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Ag News
Now That´s Rural
Published Wednesday, December 16, 2009 at 10:04 AM
How many people are in your family? One? Two? Six? How about 20,000? Wow, that would make quite a Thanksgiving dinner. Today in Kansas Profile, we will learn about an innovative radio enterprise which is reaching out to the growing Hispanic community in southwest Kansas. Part of their success has been making the listeners feel like part of their family. Enrique Franz is the manager of the Spanish-language Rocking M Radio stations serving Liberal, Garden City, and Dodge City. Last week we learned about the Rocking M Radio network of stations across Kansas. One of their initiatives has been in response to the growth of the Hispanic market.
Enrique has seen such growth first-hand. He came from Liberal, served in the Marines, came back to Liberal and saw how the Hispanic population had grown significantly. Enrique said, "Seward County is 60 to 70 percent Hispanic now. It is also more diverse with people coming from Central America and Cuba as well as Mexico." Enrique went to work for the small, local AM radio station which was doing regional Mexican music. When the Miller family bought this and other stations, they asked Enrique and others what should be done. Enrique told them, "We have a good product but it is so limited. There is more that we can do for the community."
So, the Millers changed the format. The AM station now plays oldies music, while the Mexican music was moved to two strong FM stations serving Liberal, Garden City and Dodge City. The format features Mexican regional music and is called La Mexicana.
"We are now a full service radio station with high quality local production," focused on regional Mexican music, Enrique said. "Regional Mexican music is traditional. It´s like country music to Mexicans."
These stations serve Liberal, Garden City and Dodge and the rural communities around them. They even have listeners in towns like Montezuma, population 968; and Moscow, population 243 people. Now, that´s rural.
The stations work hard at local programming.
"When we do a live remote, it isn´t some drop-in deal," Enrique said. "We´ll pull in a trailer, put up a tent, have contests, and make a big splash. People show up like it´s a media event" - which I guess it is. We want to make sure we are getting results for our advertisers." These stations are also expanding local sports coverage. Enrique said, "We started doing play-by-play for the Liberal Redskins soccer team. They ended up winning third in state. We also did an adult baseball league with some 13 teams." Such high energy, local programming targeted to the Hispanic community has had an impact. Enrique said, "I really like the feedback we get from our listeners."
Gloria Freeland, director of the Huck Boyd National Center for Community Media at K-State, said, "Broadcast stations and other community media should tailor their news and other information to their individual communities. As the Hispanic population has increased in southwest Kansas, Enrique Franz has done a great job of reaching out to that community with programming especially for that audience." Enrique likes the changes he is seeing in the communities. "We have a good school system. If you´re coming from California, then Liberal, Kansas is a great place to be," he said.
"More Hispanic families are buying homes. More of our kids are going to college. People are believing in the American dream and getting their children a better way of life. Every day we are working, not just for what´s better for Hispanic families, but for what´s good for everybody," Enrique said. "For Hispanics, trust and personal relationships are very important. We want our listeners to feel like part of the family," he said.
So how many people are in your family? Two? Four? How about 20,000? It is exciting that these radio stations are reaching out to the Hispanic community and making them feel part of their extended family. We salute Enrique Franz and all those involved with La Mexicana for making a difference with their focus on local and cultural programming. Ultimately, what is so important is la familia.
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The mission of the Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development is to enhance rural development by helping rural people help themselves. The Kansas Profile radio series and columns are produced with assistance from the K-State Research and Extension Department of Communications News Unit. A photo of Ron Wilson is available at http://www.ksre.ksu.edu/news/sty/RonWilson.htm. Audio and text files of Kansas Profiles are available at http://www.kansasprofile.com. For more information about the Huck Boyd Institute, interested persons can visit http://www.ksre.ksu.edu/huckboyd/.
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