[nfbwatlk] ERRS

[Elizabeth Rene]

Hi gang,
I remember when the ERRS was a subchannel of KUOW. And I remember once broadcasting – or having been interviewed and broadcasted – over ERRS from WTBBL.
I thought it was a great station, and still do today, even though I haven't personally listened for a long time.
I may feel a little less cynically about the closure, finally, of ER RS, though it appears that decision was made without PAC endorsement. Proofreading twice weekly at the library as I do, I've become intimately familiar with just how strapped that place is. They can't even afford coffee!
Yet what a gateway ERRS could be for blind people who want to launch their own career in radio."For want of a shoe, the horse was lost."
But questions arise for me.
Should we rely on public institutions to provide our listing enjoyment? Should we rely on them, continually, for the information we need in daily life (I realize that the ERRS provided that to many people). To the extent that we should, should a public radio model be followed? What about that KUOW subchannel? Should we be looking to a different agency – the UW, some fund for public broadcasting – for the station's support? Could be NFB, or the NFB buttressed with foundation funds, partner with local commercial networks or with digital broadcasters to produce the content we want? As we mature as an organization and a movement, are we being challenged, albeit painfully, to take advantage of technologies and resources now ready to hand that were unheard of when the ERRS started out? Is it time to become producers rather than consumers? If we say, "we don't have the money," are we singing from the same songbook as WTBBL? 
I just don't think that some paternalistic hand turned off the switch. Tears were shed over that loss. And tears are shed when WT BBL staff members have to say goodbye to well loved colleagues and friends because there's no more money to fund their positions. In this extraordinarily rich city, our library is walking barefoot!
Instead of a Patrons Advisory Committee, could PAC re-form to become a Political Action Committee and find some better way to fund it?
Just some thoughts.
From,
Elizabeth Rene
Your Devil's Advocate 

Elizabeth M René 
Attorney at Law 
WSBA #10710
KCBA #21824 
rene0373 at gmail.com