Student Media in the News

Last Updated on February 14, 2017 by askcbiorg

Syracuse radio station returning to airwaves for first time in 6 years

WERW, a student-run station at Syracuse University, announced Friday that it would soon begin broadcasting on the AM dial again. The college radio broadcaster had been operating online only since 2011, when a transmitter was removed from Booth Hall on campus.

The new signal will debut Monday, Feb. 20 on 1670 AM from antennas on top of the Carrier Dome and SU’s Goldstein Student Center on the South Campus, according to WERW general manager Rebecca Duke. However, the station will only broadcast at 100 mW (milliwatts) — a much lower power than WERW’s past signal of 20 watts in the ’90s and 2000s.

Read more from Syracuse.com.

Pitchfork wonders, ‘Does college radio even matter anymore?’

Yet, these experiences run the risk of becoming scarce, as more and more college stations go silent or cede their broadcast towers to corporate interests and conglomerates. Adding to the alarm is the recent downfall of CMJ, the institution that for decades tied the nation’s college radio stations together through charts and its annual festival. All this bad news has led some to eulogize the format, but college radio is still alive and, for many, still necessary.

Read more from Pitchfork.

On Air Next tackles the Pitchfork article

On Wednesday, Pitchfork posted an article titled “Does College Radio Even Matter Anymore.” If you haven’t read it yet, Kevin Lozano walks through the ins and outs of college radio history and finally decides: Yes, there is still a place for college radio. Of course, we at Radio 1190 knew this all along. Radio 1190 gives us an independent voice to express what we love, how we think and what we’re excited about. There’s so much content being created today — more than ever before. Staying on top of everything is an immeasurable challenge; one that no one is able to do alone.

Read more from Colorado Daily.

‘Stretch and Bobbito: Radio That Changed Lives’ Chronicles Legendary Hip Hop Radio Show

Stretch and Bobbito: Radio That Changed Lives is one of those little stories that had a huge impact. The 2015 movie is currently available for streaming on Netflix and chronicles The Stretch Armstrong and Bobbito Show, a New York-based college radio program whose influence travelled farther than its weak FM signal should have allowed. It had a religiously dedicated fanbase, and from 1990 to 1998 played host to just about every East Coast rapper of note before they hit it big. Perhaps more importantly, they cultivated an aesthetic appreciation of hip hop that would inspire underground hip hop for years to come. Hip hop authority The Source magazine went so for as to name it the “Best Hip Hop Radio Show of All Time.”

Read more from Decider.

Plus, Radio Survivor explores college stations for World Radio Day, checks archives from WQAX in 1981 and the College Radio Watch column.