Tensions at WITR

[aaronread]

Frankly, I'm somewhat surprised and impressed by the number of college students who are interested in participating in the college radio stations, learning the craft and being on the air. Perhaps the patient has a pulse afterall.

Really? We had a significant uptick in student DJ's but for everything else it plummeted to zero or close to zero.

Of course, the administration also demanded (and rightfully so) that we reign in our out-of-control work-student budget; we were paying for positions that I've never seen a station pay for. I think we had something like 30 students on the payroll, some of which were rather blatantly abusing things, too. :-\ After slashing things to four paid "senior staff" positions, 7 hrs/wk max for each, we got things under control budgetary but it got a helluva lot harder to get student to newscasting, sportscasting, community calendar, music reviewing, etc.

 

[Mike_Saffran]

As a non-unbiased participant in the WITR situation, I have heretofore withheld commentary in this forum (though I hold definite opinions on the topic and have enjoyed reading others’ remarks). Besides, Ed Trefzger has provided excellent insights and admirably addressed nearly every question in his posts. (Thanks, Ed.)

For now, I wish only to point those interested in reading more about the broader topic of college radio’s future to these very interesting posts on the Radio Survivor blog:

The decade’s most important radio trends: #13 College radio tightens its playlist

The decade’s most important radio trends #11: Cash-strapped schools turn their backs on college radio

Mike