Has anyone who's written any of these articles asked any Cleveland State students who weren't involved with the station if they ever listened to it or knew about it?
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WCSB Flips to Jazz
- Thread starter Delete My Account
- Start date
Let alone the dynamics of XCSB's Facebook page: how many of their followers are active students?
Because they are refusing to even consider an online operation of any sort, they are now becoming invisible outside of the world of Facebook. They should have taken their existing funds, secured a domain and got back online even with a placeholder page. Being fully invisible online is infinitely worse than not having an FM frequency.
The maddening part is I'm more than twice the age of Alison and even I realize this.
I only know the dynamics of WRUW/WJCU and WCSB...by far, WCSB has the most community volunteers, IIRC, the number of actual students on-air is at WCSB around 20. Again look at the pics of the people showing up to the protests, they on average are much older than a college student. Honestly, I think the audience for WCSB is people who were on-staff or listening to the station 20-30 years ago.
By that logic, only college kids are supposed or allowed to be listening to WCSB? Heck, 91.3 The Summit......a station whose license is held by Akron Public Schools....should only be listened to by 1st through 12th graders. I've gone to WAPS event and I thought I'd be the oldest one there and was surprised to see people there who probably graduated when Taft was president.
Who pays for it? Shouldn't the students get something in exchange for their money? WCSB got money from the student activity fund.
WAPS says it gets no money from the school board. Two different situations.
Under Ideastream, WCSB no longer receives any money from the university or the students. Similar to WAKS.
WAPS is more comparable to WHKR, which is owned by a school but has a cohesive format that isn’t staffed by students.
No. But, if the vast majority of students were not listening to WCSB and especially to 89.3, was it really contributing to campus life? If only alumni were listening then the station was heading towards obsolescence anyway.
My point was about where the money comes from.
You are correct. I thought that the school threw some money in the pot somehow but......as of 2023: https://ohioauditor.gov/AuditSearch/Reports/2024/WAPS-FM_Akron_CSD_2023_Summit_Report_FINAL.pdf
Seeing how APS holds the license it's going to be audited by the state. Least THOSE bean counters can't fire anyone unlike commercial radio. But I do see how they could be sweating bullets about financing the station especially this year.
sorry i guess I didn't make my point clearly enough...I listen to college radio and I'm way past my expiration date...I'm just saying that CSB uses student dollars to fund what is by and large isn't really a student activity. I can see why in this case, the Uni wanted to pull the plug.
It mystifies me as to how Alison Bomgardner claims XCSB will continue to "persist and serve the community" when their online presence now merely consists of a Facebook page that is being use for rage-bating and nothing else. Also noteworthy in the sense that Ideastream CEO Kevin Martin has completely dismissed Cleveland City Council's "emergency resolution" as having no legal weight.
current.org
Ideastream agreement to program Cleveland State’s WCSB spurs pushback from students, community members
Ideastream and CSU leaders call the partnership a “win-win,” but fans of WCSB’s previous format are lamenting the switch to jazz programming.
current.org
It's just a resolution of support for the students. It doesn't require any action.
As I've been saying, the students are free to speak, and do whatever they want on any other platform. The university is encouraging them to do so. The only thing that's really changed is that the university isn't paying for this radio station anymore. To have the entire student body paying for something only 25 students use is crazy. There are cheaper ways to do the same thing. Even commercial broadcasters are realizing the same thing.
What I still want to know is where did the $60,000 the students raised go? The university says they didn't take it. So where is the money? What was it spent on?
Now there could be some legal challenges involved.
Ohio sunshine law violation could overturn Cleveland State’s WCSB radio deal, legal expert says
Ohio sunshine law violation could overturn Cleveland State’s WCSB radio deal, legal expert says
In reading the law, what may be required is for the university to open this up to other parties who want to run the station. That would include religious broadcasters who might want access to the signal. They're not going to use sunshine laws to force the university to continue to lose money operating a student radio station. But I'd bet there are other groups who would have wanted the signal if they knew it was available.
In reading the law, what may be required is for the university to open this up to other parties who want to run the station. That would include religious broadcasters who might want access to the signal. They're not going to use sunshine laws to force the university to continue to lose money operating a student radio station. But I'd bet there are other groups who would have wanted the signal if they knew it was available.
Two quick points:
1) The lawyer said he had a client but he didn't divulge who the client was or whether he was going to go after CSU for violating the Sunshine Law.
2) The lawyer also stated that going after the university would be an expensive proposition. If the client is who I think it is (the former station manager), she's probably going to have a difficult time raising the cash necessary to pay the legal bills.
That said, if 1) and 2) are met, then the ultimate decision-maker will be the Ohio court system.
Two quick points:
1) The lawyer said he had a client but he didn't divulge who the client was or whether he was going to go after CSU for violating the Sunshine Law.
2) The lawyer also stated that going after the university would be an expensive proposition. If the client is who I think it is (the former station manager), she's probably going to have a difficult time raising the cash necessary to pay the legal bills.
That said, if 1) and 2) are met, then the ultimate decision-maker will be the Ohio court system.
That's only the beginning. Because as I said, invalidating the Ideastream deal doesn't mean the university is compelled to return the station to the students. All it means is they can't make such a deal behind closed doors. So if the student GM wants to get what she wants, she has to be able to put together an opposing bid that gives the university more than what it's getting from Ideastream. That means pick up all expenses, pay for the studio, and offer the university paid internships at a professional company.
What may really come out of this is a cash offer for the station that may be difficult for the board to turn down. It may come from someone outside of Cleveland.
Exactly. How is Alison seriously going to pay for this laywer's services? By blowing the $60,000 "XCSB" has in operating funds that the university said is theirs? These things don't come cheap and I guarantee you they aren't doing this pro bono especially if this lawyer represented the Plain Dealer for years and years.
XCSB could have established a web presence already and be playing to an actual audience but willing chose not to. They won't have the money or resources to front an actual bid for the station while tilting at windmills.
And we get VCY America or some right-wing Godcaster piped in on 89.3 with no connection to Cleveland and the students will be left with absolutely nothing. What a deal. What foolishness. Honestly, the sooner this is settled and XCSB concedes to reality, the better.
Or a stand alone full-power signal for Air 1 to join up with K-LOVE on 95.5
Personally, if anyone was to get WCSB, I would prefer to see The Summit buy it.
Personally, if anyone was to get WCSB, I would prefer to see The Summit buy it.
I hate to say this, but JazzNEO has quickly become a tainted and toxic brand/station in the Cleveland area. It's a PR nightmare that both the CSU and Ideastream presidents are not willing to fix.
The social media bubble of Facebook is not tethered to reality. It's not like what I'm saying is anything new (it isn't) but the people at XCSB are doing a massive disservice to current and future students that actually attend CSU. But again, XCSB's rage-bating on social media and that's why I can't support them. They're tainting themselves.