Radio on Tape: from ‘Second Side Up’ to ‘The Hour of Slack’
For 40 years Mark Talbot hosted his UK-based radio show “Second Side Up.” On cassette. Only on cassette. At its peak the show had 40 listeners, but duplicating that many tapes became too big of a financial drain on the DJ, so he scaled back. I learned about “Second Side Up” from the Australian podcast […]
Radio Station Visit #135 – College Radio Station WKDU at Drexel University
There’s nothing like visiting a college radio station that you listened to in your youth, so I was in full-on fan girl mode when I set foot in college radio station WKDU in Philadelphia. The Drexel University radio station was one of the spots (you can listen at 91.7 FM) that I would lock in […]
Open Internet Back in the Crosshairs
If there were any doubts that new FCC Chairman Ajit Pai would fall in lockstep with the Trump Administration, wonder no more. Last week Pai revealed his plans to undo the Commission’s Open Internet Order, passed just a little more than two years ago. In particular, he vows to strip internet service of so-called Title […]
Podcast #89 – How To Preserve Radio History
Laura Schnitker is an archivist and curator at the University of Maryland who has been active in preserving the legacy of college station WMUC, along with co-chairing the Library of Congress Radio Preservation Task Force (with Radio Survivor Jennifer Waits). Laura recently gave a talk about her radio preservation and archiving work at the “College […]
College Radio Watch: UWave Radio Loses LPFM, Touring WHIP, and More News
I was saddened to hear that college radio station UWave Radio will not be moving to low power FM (LPFM). Although it had been awarded a new LPFM construction permit, the administration of University of Washington, Bothell changed its mind and told students that it would be turning the permit back to the FCC. As […]
Celebrating High School Radio Day
Happy High School Radio Day! Today marks the 6th Annual High School Radio Day and as I write this, 83 high school radio stations from 31 states plan to participate. I’m heartened that high school radio is going strong and hope that in 2017, I’ll be able to visit more high school radio stations. You […]
Radio Station Visit #134 – College Radio Station WHIP at Temple University
On a Friday evening in October, I traveled to Temple University in Philadelphia to see college radio station WHIP (pronounced W-H-I-P). As I approached its TECH Center building home, buses in the area were idling nearby, collecting passengers for a Temple football game that night. When I arrived at the station, WHIP’s General Manager Ed […]
A Sad Goodbye to Free Speech Radio News
The long-running independent community radio news program Free Speech Radio News announced this week that its last edition will be broadcast on April 28. In a press release, the collective cites a decline in distribution and inability to find a “firm financial footing,” as causes for the closure. Born from the labor of freelance reporters […]
College Radio Watch: Wrapping up Virginia Radio Tours, Vinylthon, Festivals and More News
I’ve finished writing up all of my Virginia radio station tours and when I reflect back on the visits, it’s amazing to see the variety of college radio stations. I was able to see a brand new low power FM station, a 70-year-old student-run commercial radio station, online-only stations and FM non-commercial stations. Some have […]
Radio Station Visit #133 – College Radio Station WDCE at University of Richmond
It was after dark when I arrived on the University of Richmond campus on Wednesday, March 15, 2017. Although I had a general idea of where college radio station WDCE was located, I had to circle the building before eventually spotting the station’s sign above the stairs leading down to the entrance to its basement […]