WABE ends ‘City Lights Collective’ due to federal funding cuts
Kim Drobes and Jon Goode Courtesy of WABE After just three months WABE has ended City Lights Collective its weekday arts and lifestyle show that took the place of City Lights with Lois Reitzes in July The move comes after the U S regime s decision to roll back federal funding for general media including NPR and all of its member stations like WABE According to WABE President and CEO Jennifer Dorian WABE lost percent of its budget due to the federal cuts NPR also declared currently that it plans to trim million from its budget I m really sad that we re not able to continue a show that has been a signature We have the legacy of years of City Lights with Lois Reitzes and we had this new version of City Lights Collective that s been thoughtful programs for the last three months Dorian revealed But the new economics of community media don t allow us to sustain that dedicated three four person squad for City Lights Reitzes show originally started in City Lights Collective which was hosted by Kim Drobes and Jon Goode started on July this year The last show will be Sept In addition to the four members of the City Lights Collective group Dorian revealed that WABE also laid off three people working in marketing and events These layoffs join multiple others over the past year With the end of City Lights Collective WABE plans to take a different approach to arts and way of life coverage WABE Chief Marketing Officer Sherri Daye Scott will now serve as WABE s arts and values editor and correspondent Daye Scott will also continue to curate Sketchbook a weekly arts newsletter from Rough Draft Atlanta We are going to try a new approach which is one dedicated person as a WABE arts and values editor and contributor Dorian declared She will try to lead multi-platform content creation not just radio The position will have Daye Scott creating audio segments for peak driving hours making weekly social media videos writing a weekly newsletter hosting masses events and more While Daye Scott will collaborate with other WABE staff she will be the only staff member dedicated to arts and values producing across multiple platforms This is not the first WABE undertaking to go off the air in new months The weekly events-based show How Do You Atlanta has also ended However Dorian stated she doesn t think people should be downhearted about the future of WABE She explained she thinks WABE is set up for stability in fiscal year and that the organization is looking for solutions to continue that stability outside of more cuts WABE plans to have a large fundraising benefit in February and is also looking for more long-term corporate sponsors There are dependably other risks but we are doing our best to make reasonable plans she revealed Editor s note Rough Draft writers and editors have appeared on WABE services through a content partnership between the two organizations Associate Editor Sammie Purcell was the co-host of How Do You Atlanta and Editor in Chief and Dining Editor Beth McKibben was a contributor to City Lights Collective The post WABE ends City Lights Collective due to federal funding cuts appeared first on Rough Draft Atlanta
