College Radio Watch: Fire at WTBU, WPSC’s Ukulele Radio, WNYU at Peet’s and More News
I was very sad to hear about the fire at Boston University’s college radio station WTBU on Friday, March 25. A message from WTBU Advisor Anne Donohue written last Friday and posted on the station’s Facebook page reads in part, (more…)
LPFM Watch: 3 Applications Dismissed for Illegitimate Addresses
Three low-power FM applications associated with alleged serial-applicant Antonio Cesar Guel were dismissed by the FCC on Wednesday. In all three cases the Commission found that the applicant addresses provided to the FCC were not legitimate. In perhaps the most absurd case, the headquarters location listed for Beaumont Iglesias Cristo Viene turned out to be […]
Fishing village community radio station coming to southeast India
India’s bipolar relationship with community radio resurfaced this week with the inauguration of a new radio station for fishing folk and a potentially liberalized policy for government monitoring of content. First, the fishing story. The Times of India reports that an NGO will soon launch a local station for families who make their living catching fish in […]
Preserving Podcast History
We’ve been covering radio preservation quite a bit here at Radio Survivor. But, despite the medium’s relative youth, it’s not too soon to think about podcast preservation either. Because podcasts are distributed as downloaded files they seem less ephemeral than radio broadcasts, which someone has to take the initiative to record and save. However, think […]
Podcast #40: Radio Treasure Hunt
This week we’re on the hunt for radio treasure. Prof. John Anderson of Brooklyn College joins us to talk about his quest to find and preserve the legacy of labor radio with his role in the Library of Congress’ Radio Preservation Task Force. Then our resident radio scholar Brain Fauteux interviews radio artist Magz Hall. […]
Can station managers fix the “self-imposed smallness” of college radio?
The usual excellent suspects associated with our Radio Survivor podcast produced an interesting debate program about the “self-imposed smallness” of college radio last week. Popular radio blogger Ken Mills served as the show’s guest critic. He’s a very smart articulate guy with a lot of experience in radio. “I come from a management background,” Mills […]
College Radio Watch: Was College Radio the Best Time of Your Life?
I’ve heard so many stories about how the time spent in college radio was one of the most significant experiences during college for many college radio DJs. College radio alums have joked that they majored in “college radio” and more than a few claim to have nearly flunked out of school due to spending countless […]
LPFM Watch: From Veterans to Newbies, New LPFMs Eye the Airwaves
While recording this week’s podcast, Eric Klein regaled me with tales of his experience hanging on out a roof with Freeform Portland volunteers, as they worked to install an antenna for the new lower power FM (LPFM) station in Portland, Oregon. He described how many of the team were college radio veterans hoping to replicate […]
Restoring the voice of a slain community radio host
In 2014 armed thugs murdered Mexican community radio activist Atilano Roman Tirado as he spoke live in his station’s studio. I wrote of the crime on these pages. Tirado was a leader of a coalition of hundreds of families in Sinaloa asking for compensation after losing their homes to the Picachos dam. He was a […]
Podcast #39 – Is College Radio Too Small for Its Own Good?
Is college radio too small for its own good? Or is its smallness a hidden asset? Those are the questions we take up this week with guest Ken Mills. He’s a radio consultant who works with non-commercial, commercial and college stations. Ken explains why he thinks college radio is hampered by its smallness in a […]