By Amanda Eichstaedt, KWMR Station Manager and Executive Director
Message Station Maker allows radio stations to reach listeners wherever they are with emergency communications. With this new app, stations can now send text and voice messages in many languages directly to their devices.
KWMR has been proud to offer its West Marin listeners verified information since before I became Station Manager in 2010. Thirty years ago, the Mount Vision Fire burned 12,354 acres of land on the Point Reyes peninsula and destroyed 45 homes. The fire started from an unextinguished campfire. Thankfully, no lives were lost.
Our local cable company’s infrastructure was wiped out in the blaze. People realized that there was a need for more local communication. The cable company rebuilt, and KWMR started out on a cable channel broadcasting from a small closet in a local barn. A small dedicated group of folks got to work applying for and then getting an FCC construction permit. On May 2nd, 1999 KWMR went live on 90.5 FM. Providing verified information in West Marin remains a pillar of KWMR’s mission.
KWMR has since moved out of the closet and expanded with two translators to serve topographically challenged areas in West Marin. Later this fall, our station will have a brand new booster to get our signal into Tomales, a town up north that had terrible reception.
In August 2020, right in the thick of the pandemic, lightning started a wildland fire that burned 4,929 acres in the Point Reyes National Seashore. The fire was contained to parklands and took five months to put out. No homes were lost, but some neighborhoods adjacent to the park were evacuated. I was told that there were people in our listening area that could see the huge plumes of smoke, but could not understand our announcement in English as they were native Spanish speakers.
KWMR then made a commitment to broadcast our emergency information in both English and Spanish. This proved challenging as we struggled to use web based translation tools and relied on bilingual staff and volunteers.
One day, I was working in my office listening to an interview with Emily Bartlett on KWMR. Emily had created translation software that allowed people to participate in civic meetings and get the information in real time. No interpreter was needed. Before the interview was over I was standing outside the studio door. I asked Emily if something like what she was describing could translate emergency messages. She said that was something that could be developed.
KWMR applied for a grant to fund the audio translation application and we have been successfully using it for the past two years. It’s very smooth. It lives on the Mac computer in Studio A that we use for playing music and doing virtual interviews. The application is opened, a message typed in, and within seconds the audio files in both English and Spanish are ready to play through the console. KWMR chooses to play both files in a computer generated voice.
KWMR’s automation system has the ability to schedule emergency messages to play at the top and bottom of the hour, or more frequently if necessary. This allows messages to go out when the station is on automation. This proved to be critical in 2020, when limited staff were at the station due to the pandemic. Announcements can also be played by a host during live programming. This allows for continuous communication with the listeners.
Back before Twitter became X, we hosted the live feeds on the Emergency Information Page of KWMR’s website, allowing anyone to view the chronological feeds of area agencies. Then, Twitter became X, and algorithmic feeds made it more difficult to put out timely, chronological emergency information online. I was curious if Emily could help us enhance the translation application and allow us to text out emergency information. KWMR applied for another grant from our local foundation and the project was underway.
KWMR still broadcasts the bilingual announcement at our desired frequency, but can now text people who opt in when new information is available or is updated. It is not uncommon for the station to broadcast the same message for several hours when conditions are not rapidly developing. Now, with Message Station Maker, if listeners have a device that receives texts, they will immediately get the updates as they occur via text.
Emily was able to create exactly what KWMR wanted. Message Station Maker is now available for any organization that would like to send messages to people who opt into the system.The app conforms to all carrier regulations, and the system is plug-and-play. Users who sign up can choose their preferred language in which they receive the texts.
Message Station Maker is ideal for radio stations. It also has great value for any organization that has the desire to communicate with a specific audience. It is very easy for users to opt in, or opt out if they want to stop receiving messages.
I am really excited that something that KWMR saw as a need for our station can serve as a tool for all stations and organizations that need direct ways to communicate with specific communities. In a world of corporate monopolies and data harvesting, Message Station Maker is a good and very localized solution.
Information on how to get started using Message Station Maker is at messagestationmaker.com.
