In a piece for Online Athens, Eddie DePeterse writes about the powerful allure of radio, praising it as one of the few remaining mediums that is FREE. He talks about listening to strange stations as a kid, saying, “Radio was a portal to me, a channel for life’s mysteries.” Today, he listens to college radio and his take on listening to WUOG-FM is a wonderful reminder of what makes college radio great. He writes,
Lately, I’ve been listening to the student station at the University of Georgia. If WUOG-FM had a slogan, it would be, ‘You’ve never heard this song before, and we’re never playing it again!’ Much of the music is surprising, delightful. And sometimes, when the selections are too experimental, radio again becomes a portal to the mysterious, and I listen close for fresh meanings.”
2 New College Radio LPFM Stations and More to Come…
The recent low power FM (LPFM) application window has been a boon for college radio stations, which have been given a rare opportunity to apply for a new FM license. So far, more than 50 colleges and universities have obtained construction permits for new LPFM stations and more are still in the running. As I mentioned in LPFM Watch yesterday, recently granted applications include Aggie Radio at Utah State University in Logan, Utah and Regis University in Wesminster, Colorado. California State University, Monterey Bay initially had its application dismissed, but after filing an amendment, its application has been reinstated. The school currently has a streaming student radio station called Otter Media.
Student Applicants Sought for Next Generation Radio Project Multimedia Training in Seattle
The deadline is approaching (Monday, September 22nd at Midnight Pacific Daylight Time) for student journalists to apply for an opportunity to work with professionals during a special week of multimedia training focused on radio storytelling in Seattle next month. According to a College Broadcasters Inc. press release, “KUOW, KPLU, NPR and College Broadcasters, Inc. are seeking student applicants to their first Student Multimedia Project. The week-long opportunity for college and graduate students to learn from professional journalists will be hosted at the CBI National Student Electronic Media Convention in Seattle, Oct. 20-25, 2014…A committee of journalists will select up to six students to pair one-to-one with public media journalists and college multimedia instructors from around the country. Three students will be selected from the Seattle/Tacoma area.” More information and a link to the application for the Next Generation Radio Project can be found on the CBI website.
IBS to Hold Regional Student Radio Conferences in Chicago, Boston, and Southern California
Intercollegiate Broadcasting System (IBS) is holding several conferences this fall. First up is the Midwest Regional High School and College Radio Conference in Chicago on September 27 (see the program here). Following that, there will be regional events in Boston (at Simmons College on October 25) and in Southern California (at University of Redlands on November 15).
College Radio Day Announces Sister Stations for October 3rd Event
College Radio Day is coming up on October 3 and a new aspect of it this year is a “sister station” program, in which stations will interview each other and air features on their respective channels. Here are the participants for 2014:
WAYN Radio (Wayne State University) Michigan & WNUW (Neumann University) Pennsylvania
Coog Radio (University of Houston) in Texas & Ram This Radio (Philadelphia University) in Pennsylvania
KUOI (University of Idaho) in Idaho & 90.3 WRST FM Oshkosh (University of Wisconsin – Oshkosh) in Wisconsin
Comet Radio (Western Iowa Tech Community College) in Iowa & WHRC (Haverford and Bryn Mawr College) in Pennsylvania
WMUC (University of Maryland, College Park) in Maryland & WPSC 88.7 FM (William Paterson University) in New Jersey
KGRG (Green River Community College) in Washington & WDSR (DeSales University) in Pennsylvania
2013 CMJ Award posted at WTBU. Photo: J. Waits
CMJ Announces Nominees for College Radio Awards
CMJ just announced the nominees for its College Radio Awards and some of the most nominated stations include WTBU (which I recently toured and profiled) at Boston University (8 nominations) and WDBM, KXLU and KUOM (4 nominations each). CMJ Music Marathon (in New York City Oct. 21-25) attendees will vote, with winners being announced during CMJ’s College Day festivities in late October. CMJ has been publishing interviews with various college radio folks in anticipation of the Music Marathon. You can read the the WIDR Music Director’s tips for attending CMJ here.
Touring Philadelphia-area College Radio Stations
I’m still trying to get caught up on my radio station field trip reports and this week I’ve been making my way through some of my Philadelphia-area visits from last spring. My most recent post was about my visit to Radio 1851 at St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia. Earlier this year I wrote about my fascination with radio history at St. Joseph’s, as it was issued the first experimental radio license in the United States in 1912.
One Philadelphia college radio station that I sadly wasn’t able to visit this year is WKDU at Drexel University. It was on the top of my list, as I used to listen to the station when I was in college, but I wasn’t able to squeeze it in during my visit.
Lucky for me, Rock On Philly recently took a tour of WKDU and posted its report this week. I’m thrilled to see that this tour is the first part of an ongoing series on Rock on Philly, which writes, “…college radio stations are arguably more important now than ever. These stations typically give airtime to local and upcoming artists that would not get noticed otherwise. The stations provide invaluable ‘real-world opportunities’ for college students of any major, and most of all, contribute an irreplaceable piece to its local community. Rock on Philly wants to highlight some of the best college radio stations in the greater Philadelphia area…”
The paper is looking for suggestions about other Philadelphia-area stations to visit. Might I suggest my other tour stops: WXVU at Villanova, WSRN at Swarthmore College, WHHS at Haverford High School (even though it’s not a college station!), and Radio 1851 at St. Joseph’s University. I’d also recommend the stations that I’m about to write up: WQHS at University of Pennsylvania and WHRC at Haverford College. There’s also the mysterious WYBF at Cabrini College (which I tried to visit) as well as WHIP Student Radio at Temple. Am I missing anyone else?
CFBU aka Brock Radio after Defunding
In an opinion piece in the Brock Press, Steve Nadon writes about the importance of Brock University student radio station CFBU in Canada. He talks about an initiative that led to the station’s loss of student funding. In light of that, he argues for the ongoing relevance of the station, saying,
When Brock Radio was de-funded, I was shocked, needless to say. That the student body decided to turn their backs on the student radio that was passionately tailored for them every day by Brock students and community members. That those 250 watts from the Schmon Tower summit have an audience that doesn’t care enough for its existence to pay a small ancillary fee is shocking. Then you realize that it wasn’t really the student body that decided as only 2817 votes were cast back in November. As Brock University Student Radio (BUSR) commented in a tweet immediately following the referendum: ‘Approx. 10 per cent of the total Brock Students made that decision for the remaining 90%’. But alas, this is old news. CFBU is now de-funded and there’s not much we can do to change it. The organization is in a time of transition. All I want to tell you about is why this matters, and why they are an organization that is important to the Brock community.”
WERS Stops Paying Student Managers
Last week the Berkeley Beacon reported that student managers at Emerson College station WERS would no longer get paid for their work. In the past they received $10 per hour for various part-time station jobs, including Program Director. According to the Berkeley Beacon, “…the station continues to operate with a $1 million annual budget, over half of which is provided by Emerson. The remaining funding comes from donations and underwriting. After urging from the college last fall, the station began to make changes in the hopes that it could become more financially stable…These changes included hiring a professional host, cancelling two popular late-night urban music programs, and choosing more consistent on-air talent.” The Beacon writes, “Cutting student salaries is the next step, [General Manager Jack] Casey said. He said he was always ‘uncomfortable’ with the idea of paying students because he didn’t want people to apply just for the paycheck.”
Profiling Stations from South Dakota to Maine + Official Launch of WZIS at Indiana State and Return of College Radio Station in Cayman Islands
A few recent profiles caught my eye, including articles about South Dakota State University station KSDJ, Cougar Radio and its collaboration with the campus television station at Misericordia University, WLCU’s relaunch and rebranding at Campbellsville University, and community radio station WMPG (which is located on the campus of University of Southern Maine and runs some media classes for the school). Additionally WZIS officially launched at Indiana State University this week. You might recall that the school purchased a license from the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology and then moved its student broadcasters off of Indiana State’s WISU to the new frequency. WISU will now air public radio programming, with student programming airing on the former Rose-Hulman frequency (which was known as WMHD and is now WZIS). Finally, we got word that International College of the Cayman Islands’ station ICCI-FM is back on the air after a 2-year hiatus.
To keep up to date on college radio news, read College Radio Watch every Friday.
