Broadcasting Schools

[carlosswicegood]

There is a program at North Carolina A&T State University (Greensboro) that does a better job than most.

ummm. im about to transfer in the broadcasting program at the University of North Carolina-Greensboro (which is not even 5 minutes from A&T) this Fall semester. From what I hear, they claim to have the best school for Media Comm in the South. However, I couldnt help but ask this: what other people saying; is it true?? would i be wasting my time by getting my 4 year degree and having something to fall back on, better than just calling it quits and getting on somewhere and 'working my way up' ?


seriously, help me out here people. ;D
once i get to UNC-G...other than doing my studies, are there any tips or advice someone would like to throw my way?

I would greatly appreciate all the insight I can get

thanks

 

[AKLes]

Think seriously about taking a second degree....or even a strong minor....in marketing.


It'll help you market yourself if you want a career in broadcasting.

It'll help you get a job in radio or TV sales; where the real money is and where is cleverly concealed the path to management.

It'll teach you something at which you can make big bucks when you get tired of playing at broadcast.


Been there; done that. The radio and TV were fun; marketing (and training new marketeers and sales people) paid for a glorious retirement!

 

[XTalker]

I agree about the second degree - Marketing would be good, business and politicial science too!

UNC-G's program is good, but they don't have as much contact in the real world as they really should! I worked in the Greensboro market for 24 years and never had an intern from UNC-G.

I am not saying that A&T is better, just that they seem to reach out to the broadcasting community for some real world exposure for their students. The have people from the industry visit classes, they have an aggressive intership program, each student has to invite a broadcast professional to a business lunch and present themselves, they do a series of classes on the job application process with resume classes (reviewed by people in the business), and mock interviews.

Winston-Salem State also has a decent program - and a great student run radio station.

 

[CapeRadio]

What does everybody on this board have to say about Emerson College? I mean, WERS consistently beats WFNX in the ratings...

 

[XTalker]

Unfortunately, the success - or failure - of college radio stations does not necessarily reflect the quality of the school's media degree program. In fact, in many cases, students in the degree program have little contact with the student run or the college owned public radio stations.

If you are considering a traditional university mass media program, then it is worth your time to investigate the program's contact in the local broadcast community. Most local broadcasters welcome the opportunity to talk with young people interested in a career in radio or television. Stations often have internships that offer considerable substance - more than hanging banners and filing tapes.

If the university owns a radio station, find out if the mass media department controls it has a lab, or is it a student activity.

Finally, if broadcast is your goal, fine a part time job with a local radio or television station. That experience while a student will more often than not result in a job opportunity upon graduation.

 

[WLYNWAZNgm]

I came up through college radio at UMass/Amherst back in the day. Did a double major in Political Science and Communications (radio news?) Absolutely do an internship at a commercial station. Call letters on a resume and professional contacts will carry you farther than the degree itself. College radio is nothing like pro radio - but it should not be. It is a great training ground - a chance to experiment and make the mistakes... Trust me - we have all made them! :

I went to Emerson as a grad student (1979-80). Back then they were located in a bunch of brownstones in Back Bay. Beautiful buildings, but dismal facilities for a school. They do have quite the reputation in the business - at least locally... Personally, I was highly unimpressed with Emerson. Ask me that in a job interview situation and I'll deny it! ;D
(I wanted to go to Syracuse's Newhouse School for grad, but they wanted higher academics than I had...)

I approached WERS on Day One - having done prime air shifts for 4 years as an undergrad. At that time it was a bunch of snotty New York rich kids who thought that they were the last word in radio. NOT! I grew up in the Boston area, and personally do not know of anybody who listened to WERS - then or now. I went upstairs to WECB - the carrier current station - and had a great time doing a screamer-top-40 format. It was actually more like pro radio than WERS! No audience to speak of, but, again, a chance to practice and get your timing down...


The quickie broadcast schools - I would avoid them all like the plague. Classes that start in September will NOT put you on the air by January!

 

[webcastboy]

What does everybody on this board have to say about Emerson College? I mean, WERS consistently beats WFNX in the ratings...

Well, I have several friends who're Emerson grads. They don't seem to regret it.

I do remember meeting several WERS executive board members (students) at various conferences (IBS, the old NACB, etc) and they thought their farts were like fine wine. Arrogant little punks...but who isn't in college radio? :

Although when I graduated from BU, I asked several radio professionals if I should get a masters in radio from Emerson. The answer was always the same: why spend $30000/yr to learn the same things you'll learn making $30000 working for a station? Since then, Emerson's tuition has gone up. Radio salaries have not. :-\

 

[Eli Polonsky]

I grew up in the Boston area, and personally do not know of anybody who listened to WERS - then or now.

WERS' ratings have approached those of WGBH at times over the past few years.

I've encountered many people over the years for whom WERS is the only college station they're aware of in the Boston area. It's mainly people who listen to the major commercial stations (or WGBH or WBUR) most of the time, and they only seem to find the most powerful signals on the dial. They may have lived here all their lives, but they have never heard of even decent signals like WMBR or WZBC, and certainly not the weaker ones like WMFO, WBRS or WRBB.

It's weird, you mention college radio to them, and they always say something like "Oh, yes, WERS! I love to turn it on once in a while, it's so quirky!" They don't realize that WERS is actually the slickest, most formatted college station in the area (even with their new eclectic-AAA type format), and it's the only one they're even aware of. I guess WMBR, WZBC, etc... would be like tuning in to another planet to them, and even if they found the signals, they'd skip right over the programming.

I also know classical afficionados who are at least aware the existence of WHRB, but still no other college stations.

 

[AKLes]

Can't speak for Emerson...

I spent one year at Boston University's SPRC* (in those days) and took a summer job at a small station where, a cople of weeks later a graduate of the program in which I would have been a sophomore was hired to work under me.

At the end of the summer I had seen so little from the graduate in the way of job performance that I never went back. And have never regretted it.

* School of Public Relations and Communications. It was mostly print-oriented in those days; WBUR and WTBU were tiny parts of the overall program.

 

[XTalker]

Bottom line here is there is NO, absoutely NO, substitute for experience in the real world! Unfortunately, the people who design the course of study in the degree program have had very little experience (ever) in the real radio or television business.

Of course, no two stations are alike, and therefore it is very hard to put it in a textbook!

 

[sp113]

Like anything, if you want it bad enough, you don't need "school"

So...if I want to be a surgeon bad enough, I don't need school?

If I want to be a lawyer bad enough, I don't need school?

Obviously you're overgeneralizing.

 

[faderraider]

And obviously you are overreacting to it

 

[Neggy]

There are schools, like say.... Emerson, B.U. School of Communications, etc.

and then there are places that just want to run students thru a program that meets the qualification for PELL grants, federally insured student loans, etc. The same people who run all those medical assistant training programs you see advertised on the Jerry Springer show. Some places are dedicated to education, some places are diploma mills.

"Lean by doing" should require a real radio station at the school.

And you could learn more in a week from Ed Perry than you could in a year from any school.

 

[CrankyYankee]

The best "broadcasting school" I attended came after my two years at the now departed Grahm Junior College in Boston.

Everything Grahm taught me(and more) was done in a few months after I joined the Army(in order to beat the draft) and was lucky enough to attend the Defense Information School for broadcasting.

Following a mis-assignment, I wound up working for Armed Forces Radio & TV in Europe for three years and got plenty of hands-on/on-air experience.

I must stress again I was lucky that I wound up actually doing what the military had sent me to school for. This dog face could have wound up doing almost anything else but things just kinda worked out for me.

 

[argytunes]

cranky yankee...

I definitely agree with you about Grahm Junior College! (Originally, the school was known as Cambridge School of Broadcasting before becoming an accredited junior college in 1968).

GJC not only provided the necessary liberal arts courses (I remember taking English from a lady who originally came from China), but students also got broadcast classes during the first semester! [At BU and Emerson, you had to wait until year 2 or year 3 before being eligible]. One of the most brilliant professors at GJC was Stan Alten...who went on to teach at the S.I. Newhouse School of Communications. At Grahm, Stan used to emphasize the word: SENSITIVITY when it came to any project the students worked on. This is something I've never forgotten.

Many of the teachers at GRAHM were actively working for radio stations at the same time. For example, Dick Walsh was an engineer for WEEI-AM while teaching a 1st semester radio broadcast course.

Quite a few GJC graduates are still active in the business...full and part-time!

argytunes

 

[Lucylu]

On the subject of broadcasting schools: I understand that Pete Shepard went to one, and as bad as he is, he ended up with a pretty good job. They must do something right there. Can you imagine what he would be like without the school?

 

[webcastboy]

Bottom line here is there is NO, absoutely NO, substitute for experience in the real world! Unfortunately, the people who design the course of study in the degree program have had very little experience (ever) in the real radio or television business.

You know, I did just think of something. I went to BU and basically lost myself at WTBU. It was terrible in the sense that nobody ever listened to our tiny little carrier-current station. This was pre-webcasting. But at the same time, I always told myself to make the most of it because I knew I'd never quite have opportunities to "learn by doing" like that ever again. I made mistakes left and right but I got great chances to learn from them. So the opportunity to go to WTBU was a great chance to learn while having fun in an environment where I was essentially my own boss.

My experience at WTBU meant nothing in terms of my resume, but it certainly helped increase my knowledge of radio overall. Even today I still use lessons I learned way back then. But ultimately you could get this from ANY college that happens to have a campus radio station. It doesn't need to be a broadcasting school. Certainly BU does not have a radio broadcasting curriculum at all.

 

[Neggy]

When I was writing my post , I was going to mention GJC as one of the better (now defunct) schools in the area.

 

[Neanderpaul]

I had a BLAST at WDJM at Framingham State. It was all student run, and we actually had to fight off several attempts by the Media Dept. to take over.

Worked with some truly talented people there. Including Shred, Robb Timm, Matt Phipps..It was an awesome time and I wouldn't trade that experience for anything.

I got the early skill sets there and then learned the way radio works during my internship at WZLX, which led to an actual job. However, had I not been enrolled in a "school", they'd have never given me the internship. So, you can spend tens of thousands at Emerson, or a few thousand at a Broadcasting School...either way, it will be what you show in the real world that gets you the gig.

There's no substitute for doing. You can't learn this from a book....or postings on an internet board.

 

[burnedout guy]

Well as a former director of the famed "CONnecticut School of Broadcasting, I saw there demise awhile ago. Although it seemed CSB was more interested in tuition than education.

When I walked into the Wellesley building, met Bud Stone, who couldn't speak, dunno if he had a throat problem or if he was just sick, and they proceeded to correct my posture...not a slouch but turned my chair to face the copy board so that I was "heads up with the board, I knew that wasn't the place for me.

I hope you were able to "ride gain" for him. He still alive? I was there when CSB "retired" him.