Face the State, a news website with a conservative edge, has been getting plenty of attention in mainstream newspapers of late. Check out "Were Democrats Dumb Enough to Write This 'Idiot' Memo?," an October 8 Message column, which deals in part with a story that appeared in the Denver Post only after Face the State published it online. But Brad Jones, FTS' managing editor, wants to make inroads into other traditional media forms, too, including radio.
Since January 7, Face the State has syndicated its "Radio Minute," a short-form radio program, to several stations around the state: Greeley's KFKA-AM, Fort Morgan's KSIR-AM, Sterling's KPMX-FM and Alamosa's KGIW-AM. "It's basically a minute of news injected with some sort of editorial conclusion every day, very similar to what a lot of nationally syndicated personalities ship out for morning shows to help promote their programs," Jones explains via e-mail. "We do it to promote the website and make use of another medium through which to disseminate our content."
But Jones is most excited about Face the State's foray into long-form radio via a new one-hour program, Weekend Edition, which is airing on KFKA, KGIW and two other outlets, Denver's KNUS-AM and Fort Collins' KCOL-AM. And Jones' operation will also provide live election-night coverage tomorrow on four stations: KFKA, KSIR, KGIW and Grand Junction's KNZZ-AM.
"Radio might be an old-school format," Jones acknowledges, "but it works well for us." He adds, that thanks to "the increasing appeal of podcasts, audio content translates very well online, and vice versa."
Given the conservatism of talk radio in general, Jones' project seems certain to find a receptive audience. Face it. -- Michael Roberts
