I was saddened by the news that we will abandon our Federal Communication Commission (FCC) license. The Administration decided to shift our radio station exclusively to digital broadcasting, perhaps through the service we used to call iHeartRadio. An FCC license has granted us the ability to be a voice for the public interest for the last 90+ years. There are few FM stations that can make this claim. According to the FCC Database, we are the oldest radio station from the Five Colleges of Ohio, surpassing Oberlin and Denison in longevity. We even beat Princeton to the starting line by 14 years! They started in 1940, we had an AM station in 1926. If we give up our license, this means that there will be no local FM public radio station in Wayne County.
Getting and keeping our public radio status has been a hard-fought battle that involved the voluntary efforts of students, faculty and staff working together for many years.
Here are a few examples I am familiar with. Many years ago, Dr. Palmer connected a local community member to the radio staff. The idea was to create programs for rural Latino farm workers who worked our neighboring fields and factories. The Spanish-language program shared information about community services for these workers and discussed their rights. WOO 91 student DJ’s volunteered to record these shows, and broadcast them at peak listening times. How could we have sustained such a voluntary effort?
Another example is a show that has been on air for many years by our venerable and beloved professor, Dr. Figge. Figge has lent his voice (sometimes in German) to reading different poems and short stories on air for quite a few years now. Most of his listeners are senior citizens (who are not on Apps). How could this work connect with the work of our local library downtown and Wooster’s libraries? Could it be extended to other groups that enjoy literature? Are there grants for this sort of work?
Over the years, I have been saddened by the fact that the Administration has not invested in staff that could transform our radio and student media assets into a sustainable venture that serve the community interest. For the most part, the station was run by an unpaid adviser. Other duties were farmed out to countless staff in an ad hoc manner.
As far as I know, there has never been a systematic study of the revenue and cost potential of running a full-fledged, inclusive, community-based station. An investment in a full-fledged public broadcasting program would undoubtedly require professional staff. But why stop at the College when we have a whole community of media assets and institutions that we can partner with? Of course, we can also partner with our fellow Ohio colleges and community to create a regional voice for inclusion.
The mission (and financial return) on investment needs to be studied in a systematic manner. Conducting that study with a broad set of interest groups and sharing the results is the (compensated) job of administration. Perhaps they can pay an Applied Methods Research Experience team to look into the subject this summer?
Contributing to public broadcasting has been an important part of the Wooster experience for thousands of students, faculty and staff over the years. Knowing how to deal with the FCC is experiential learning and it has allowed our alumni to be successful in the media landscape. All experiential learning involves risk. It’s how you teach the management of risk that is important. Most of all, our 90 years’ history with public radio has allowed a variety of students, faculty and staff to engage in inclusive ways with our Wooster community and allowed us to fulfill our mission of being leaders of character and influence in our interdependent local community.
Amyaz A. Moledina, a Contributing Writer for the Voice, can be reached for comment at AMoledina@wooster.edu.