MTV hosted its annual Woodies event this week at SXSW in Austin, Texas; but a notable absence this time around was the awards ceremony, including the annual College Radio Woodie Award. The social media-fueled online popularity contest was a favorite for many college radio stations, who rallied fans to attend click-a-thons in support of their campus radio stations. This year, however, the Woodies was more of a music festival and no awards were given. Dubbed the MTV Woodies/10 for 16, the broadcast this year focused on music discovery and included some artists that were voted on (referred to as a “co-sign“) by MTV fans on social media.
I’ve loved dissecting the mtvU Woodies over the years, so it’s a bit of a let-down to have the contest simply disappear.
Also this week, listen to the Radio Survivor Podcast to hear my take on a recent article about college radio’s “smallness.” We will discuss this further in a future podcast as well.
In other college radio news this week:
Female Broadcast Students at Ohio University Allege Hostile, Threatening Environment
The Columbus Dispatch writes that the Ohio University student newspaper, The Post has revealed details of an investigation into harassment of student journalists in the sports department at WOUB Media (which operates radio and television stations). According to the article, “…female students complained about issues at WOUB. Among them: a culture where men promoted women based on attractiveness; men rating women on ‘bangability’; ‘foul, vile and egregious’ sexual talk; and other issues.” Additionally, “…WOUB fired 11 male student journalists. Another six were suspended and seven were ‘put on notice to improve their professionalism,'” states the Columbus Dispatch.
As a result, the Post states that “the organization announced ‘changes in its student-run sports department.’ The Bobcat Sports Showcase, a television show, and FaceOff, a radio program, were canceled.”
Student Radio Conference in UK
The National Student Radio Conference will be held at University of Cardiff in the UK. Taking place March 30th through April 1st, the event is a gathering of the Student Radio Association.
Triton College Radio Celebrates 40th Anniversary
According to the Chicago Tribune, “Triton College Radio celebrated its 40th anniversary over the weekend. The anniversary included an open house for new and old Triton Radio disc jockeys…”
Profiling Reggae Show at Rowan College Radio Station
A Philly.com piece profiles Rowan College Radio DJ Jerry O’Brien, who hosts a popular reggae show on Rowan’s station WGLS. According to the article, the show’s podcast gets 3,000 weekly downloads, with listeners from all over the world.
WPRK Show Reaches out to Seniors
Orlando Sentinel writes of a show on Rollins College radio station WPRK that is geared towards senior citizens. The show, “A Dialogue with VOICE,” is “Run with the help of older adult volunteers out of a basement at Rollins College” and “features content aimed at Central Florida’s swelling population of seniors,” according to the piece.
Laurentian University Radio Station Move
After 30 years in the same location, CKLU in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada is moving. According to CBC News, “…as they’ve been packing up, they’ve uncovered a lot of nostalgic items.”
More IBS Awards Press
College radio awards are often a great opportunity to stations to promote the good work that they are doing. With that in mind, here are a few more stations that garnered press this week because of their recent IBS awards.
WPPJ Gets IBS Award for Best Radio Drama
I love that radio drama is still a vibrant part of the college radio experience and that it’s a regular part of student radio awards, including those given out by IBS. The Point Park Globe reports on WPPJ’s win for best radio drama. According to the article, a junior journalism major at the Point Park University station (Pittsburgh, PA) created the piece, which “…was born out of a one-minute class assignment and was the first time [the student] had ever produced a radio piece longer than a minute.”
KCWU Wins IBS Awards
Central Washington University’s college radio station KCWU won Best PSA and Best Radio Talk Show during the recent IBS awards, according to KAPP-TV.
WMUL Wins Broadcasting Honors
Another IBS award winner, Marshall University’s college radio station WMUL (Huntington, WV), picked up a first place award for Best Campus News and was a finalist for Best College Radio Station (10,000 students or more) and for best sports play-by-play in both basketball and football, according to the Independent Herald.
Thiel College Student Named Best Production Director at IBS
Thiel College reports that one of its students, a member of college radio station WXTC, was named best Production Director by IBS. According to the post, “Thiel College tied for the second-highest number of finalists behind the University of Tennessee-Martin, which had a finalist in each of the seven categories. There were over 2,000 submissions for Golden Mic Awards from colleges and universities all over the country.”
