the footprint of "Christ centered, Cross focused" radio even further!
If you are interested in such an effort, let me know. I AM NOT AT THIS TIME SOLICITING DONATIONS - I AM GUAGING INTEREST IN THE EFFORT! I have a website that could be used to collaborate and coordinate our efforts fairly easily.
I believe the only way to truly SAVE Issues, Etc., is to make it free-standing and not dependent upon the caprice of those who would (intentionally or unintentionally) obfuscate the Gospel.
Leave a comment (including your email address) or email me (dentm42 at yahoo dot com) and hopefully we can get this off the ground quickly. If we are able to succeed, we may look at "Black Tuesday" in the same light that we see "Good Friday" - it may actually be the BEST thing to happen to the program!
Todd/Jeff - I'd also be interested in hearing from you about such an idea and whether you would be willing to consider participating in such an effort (assuming adequate compensation and benefits could be arranged). A basic list of "what we need" to bootstrap a temporary studio would also be helpful.
UPDATE:
Organizational Meeting - 2008/03/24 - 8:00 PM EDT [Edit]
* Location: #issuesetc channel on starlink-irc.org - info and web interface can be found at http://www.starlink-irc.org
* Time: 8 PM Eastern, 7 PM Central
* Agenda will be posted by NOON Eastern at:
http://uaclutheran.info/wiki/bin/view.pl/IssuesETC Read Full Post...
