Victor Palomino, who left KZYX in January to work at Radio Bilingue in Fresno, returns in May to become KZYX’s Public Affairs Director. Victor will oversee 36 local public affairs hosts who cover a range of topics from farming to marine ecology to local politics to computers. He will also reach out to diverse communities to recruit and train new programmers; serve as the station’s Bilingual Reporter; and provide in-house emergency response in Spanish and English.
Victor says his time at Radio Bilingue “reinforced in me the importance of non-commercial media for every community.”
“I joined Radio Bilingüe to be part of the news team I've been listening to for decades. I got the opportunity to talk and learn from a radio institution that has been producing independent radio for more than four decades. Being part of Radio Bilingüe was one of my professional goals, but I’m also a member of the community radio family and after a series of reflections and conversations, I decided that coming back to KZYX, and helping the station to accomplish their goals, is the best use of my talents.
“I bring with me the image of how far a community radio station can go, and I bring the good advice and the inspiration of radio legends like Hugo Morales and Samuel Orozco, two of the founders of Radio Bilingue. I bring the will to reconnect with the networks and people I met last year, and I'll bring the commitment to work tirelessly to make sure KZYX&Z continues its mission of connecting with the people of Mendocino County.”
New roles for staff
Underwriting Director Katharine Cole has added the Music Director role to her job in May. Katharine, who hosts Retro Ranch music program (first Tuesdays 1-3pm), earned a music degree at UCLA, and has been a professional musician for decades. As music director, she’ll coordinate the station’s 75 music hosts; recruit new hosts; reorganize the KZYX music library; and facilitate live music on the air.
Longtime news reporter Sarah Reith, who became the KZYX News Director in January, will continue in that role, covering Mendocino County with the help of stringers Michelle Blackwell and Eileen Russell. Sarah’s initiative and accuracy in providing emergency information during the months-long atmospheric river storms that hit the county were invaluable.
KZYX is also grateful to our Traductores, Loreto Rojas, Araceli Rivas and Maggie Von Vogt, who stepped in to tag-team translations of emergency announcements about floods, road closures and snow events.
New Membership Director Shanx has been in training with Renee Wilson over the past few months, and has also been learning the art of radio, producing a report on April’s edition of Art Waves. Renee will be around to help Shanx during the on-air fundraising drive May 19-29. We are grateful to both!
And thanks to Jamie Roberts, longtime host of Radiogram, who took on the tasks of coordinating programmers and working with Production Director Eddie Haehl and Operations Director Rich Culbertson to plan each week’s program schedule. Jamie will be helping out through May.
Finally, a big thank you to those who served on the hiring committees: Loreto Rojas, Dina Polkinghorne, Sarah Reith, Sarah Larkin, Eddie Haehl and Rich Culbertson.