Faces of the West County: Bruce Robinson

Turning the mic around on the former KRCB station manager and news director

Bruce Robinson in front of his house in Forestville. (Photo by Steve Einstein)

Bruce would be a better subject for a column called “Voices of the West County.” His rich, distinctive voice, if not his name, is known to many as the guy who for years made sense of the world for us in his daily new report on KRCB, the local NPR station where he was, at various times, news director and station manager. 

He’s now more often heard grunting on a tennis court or maybe as a deep baritone in the Sonoma Bach Choir. 

Bruce is a longtime resident of Forestville. I sat with him in his living room the other day to find out more about this Renaissance man who has always had something to say. 

Thanks for sitting with me Bruce and being open to a few questions. 

I’m more used to being the interviewer and not the interviewee. I’ll try to dial up the eloquence.

Great! Where and when were you born? 

Oakland, September of ’51. I’ll be 73 later this month. I’m old enough that my Kaiser number starts with two zeros!

When did you get up here? 

To Sonoma County in April of ’84. Before that I was at a radio station in Reno that got sold. I was the news director at KOH Newstalk, a CBS affiliate. 

Your family? 

Wife Lorna, and two daughters, Amber who lives in Innsbruck, Austria, and recently made us grandparents, and Naomi, who lives in Santa Rosa. 

Mazel tov on becoming a Grandpa. 

I heard that you have a history with this paper, The Sebastopol Times. 

True. It began when West County News was launched by people who left the old Sebastopol Times. The owner/editor/publisher of  the Times, Ernest Joyner, had made repeated racist remarks denigrating Willie Brown. Joyner was out to get a reaction, and maybe the biggest one was when his staff left his paper. 

They started a competing paper, The West County News, and I came on early as the editor. It was a full time gig. 

So our little town had two weekly newspapers?

That’s right. We came out on the same day and were competing for the same ad dollars. It must have been about 1985. I did it for two or three years, but there really wasn’t enough ad volume to support two papers. 

Both papers were bought up by Dean Lesher from Walnut Creek, who merged the papers into one. Hence, The Sebastopol Times & News. 

[Editor’s Note: That paper was then purchased by Rollie Atkinson and became Sonoma West Times & News. When that paper went under in 2022, Dale and Laura started the new Sebastopol Times, which you’re reading now.]

I left a while later and started my own desktop publishing and became a regular contributor to The Paper, which became The Sonoma County Independent, and eventually The Bohemian. 

When did you make it to KRCB? 

That happened in the early ’90s. It began with an invitation to help with election coverage, and one thing led to another, and I was eventually asked to be station manager in ’98. 

I remember listening to your distinctive baritone voice when you’d read North Bay Reports, your daily contribution. 

That started in 2004. I was really focused on growing the station. 

I also remember Roland Jacopetti’s daily Sonoma Spotlight. What a good guy he was. 

Roland was a treasure. 

How is KRCB doing now? 

Really well, I think. Since they got 104.9, their new additional frequency, listenership has really increased. The programming remains solid. 

You know, I tune into KSRO 1350AM, every so often. Usually by mistake. They have really gone with conservative programming. Maybe conservative is too kind. I’d say it’s more conspiratorial/reactionary. What’s up with that? 

It’s cheap to put it on the air, but it obviously has enough appeal in Sonoma County. Though local news was always their focus, it’s amazing how many guys are trying to be the anti-Rachel Maddow. 

Are you still connected to KRCB? 

I retired from KRCB in 2017, but kept up my Flashback music show. It’s on from 10 to midnight on the first and third Fridays of the month. It’s mostly a deep dive into the music of the ’60s and ’70s. Soul, rock, folk, pop … anything that made it onto the underground FM radio at the time. There’s a theme to each show. 

I pre-record it. It goes on way after my bedtime. 

My next show, on Sept. 6th, will be a tribute to Buddy Holly on the occasion of his 78th birthday. 

Didn’t he die in a plane crash? 

That’s right. “The day the music died.”

How does a station like KRCB remain impartial during a presidential race as consequential as this one? 

On the national level they leave it up to NPR. 

There’s a distinction between reporting and opining. A good journalist won’t cross the line. KRCB isn’t doing any political commentary. There’s no place for local opinions. Stating opinions will only alienate some segment of the audience. Listeners have places they can go for opinions. 

Okay, so maybe NPR can or even should stay impartial. But doesn’t KRCB or KQED have some sort of obligation to weigh in? Newspapers endorse candidates and make recommendations all the time. (In 2016, not that it helped much, there were only two major papers who endorsed Trump, and one of them was in Las Vegas and owned at the time by Sheldon Adelson, a huge conservative donor.) Are public radio stations who get federal funding forbidden from endorsing? 

I don’t know, frankly. Local volunteer hosts aren’t limited in any way. 

Papers have a designated space for opinions. It’s called the op-ed page. Otherwise, they need to remain impartial. 

I’ve met numerous people, mostly on the Right, who no longer read newspapers or get their news from the major outlets. Apparently, none of those sources are to be trusted anymore. 

It seems as if the truth, or facts, no longer matters. 

Yes. The truth is under assault. 

When I travel, I see that FOX News is omnipresent. It’s not uncommon, especially in the Midwest, to see it all over. And it seems that most people get their information from television now, and not the printed or electronic page. 

Well, Cronkite was certainly a trusted television source back in the day. 

Anyhow, you’ve been a political wonk/commentator for more than a few decades. What do you have to say about the current race? Is our democracy really on the ballot, or is that just hyperbole and simply a slogan the Democrats have promoted? 

It sure got more interesting lately. 

I don’t think the risk to our democracy is hyperbole. There’s a great deal at stake both domestically and globally on November 5th. 

It’s my fervent hope that we’ll see a peaceful transfer of power this time, but I’m not certain. I fear that if it becomes too impassioned, it could get very ugly. 

Only if MAGA loses? 

Who knows? The left could push back too. With enough provocation, who knows? 

From where you sit, what are the three biggest issues on the ballot? 

The economy is certainly key. 

Then there’s America’s standing in the world. 

And I’d say addressing poverty, and child and family welfare. 

Your youngest daughter has a significant disability. As a result, you and Lorna have been involved in disability rights issues for years. What needs to happen next in that struggle? 

Our level of involvement has been focused on supporting families. 

How can you insure that your disabled child will get the care they require, as they age, and we their parents, aren’t there to insure their care? That’s the issue that all families with children with special needs grapple with. 

Our Naomi is in a small nursing home now because we couldn’t continue to find nursing services to care for her here at our home. 

Well I’m glad she’s getting the care and attention she requires. 

It wasn’t easy. We’re very grateful. 

Alright Bruce. It’s the lightening round part of our talk. 

Favorite Band? 

(Bruce answered in a nano-second.) Procal Harum and Spirit. 

Restaurant? 

Namaste or Thai Pot, both in Sebastopol. 

President? 

Obama. 

Newspaper? 

The New York Times. 

News source? 

NPR. 

Beach? 

Salmon. 

Safeway or Lucky’s? 

Safeway. 

Movie? 

Monty Python and the Holy Grail. 

Duh. (About the movie choice.)

Last book read? 

An Immense World by Ed Yong.

Charity? 

The Stewards of the Coast and Redwoods, or anything that supports disability causes. 

Bruce. Thanks for sitting with us and letting me pick your brain for a bit. Now I’ve got to go look up that band, Spirit.  And let’s keep our fingers crossed about that peaceful transfer of power thing.