Senior News October, 2001 Vol. 20. No.  10

 

Published by the Humboldt Senior Resource Center in Eureka, California. HSRC is a non-profit community-based organization offering services for senior citizens, multi-generational families and caregivers.

Audio newspapers: Reading Service provides local newspapers on KEET-TV

Dial-A-Ride: Proposed fare increase could prove harmful

Can breast cancer be prevented?

What's the news about smoking?

Hypothermia-in my own home?

NutriMinute

Trinidad: Home Delivered Meals nears its one-year anniversary

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Audio newspapers
Reading Service provides local newspapers on KEET-TV
by Joan Sikkens

Reading Service of the Redwoods readers Joan Sikkens, left, and Linda Kolb. Photo by Barbara Clark

It has been a few years since I visited Low Vision Support Groups to offer my services as a volunteer reader. I learned that though magazines and books are available on tape or in Braille, many visually impaired community members miss their local newspapers. I asked permission of several newspaper editors, made some tapes of local articles, dubbed the tapes and passed them around to Low Vision Support Group members. That was the beginning of The Reading Service of the Redwoods.

Things have changed

Nowadays, the tapes are made in a recording studio tucked away in the Presbyterian Church in Arcata. Two of seven volunteer readers share a professional-quality microphone and read from six local newspapers. The tapes are aired throughout the week on KEET-TV's SAP (Second Audio Program) on Channel 13 (a portion of the program can also be heard on ACAT, Channel 12). Potential listeners have jumped from nine or ten to thousands.

RSR newspapers include Senior News, Times-Standard, The Arcata Eye, McKinleyville Press, The Humboldt Beacon, and The Ferndale Enterprise. More publications and features will be added as RSR continues to grow.

Who might enjoy the RSR programs? Community members who are blind or vision-impaired, someone recovering from a stroke, an individual with Parkinson's disease or someone with rheumatoid arthritis which makes holding a newspaper difficult. Our listeners range from active career people who are blind and who benefit from up-to-date detailed information to homebound individuals who might welcome a friendly voice bringing news of their community.

RSR's Future

The Reading Service of the Redwoods is now under the fiscal sponsorship of an umbrella organization, has received some start-up funding and has an active advisory board.
The RSR Advisory Board and I are currently searching for funds for staffing and broadcast equipment which will be linked to KEET studios, so that RSR volunteers can read the newspapers "live." This will allow listeners the opportunity to hear truly current news. In this way, listeners could take advantage of community calendars, local government agendas-even grocery ads.

We also will likely be housed in KEET's new studios which are in the early planning stages.

Channel 13 SAP schedule

The current reading schedule on KEET TV's Channel 13 SAP audio line includes:
* 10 a.m. Monday through Friday, Times-Standard.
* 10:30 a.m. Monday, Arcata Eye; Tuesday, McKinleyville Press, Wednesday, Humboldt Beacon and Ferndale Enterprise; Thursday, Senior News; and Friday, Travel Radio and other news.

To learn more about The Reading Service of the Redwoods, call 839-1452. To make a contribution to RSR, please mail it to Reading Service of the Redwoods, P.O. Box 2835, McKinleyville, CA 95519.

Joan Sikkens is executive director of the Reading Service of the Redwoods.