🚀 go-pugleaf

"Mark Roberts" <markrobt+usenet@gmail.com> wrote

> Financial issues at Family Radio are examined in this Contra Costa Times
> article:
> http://www.insidebayarea.com/breaking-news/ci_23224369/end-world-oaklands-family-radio


I just want to say, "Poor Hal", not in jest, not in irony, not in anything 
but the deepest concern for him.  I've never met the man, but I've known 
people over the years who've worked for him, and to a person they always 
said that he treated them right, and never even asked for a commitment to 
God in order to work at Family Radio.

And rather than ripping people off, he put a lot of his own money into 
building Family Radio, digging into his own pockets when the going was 
rough.  As for people who lent him money, well, I believe that he truly 
believes in his work -- he wouldn't even call it a ministry because he said 
all the time that he was not a minister, just a man who read and followed 
the Bible.

One thing I will agree with him about was his reluctance to sell any Family 
stations to other Jesuscasters.

Mark Roberts  <markrobt+usenet@gmail.com> wrote:
>Financial issues at Family Radio are examined in this Contra Costa Times
>article:
>http://www.insidebayarea.com/breaking-news/ci_23224369/end-world-oaklands-family-radio
>
>The article quotes one former employee who believes some of the problems
>may be self-inflicted, notably from the sale of three key FM stations (not
>counting the earlier sale of 106.9 to CBS, however). The article mentions
>nothing about Family's Bay Area or Sacramento stations.

I enjoyed listening to Camping, even if he was a complete whackjob.
Everything else on the station sounded insipid and syrupy.  Good
riddance.

    --bks

On Sun, 12 May 2013 00:29:03 EDT, Mark Roberts
<markrobt+usenet@gmail.com> wrote:

>Financial issues at Family Radio are examined in this Contra Costa Times
>article:
>http://www.insidebayarea.com/breaking-news/ci_23224369/end-world-oaklands-family-radio
>
>The article quotes one former employee who believes some of the problems
>may be self-inflicted, notably from the sale of three key FM stations

Indeed self-inflicted.  This is an organization that has been
producing a product for decades - basically a Christian ministry.
Fine, but  suddenly they go into large scale production of an
intrinsically defective product - prediction of and commitment to an
apocalypse, the end of the world.

Family Radio finally self-destructed the same way as many
organizations have done who commit full resources to a patently
defective product.  Critical thinking deficits of the religious staff,
management, and dedicated listeners mulitiplied the problem into an
uncontrollable descending spiral.

"James Duncan" <jduncan1@nospam.org> wrote

> Family Radio finally self-destructed the same way as many
> organizations have done who commit full resources to a patently
> defective product.  Critical thinking deficits of the religious staff,
> management, and dedicated listeners mulitiplied the problem into an
> uncontrollable descending spiral.

What you're talking about is really an indictment of all religions, given 
that religion is by its very definition an acceptance of "faith" and an 
abandoment of critical thinking.  I have no problem with that definition.  I 
also have little problem with religion if it comforts people by doing 
positive things in their lives.

I have yet to find a religion that does not abandon critical thinking at 
some stage.  Even the so-called "scientific" religions such as Science of 
Mind, Rosicrucians, etc., abandon critical thinking by adopting a list of 
beliefs.  But a belief has to be changeable in order for the religion to be 
based on logic instead of faith.

But back to radio, I liked Family from a radio point of view.  Back from the 
early days when they had 3 production teams out on San Bruno Avenue in SF 
working on tapes to ship across the country to their affiliates to modern 
days when they've been operating networks and subnetworks and time zone 
feeds, the zeal they've had for broadcasting always impressed me.

I wish they'd change format, though.  Think of how much greatness Family 
Radio could have if they blanketed the nation with jazz...

On 5/13/13 10:38 AM, David Kaye wrote:
> "James Duncan" <jduncan1@nospam.org> wrote
>
>> Family Radio finally self-destructed the same way as many
>> organizations have done who commit full resources to a patently
>> defective product.  Critical thinking deficits of the religious staff,
>> management, and dedicated listeners mulitiplied the problem into an
>> uncontrollable descending spiral.
>
> What you're talking about is really an indictment of all religions, given
> that religion is by its very definition an acceptance of "faith" and an
> abandoment of critical thinking.  I have no problem with that definition.  I
> also have little problem with religion if it comforts people by doing
> positive things in their lives.
>
> I have yet to find a religion that does not abandon critical thinking at
> some stage.  Even the so-called "scientific" religions such as Science of
> Mind, Rosicrucians, etc., abandon critical thinking by adopting a list of
> beliefs.  But a belief has to be changeable in order for the religion to be
> based on logic instead of faith.
>
> But back to radio, I liked Family from a radio point of view.  Back from the
> early days when they had 3 production teams out on San Bruno Avenue in SF
> working on tapes to ship across the country to their affiliates to modern
> days when they've been operating networks and subnetworks and time zone
> feeds, the zeal they've had for broadcasting always impressed me.
>
> I wish they'd change format, though.  Think of how much greatness Family
> Radio could have if they blanketed the nation with jazz...
>
Unfortunately, as the article detailed, most of what's left is AM's and 
translators. Their three big FM's (Newark/NYC, Philly and 
Annalopis/WashDC) plus our local 106.9 are history. What's left isn't 
much use for a jazz format, or for that matter much of any music 
service. And if they did that, their royalty costs would jump, without 
the support from the faithful they currently depend on, though that's 
become a wasting resource. They'd need to adapt an NPR-like funding 
model. And some of the markets they operate in already have jazz 
stations (KCSM, WBGO).

Another article, this one on CNN's religion blog:

http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2013/05/16/end-times-for-doomsday-linked-radio-network/

It quotes some of the Contra Costa Times article, but also has
some different text.


Patty