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Alaska Radio Mission: Highlights
of 2001
January: News director Paul Korchin begins an educational
leave of absence to Harvard University to complete his PhD in ancient mideastern
languages. For the first time in seven years, the news department
is headed by a first-year volunteer, Olin Fulmer.
On the 9th, KNOM entered its sixth year of 24-hour-a-day operation.
KNOM volunteer Victoria Pasquantonio visits Anadyr, Russia for the inauguration
of the region’s governor, returning with dozens of interviews.
(Left) Victoria shares a hug with Nome mayor Leo Rasmussen before
boarding the Piper Navajo for the 500-mile flight. With 12,000 souls,
Anadyr, Russia is the closest town to Nome of that size.
February: Former volunteer Eric Gabster (left) accepts
KNOM’s Angel Award at the Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood. The
award honors Mike Nurse’s “Eskimo Stories and Legends” program.
Volunteers Andrew McDonnell and Victoria Pasquantonio fly 120 miles
southwest of Nome to the Yup’ik village of Stebbins to cover the villages’s
huge regional Eskimo dance festival. Stebbins has only 543 residents,
who during the event host over 200 guests.
March: KNOM devotes five days to an intensive series of
interview programs, news reports and call-ins on “Kids Behind Bars,” children
who get into trouble, later winning the Alaska Broadcasters Association’s
“Best Service to the Community” for the work.
100 MPH winds rake western Alaska. A groundstorm strands 22 people
in a remote 10-ft. x 12-ft. cabin east of Nome for four days.
April: KNOM extensively covers Nome’s 100th birthday celebration.
On the 9th, we air “Happy Birthday to You” performed by 1,000 enthusiastic
kazoo players.
May: KNOM program director Ric Schmidt estimates that in
addition to news, weather and interview programs, KNOM broadcasts 1,500,000
public service words a year.
June: KNOM news director Paul Korchin (left) returns to
work with a fresh PhD from Harvard University, to find a sign on the newsroom
door, “Linguistic Help 5¢. The Doctor is In/Out,” mimicking
the Peanuts comic strip.
A survey conducted by Eastlan and Associates of Seattle gives KNOM high
marks. While Nome has two radio signals besides KNOM, plus cable
radio, KNOM enjoys 77.1% of the town’s listenership. The survey samples 5
villages, all of which can hear one or two other signals. In these
villages, KNOM ranges from 79.3% to 100%, averaging 87.6%. 54% of
the people who listen to KNOM never listen to anything else.
July: On KNOM’s 30th birthday on the 14th, 1989-92 volunteer
Ross Tozzi (left) is ordained a priest in Nome’s St. Joseph’s Church.
KNOM’s anniversary Mass is celebrated by retired Anchorage Archbishop Francis
Hurley, who ordains Ross the following day.
In this picture, Ross is celebrating his first Mass of Thanksgiving.
The joyous celebration increases Nome’s population by 1.6%.
August: KNOM-AM is off the air for 38 hours while its antenna
is extensively rebuilt (left). The new folded unipole antenna, with
6 wires running alongside the tower, provides an improved signal.
September: KNOM is honored by the Alaska Broadcasters Association’s
highest accolade, the Community Service Award, for March’s “Kids Behind
Bars” series. KNOM is also honored for “Best Spot Never Aired,” “Best
Entertainment Program” and “Best Radio Web Site.”
Following the September 11th attacks, KNOM broadcasts 61 continuous
hours of live coverage.
October: It’s a busy month.
In San Antonio, Texas, (left) Tom Busch accepts KNOM’s ninth Gabriel Radio
Station of the Year Award. Also visible in the photo is San Antonio’s
Archbishop Patrick Flores, who presented KNOM the honor. Television
Station of the Year is Boston giant WCVB-TV.
The same month, Tom and engineer Les Brown fly to the remote village
of Kaltag, some 200 miles east of Nome, to take measurements and decide
the exact location of a KNOM repeater there.
Tom is also in Washington, DC briefly to discuss with the FCC’s top
broadcast engineers the Kaltag repeater, a repeater for the village of
Shishmaref (SHISH-mah-reff), and KNOM’s proposal for higher night-time
power.
For the Kaltag repeater and the higher power, it looks like an uphill
battle. We sincerely thank consulting engineer Jack Mullaney for
generously donating his time and expertise.
November: The temperature remains well below freezing,
frequently below +10°, for a period of 32 days. In mid-November,
the mercury suddenly rises to a near-record +41°. The ground,
however, is so cold that the snow cover remains frozen.
The week after Thanksgiving, Tom and Les fly to Shishmaref to establish
a location for the repeater and take measurements.
December: KNOM’s “Eskimo Stories and Legends” is presented
a Communicator Crystal Award for Excellence.
It’s the third major national honor for KNOM in the year 2001.
Once more, we thank you for your prayers and your financial support.
It has been a productive year for our mission, and it is greatly because
of you. Thank you for being our strength.
We thank God for your help, and we keep you in our prayers. May
He guide and greatly bless you and those you love this coming year, and
always. |
