Drive Time Now

Yesterday afternoon I was driving down Weber Street when I came across these protesters in front of KRCC, the radio station of the Colorado College. When I stopped to take a picture they explained their cause to me: they are advocating on behalf of Democracy Now, a popular nationwide daily syndicated radio program. KRCC is public radio, supported by donations. It's where you get your local daily dose of NPR, All Things Considered, A Prairie Home Companion, Car Talk, and so on. Apparently the station is considering dropping Democracy Now from its programming. Currently it airs at 7:00pm. In effect, in a world with 24 hour news, airing it at 7:00pm is airing it half a day too late according to these protesters, Eric, Codie the dog, and Nazli, representing Occupy Colorado Springs. They are demanding that Democracy Now be aired at 7:00am, morning "drive time", giving it a much larger local audience. The logic follows that the program won't be cancelled if it has a chance to reach more pairs of ears. [And completely aside from all of that, Eric is someone I've known for years -- it was so funny to run into him like this, though not unusual to find him agitating!]

Amy Goodman, one of the two journalists behind Democracy Now, will be speaking at the Colorado College on Thursday, April 23rd, about the importance of social movements. I think that this little group of protesters, advocating on her behalf, proves her point quite handily! For more information on her upcoming appearance, click HERE.