I was sad to read about college radio station WCWM’s troubles after a burst pipe in its building led to major damage last summer. When I visited the College of William and Mary radio station in 2017, I was amazed by the historical materials in its basement home, including an impressive collection of very old 45rpm records.
The good news is that things are turning around, as WCWM finally got some monetary help in order to clean up the water damage, which included work to save its vinyl records.
Flat Hat News reports:
The possibility of this loss was made even more tangible by the initial refusal of the College to fund the cleaning of the collection. Due to the water damage and neglect from the College, WCWM was unable to broadcast their shows, had already lost a major part of the station, and was coming dangerously close to losing much of the library it had curated over several decades.
Fortunately, Media Council funding allowed WCWM to begin the process of having the records cleaned. The ceiling tiles were replaced. New furniture was brought in to replace that which had been damaged. All soundproofing material in the live performance room was removed. The station became operational once again through months of effort from the members of WCWM and the College staff.
Radio Survivor Tweets on Radio Culture
For you social media mavens, Radio Survivor is pretty active on Twitter, sharing lots of stories about radio culture. In fact, we tweet out many more stories there than we have time to report on for our website or podcast. Here’s a sampling of recent tweets:
Canadian College Radio on the Podcast + High School Tour
In other Radio Survivor news, we covered Canadian campus-community radio on this week’s podcast, discussing a proposed change to funding that could have dire consequences on college radio in one province there.
Also, my radio station tour reports continue, with a new piece about my visit to high school radio station KMIH at Mercer Island High School near Seattle, Washington.
More College Radio News
Station and Staff Profiles
- KCSN Program Director Sky Daniels Retiring (Los Angeles Daily News)
Events
- Lake Land College to Host Radio/TV Open House (Journal Gazette and Times Courier)
- Misericordia Ain’t Got Talent? (The Highlander)
Funding and Infrastructure
- Funding Change Threatens Canadian Campus Radio (Radio Survivor Podcast)
- Campus Radio Stations Worried about Losing Funding (CBC News)
- Lack of License Halts Great Zimbabwe University Radio (The Chronicle)
- Damage Control: WCWM up and Running after Burst Pipe Wrecked Station (Flat Hat News)
- After Months of Uncertainty, KMHD will remain at OPB (Portland Mercury)
Programming
- Marquette Radio Show Provides Power of Healing for Sisters Who Lost Father (WISN)
- Minnesota’s Radio Stations Find Unique Niche for Covering Arts and Culture (Current)
History
- From the Archive: REM Release Green, 1989 (The Guardian)
- Looking Back: In 1969, Tower Donated to WRPI (Albany Times Union)
Alumni
- Lou Reed’s College Radio Past: Excursion on a Wobby Rail (Red Dirt Report)
- Illinois State University and WZND Alum Hosts Nationally Syndicated Country Music Radio Show (Illinois State University)
- On Second Thought: From College Radio to Sound Design (Georgia Public Broadcasting)
- ‘I would just do a Podcast, if I was starting out now’: Greg James on the Brits and Life in Radio (The Oxford Student)
Awards and Accolades
- Gannon Station WERG Receives 10 National Awards for College Radio (GoErie)
- Lincoln College Students win Play-by-Play Award (Lincoln Courier)
- Hillsdale College’s WRFH is Racking up Honors (Talkers)
- UCCS Radio Finalists at IBS Awards (The Scribe)
