Volunteering at KBCS
Getting involved at KBCS is as simple as showing up. KBCS is a mostly volunteer-powered public radio station. We operate with a small paid staff and thus rely on the talents and energies of many volunteers for most of our on-air and off-air activities.There are a variety of ways you can contribute to the station and learn the art of radio.
Membership Drive
KBCS is listener-supported, public radio. The vast majority of our operating budget comes directly from listeners. To raise that support, we hold on-air membership drives each year, as well as year-round membership relations. We are always in need of volunteers to do this vital work:
Help answer phones and take pledges during pledge drives.
Sign up for volunteer shifts here.
Community Events
KBCS is frequently out in the community at music events and lectures, among other events. We can always use friendly and enthusiastic volunteers to “table,” greeting the public, handing out program guides, and generally spreading the gospel of the independently-programmed public radio you find over on 91.3 FM.
Sign up for volunteer shifts here.
Contact our Outreach Coordinator, Sabrina Roach for more information. By email at sroach@kbcs.fm or call (425) 564-4069.
Music Host (Being a DJ):
Basic Broadcasting
KBCS is committed to training and providing opportunity for community members to be part of the media. All DJs at KBCS are community volunteers. To help you learn the art of radio, KBCS offers regular training courses, taught every quarter through BCC Continuing Education. Check here for the latest schedule.
To become a DJ at KBCS, you must first take the Basic Broadcasting course.
Auditioning
Upon completion of the Basic Broadcasting class, prospective programmers (both regular and substitute) may submit an audition tape and program proposal to the program director. Audition tapes should be 30 minutes in length and mimic a live KBCS broadcast, with appropriate music selections and announcer breaks. In addition to this 30-minute tape, a one-page program proposal and sample playlist are recommended. Applicants may submit proposals to substitute for existing shows in which case they should demonstrate a thorough understanding of the program's format. Alternately, applicants may propose a new program idea fitting within the station's general format guidelines. Contact Peter Graff, our program director for details. Please allow 4 weeks for response from the program director. If the proposal is appropriate for our station, he will arrange more training.
Production Volunteering
We’re always looking for enthusiastic volunteers to help us out with daily production tasks.Typically, this could include promo production, basic audio editing, and/or transferring of audio to different media.
The best way to get involved on the production side of KBCS is to take the Audio Production for Broadcast class, taught through BC Continuing Education (you can register for it exactly as you did for the Basic Broadcasting class). This is an intensive 8-week course, with a focus on the technical side of sound, digital audio, recording, editing, and producing audio for broadcast. Audio for the web is also addressed. Normally, this course is offered once an academic quarter, but check the BC Continuing Education website for the latest schedule info. After completion of the course, there are some production volunteer opportunities for those interested.
Public Affairs Training
KBCS has many opportunities for those interested in public affairs broadcasting. The best way to get involved on the production side of KBCS is to take The Basics of Community Radio Journalism class, taught through BC Continuing Education. Check here for the latest class schedule
>There are five primary shifts for which you can volunteer:
- Writer - Flexible
- Public Affairs Host - One evening, Mon-Fri, 4:00 p.m.-7:00 p.m.
- Wednesday Workshop - Wed. 7:30 p.m.-9:30 p.m.
- One World Report team - Flexible - Produced on Thurs. 12:00 p.m.-6:00 p.m.
- Voices of Diversity team - Flexible Airs Wed. 5:30 p.m.-7:00 p.m.
Writer
KBCS airs a variety of announcements during our programming, and all of those scripts need to be written. If you are interested in getting involved, but have a limited amount of time, or have difficulty getting to KBCS on a regular basis, being a writer for the station may be one of the best ways to get started. The biggest need we have is for Public Service Announcement (PSA) writers. PSA writers work with the Program Director and/or the New and Public Affairs Director, usually by email. If you are interested in writing PSAs for KBCS, and you have not had previous writing experience, we encourage you to take a workshop on writing for radio (usually offered on Wednesday nights). To get started, email Joaquin Uy at news@kbcs.fm or call (425) 564-6195.
Public Affairs Host
The Public Affairs Host is responsible for being the station "voice" during Democracy Now, FSRN and other programs, engineering the broadcast, forward promoting upcoming shows, underwriting and promotional reads, answering listener calls, and other duties as required. The shift runs 3:00 p.m-7:00 p.m.
Applicants for the position must complete The Basics of Community Radio Journalism class. Upon successful completion of the class, applicants will complete a pre-audition and then be considered eligible for a final air-check and live audition.
If you are interested in applying for this airshift, please submit a brief letter of interest describing your reasons for applying for the position.
You may submit your letter of interest by email or post. Additional supporting materials, such as air-check tapes, are welcome though not required. Send to Joaquin Uy at news@kbcs.fm or call (425) 564-6195.
Voices of Diversity
Voices of Diversity tells the untold stories in our community and celebrates the diversity of cultural expression found in the Northwest. The show is produced each week by a small team of volunteers—each week a different team is responsible for all the research, preparation, writing, and broadcast of the show.
Volunteers interested in Voices of Diversity are encouraged to show up Wednesday night beginning at 5:30 p.m. to watch the show in action and meet other volunteers. At 5:30 the pre-show set-up for Voices of Diversity begins.
During the show, volunteers can sit in the control room and listen to and learn the process of producing a live show. Following the show, there is a de-brief session until 7:30.
To get involved, contact Joaquim Uy; (425)564-6195 or email juy@kbcs.fm.
One World Report
One World Report is produced at KBCS by a team of volunteer reporters, producers, writers, and engineers.
The show is a modular program, with a mix of news stories read live by the show anchors, and pre-recorded segments from KBCS producers and syndicated news sources. The show consists of daily and weekly international, national, and regional stories, as well as local features, profiles, interviews, and commentary.
To get involved with One World Report, you can either show up on Thursday afternoons, or come to a Wednesday Night Workshop, where we assist volunteers in producing stories of One World Report. Email or call Joaquin for more information: news@kbcs.fm or call (425)564-6195.
Reporter Resources
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