KNAU may soon visit Williams for news

WILLIAMS - John Stark, general manager for KNAU Arizona Public Radio, offered his thanks to the Williams community for tuning in to the popular radio station during a visit with members of the Williams Rotary Club May 28. KNAU is a member of the National Public Radio (NPR) family and has featured Williams in past radio programs. One of which, a feature on the Williams Fifth Regimental Cavalry Band, ran three years ago to a national audience, Stark said.

"That feature was broadcast nationally," Stark said. "It was an award-winning piece. We do our best to find interesting stories all over northern Arizona and present them."

In the coming months, KNAU reporters may once again be visible in the community as station personnel plan a series on the impact of the recession on tourism. NPR's Ken Burns also plans a report on the country's national parks, including Grand Canyon, Stark said. Other new features at KNAU, Stark said, include book reviews. Northern Arizona author Ann Cummins is slated to host the review segment, he said, which will take a look at southwestern books - especially those from northern Arizona.

"Book reviews seem to be a dying art, the Washington Post, the San Francisco Chronicle have discounted having book reviews, so that is something else that we are going to be doing," Stark said. "There are a lot of great fiction and non-fictions books about this region and we leave the region very undefined, so that Nogales would be, I think, part of this region or Durango or Las Vegas, but I think we are primarily centered on northern Arizona."

Stark said upcoming features will focus primarily on news.

"One is about tourism, so I think we will be sending reporters to Williams. There's a fellow who just retired as the CBS Bureau Chief in London, that retired to this area, he's going to be reporting for us on the impact of the recession on tourism - how that is playing out in northern Arizona. We're curious about how the railway is doing. Grand Canyon is the top tourist destination in all of Arizona, so we're going to be investigating that and presenting that in August," Stark said.

Stark, along with KNAU Development Director Liz Gumerman, played the cavalry band feature for Rotarians during the May 28 meeting. He said that, while KNAU is a part of Northern Arizona University and the state of Arizona, the radio station also received funding from other sources.

"We do maintain editorial integrity within our station so that we are free to report on whatever may be going on at the state of Arizona or Northern Arizona University," Stark said. "That is, in many ways, where we have put our resources and what we do best is in our local news. Last year we had a series, which we called 'Poverty with a View' about the high cost of living in Flagstaff and the relatively low wages and I am sure that it is not a dissimilar situation in Williams and other communities."

KNAU provides NPR news primarily, though the station also offers classical music, local news and talk programming, among other offerings. Stark said KNAU operates as a "non-commercial" radio station, which runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week. In Williams, KNAU can be found at 88.7 or at 91.7 FM. Roughly 55,000 people tune in to KNAU from all across northern Arizona.

"The lower end of the FM spectrum is set aside for non-commercial radio stations," he said. "The FCC specifically prohibits us from taking advertising, though we do have what we call underwriting as well."

The station is funded by pledge drives, underwriters, grants, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and monies from NAU.

"We have a network of 13 radio stations all across northern Arizona," Stark said. "Two in Flagstaff, two in Prescott, two in Cottonwood. We also have stations in Kingman, Page, Show Low, various other places, Grand Canyon, and I believe we have pretty good reception in Williams as well."