Davis Media Access

We believe the shrinking of local newsrooms and corresponding loss of vital news and information affects every aspect of community life. When information is scarce or inequitable, civic engagement is diminished and our communities suffer. Davis Media Access is working to build a civic information project for Davis and beyond, and we’ve named this project Yolo Local.
                           —Statement of Purpose, Yolo Local, a project of Davis Media Access 

This year, Davis Media Access (DMA) is raising funds for a groundbreaking new project called Yolo Local. 

The project officially launched April 4, 2025 with an announcement of its initial Working Group. DMA’s Big Day of Giving Goal is $20,000 in support of this effort, and we're thrilled to announce we have $2,500 in matching funds to get the ball rolling!

Between now and July, the Working Group will help the nonprofit to engage with stakeholders around the county, and to map community information resources, gaps and needs. This community information needs  assessment will help drive DMA’s future directions as a  nonprofit media center in the service of local information and news.

Known for its longtime civic engagement work, DMA has spent the past 18 months moving from “curiosity about how DMA could help the decline in locally available information, to concrete action towards that end,” said Autumn Labbé-Renault, DMA’s executive director.

Labbé-Renault said the goal is to better understand our local news and information ecosystem, both in terms of the “supply side” or information providers, as well as from the “demand side” of local residents’ information needs and preferences.

The assessment will take place over the next four months and include a bilingual survey, engagement at community events, and focus groups and listening sessions. To assist with this project, DMA has convened a Yolo Local Working Group. Members will bring their personal, professional, and community experiences to the space to inform and help build the work. You can learn more about them here.

DMA’s partners in this process are community-engaged journalist and Davis resident jesikah maria ross, and Boulder, CO-based Impact Architects, who are providing the framework and methodology for this undertaking. The project has received financial support from the City of Davis, Yolo County Supervisor Lucas Frerichs, and former Supervisor Jim Provenza, as well as private donors, and is actively pursuing other funding.

Your support of DMA on the Big Day of Giving will help us build out a countywide information needs assessment, in the service of addressing a growing news and information gap. Listen to a recent interview of Autumn Labbe-Renault by Bill Buchanan on KDRT’s “Davisville,” that discusses the evolution of Yolo Local from curiosity to a full-fledged community information needs assessment.

Labbe-Renault may be reached at autumn@davismedia.org, and encouraged interested community members to email yololocal@davismedia.org to sign up for a forthcoming newsletter about the project.



About Davis Media Access

From seed to root to bloom - Davis Media Access (DMA) has grown an organization, a community and much capacity since its humble beginnings in 1988 as a single public access channel known as Davis Community Television. Now in our 36th year, we’re taking a look at where we’ve been and seeking to grow a bold future and purpose as we move ahead. 

DMA is the media center, which is both a physical space, and a philosophical commitment to a mission and set of values. These are carried out via three main projects: DCTV, DJUSD, and KDRT.  

There is no other nonprofit like DMA in all of Yolo County.  We strengthen community by documenting meetings and important events, and through promoting dialogue and encouraging artistic expression, all while acting as a forum for issues that may otherwise be unaddressed. We’re proud to have been recognized locally and nationally for our efforts to amplify the work of other nonprofits, local government, schools, libraries, and the arts.

This year also marks the 20th anniversary of our community radio station KDRT’s launch. KDRT’s brand of people-powered, grassroots-fueled community radio has had an undeniable impact throughout Yolo County and far beyond that belies its Low-Power FM designation.

General information, as well as links to our annual reports, can be found on our website at davismedia.org