Above: Communication professors Jim Baumann and Brett Billman talk on SAU’s KALA radio with host and station manager, Dave Baker. Photo courtesy of Kendell Eye.
SAU’s KALA radio studio bustled during the night of the 2024 presidential election as they prepared to cover their fifth election cycle.
November 5th marked a historical election and KALA was on top of broadcasting results and interviews with people from diverse backgrounds. Professors, students, and community members went on the air to share their thoughts on different angles of the election, and its outcome.
David Baker, KALA general manager, and SAU alumnus of 36 years, lined up many interviews with professors and students to cover all bases. “We serve the community, as a broadcast station you must look at the issues in your community and address them. We think it is important for our listeners to know who their leaders are. We don’t have advertising, it’s a community service really.”
The communications department at SAU came out with full force. Jordan Franks, the production specialist of KALA, pops into the studio, capturing interviews through his camera lens.
Dr. Brett Billman and Dr. Jim Baumann went on air to talk about how ads have impacted recent election campaigns.Dr. Billman states, “Negative ads don’t work as well. We are at a cultural turning point, will people continue with these ads or will we turn the corner?”
Dr. Baumann offered a perspective on political campaigns, saying, “It’s much easier for candidates to blame their opponents rather than make real policy promises.”
Following their segment, David introduced John Kealey, the co-founder of the Relevant or Irrelevant show. He shares why presumably urban voting is turning blue.
“I think a lot has to do with the migration. A lot of those individuals weren’t rooted in those traditional pasts anymore. We also have an issue that Roe Vs vs. Wade was overturned. I think that has altered what some people were thinking they would vote 4 years down the road.”
As the night continued, there was still a lot of energy, but as results came in for the election there was a lull throughout the studio.
Following Kealey, his co-founder Toby Paone, an educator from Prince of Peace High School in Clinton, Iowa, sharesd his thoughts from a historical and political science perspective.
On political party shift, “It’s a reflection of the polarization of the United States. There’s not a lot in the middle. That’s a sad situation, it makes legislation difficult. It makes life difficult to govern when you have such polarization, people aren’t talking to people on the other side of the aisle versus trying to compromise and come up with decent legislation for everyone.
Baker then brought in a St. Ambrose English major and Hive Editor, Evie Breitbach, who is also a student podcaster of “Midweek Musings” for a student perspective.
“My generation is equally frustrated with that (on negative ads) despite the differences in how we consume media. The negativity turns people away from politics, and that’s why I think people my age are so ready to say they’re an independent or just don’t want to vote. They’re afraid of all that negativity and don’t want to be part of it.
KALA’s broadcast was brought to a close shortly after the West Coast polls closed at 10 pm. The votes had yet to be tallied so the crew went home without answers.
The following day, Baker spoke on the challenges KALA faced in getting timely updates.
“As I mentioned live on the air, we were going to return to regular programming, and turn to larger news-gathering organizations for specific results,” Baker states. “We were frustrated by the Scott County Auditor’s website, which had provided us up-to-date results in past years. On Tuesday evening, the site was not updated as late as 10 p.m.- and the polls had closed at 8 in Scott County. Other media had results before that site was updated, so that’s an issue for us to follow up with.”
Kendell Eye is a staff writer for The Buzz.
