Out in Radioland

College Media Q&A with Jennifer Waits

“I think students are just as interested in radio as they have always been. When I go visit stations, I hear they’ve had record numbers of people signing up. A lot of stations have to turn people away because they don’t have enough room in the schedule, which has been a boon for online broadcasting. So some stations might have multiple streams — FM and a separate online stream so they have more spots for all interested students, which is kind of cool.”

Read more on College Media Matters.

UTM student broadcasters win Tenn. AP broadcasting awards

“The three 2014 University of Tennessee at Martin winners displayed creativity and great storytelling,” said Sandy Boonstra, president of the Tennessee AP Broadcasters and Media Editors and news director for WTVF-TV NewsChannel 5 in Nashville. “It is always a pleasure to judge the student AP awards to see the best of what our state’s colleges have to offer. I would encourage all up and coming journalists to enter.”

Read more from the Jackson Sun.

Salon says college radio is dying

The demise of WRAS is bigger than Georgia State or even Atlanta. Today college radio is threatened by the same forces that undermine the commercial radio industry. The Internet has upended the entire notion of radio, as listeners can find almost anything they want at any moment. Satellite radio has eaten into the audience for local stations during drive-time hours. Younger listeners don’t grow up with a love for college radio, and thus don’t go out of their way to volunteer at a station when they’re in school, which leads to the increasingly common sound of older voices on the college frequency as community members fill in the gaps on the schedule.

Read more from Salon.com.