Orange County residents must help save KOCE

Many readers have reacted to the recent court decision that calls into question the future of KOCE-TV. They have expressed concern that the only station that regularly covers Orange County issues, educates Orange County school children and provides some of the best PBS programs in Southern California could be ultimately taken over by an out-of-state religious broadcast network.

But there are critical issues that have not been publicly discussed in this debate about the fairness of the Coast Community College District’s sale of KOCE to the KOCE-TV Foundation and the court’s very narrow interpretation of a law designed to allow school districts to sell surplus property, such as furniture or vehicles.

KOCE-TV is very different from a desk or a pick-up truck. It is a public trusteeship whose federal, noncommercial broadcast license is now held on behalf of local residents by the KOCE-TV Foundation.

Over the past three decades, even during the district’s ownership of the station, the people of Orange County and Southern California contributed more than $50 million to the KOCE-TV Foundation to preserve KOCE as a local community service institution. In reality, the people have purchased the station and invested in its future via the KOCE-TV Foundation. Such is not the case with surplus school district furniture or computers.

It is now up to the people to save KOCE. Since the foundation assumed ownership in November of 2004, KOCE has been singularly successful with dramatic audience growth and donor support. But a narrow and tortured interpretation of a state statute could take the people’s station away from the people and leave Orange County viewers at the mercy of Los Angeles-based news stations for rare stories about our 3-million-person community and vibrant, thriving economy. If Orange County were not adjacent to Los Angeles, it would be known as one of the largest cities in the country and would have five local stations covering its issues, events and people. KOCE is our only tool for filling this local media void.

Some have expressed outrage that the entity coveting KOCE’s channel is a televangelist network. But that is not the issue. This is not about religion. It is about localism and community service, something KOCE does very well ? something that will disappear in Orange County if KOCE is no more.

There are steps we can all take to help save KOCE. They are detailed at www.koce.org. I ask readers to get involved and save the local public service media enterprise that truly belongs to them.

MEL ROGERS

President, KOCE-TV