KAXE - Audio Essay Series
For Audio Essay Series, each week 5 writers record radio essays in their own voices about topics related to northern Minnesota art, culture or history.
- Online survey: KAXE will be successful to the extent that most respondents answer the following questions in the affirmative:"Have the Audio Essays you hear on KAXE/(KBXE) revealed that history is woven into our lives and our communities?""Do the Audio Essays you hear on KAXE/(KBXE) help arts, culture and history thrive in MN?" and"I have increased my awareness of how history affects people's lives through the Audio Essays I hear on KAXE/(KBXE).In addition, the historical perspectives offered in these essays have helped (or will help) me make more informed decisions for the future"- Facebook/online reach: KAXE will post the best of the audio essays online. KAXE can track the number of impressions, or reach, of each FB post and the number of visits to the ACH program page on the KAXE dot org website through Google Analytics- Estimated broadcast audience: KAXE will estimate the broadcast audience for the program according to placement in the schedule, fundraising response, data available about average listenership to public radio, etc.- Fiscal audit: The organization will assure fiscal responsibility through undergoing and having a clean annual audit that fairly represents the finances of Northern Community Radio.- List to track desired program outcomes: KAXE will keep a list of all essay topics and essayists. KAXE will find and engage, coach and broadcast the work of at least 2 new writers who will produce about 20% of the content of this program. Participant comparison to census data: KAXE will track the age and ethnicity of essayists so that the program reflects the makeup of the people in the part of the state.- Listener and writer feedback: KAXE will collect notes, email, etc, and ask producers to report informal feedback from writers and listeners about the impact of the program.
- Online survey:
Have the Audio Essays you hear on KAXE/KBXE helped reveal that history is woven into our lives and our communities? 90% of survey respondents said yes, 10% no
Do the Audio Essays you hear on Northern Community Radio help arts, culture and history thrive in MN? 91% yes, 9% no
I have increased my awareness of how history affects people’s lives through the Audio Essays I hear on KAXE/KBXE. 91% of respondents agreed; 9% disagreed
The historical perspectives offered in these essays have helped or will help me make more informed decisions in the future. 87% of respondents agree, 13% disagree
- Facebook reach: 29 Audio Essays have been posted to Facebook. Of these, Steve Downing’s “Remembering Thanksgiving” reached the most people, with 663 impressions. Next was Ojibwe writer Anne Dunn’s essay, called “Teapots,” with a reach of 532.
o Estimated broadcast audience: Essays air once a day, at least, at times of high listening. We estimate the broadcast audience for a typical essay to be 3,200.
- Special program outcomes: The primary special outcome for this series was to find, engage, coach and broadcast the work of at least 2 new writers/essayists who would produce about 20% of the content for this program. This goal was far exceeded. Of 16 essayists, half were new. Of the 164 essays in this period, 52 were written by new writers. This is 32%.
- Participant comparison to census data:
Of the essayists, 13% were American Indian and 87% were White. The number of essays written by each person varied. 7.5% of the essays that aired were written by American Indian writers; 92.5% were written by White writers.
In age, 6% of the writers were school age (0-18), 25% 19-30, 19% 31-40, 6% 41-50, 31% 51-60, 13% 61+.
Nine (56%) of the essayists were male; 7 (44%) were female.
The demographic composite for the essayists conformed pretty well to census data for the area.
- Listener and writer feedback:
My colleague Alison Aten has been telling me for years how great you are to work with, and I'm in total agreement--you do wonderful stuff with our books, including Dan Sinykin's recent piece on My Mother Is Now Earth. So it's a pleasure to meet you.
And now I'm already leaning on you for a favor. I'm impressed with Sinykin's writing, both here and in some other pieces I've found online. Will you please forward this to him?