The Importance of Localism and Non-Profit College Radio :: Radio University College Broadcasting Essays

The Importance of Localism and Non-Profit College RadioRadio is the salvation of the world Non-profit college radio is, by its nature, a medium dedicated to the local community and the public interest. The media landscape in the new millennium has brought about a homogenized world of radio. Large conglomerates same(p) Clear Channel and Infinity Broadcasting own thousands of radio stations. Clear Channel designates one programming director for a particular format in an area, giving sometimes a hundred radio stations the same play list. These stations then have local DJs usher in voiceovers into the programs, forming, basically, a nationally syndicated radio show. This national play list has caused most listeners to feel that radio has become a cold and stale medium. No long-run can listeners pick up the dial and call a DJ to request a track. Instead, they would probably find only a board slattern inserting commercials in between an already chosen play list. The role of colleg e radio lies in the bleak future of diversity and innovation that is lacking in the fabrication today.College radio is non-profit by nature, relying on community and university funding to stay on the air. Most college radio offers music that is not heard on any some other radio station in the market, and it also offers a place for communications majors to gain broadcasting and music industry experience. In its boundaries, it harbors the most consummate(a) form of radio, a place where DJs can be reached live on the air and one might hear a cogent metal show played right after a jazz hour. It is college radios eclectic and constantly changing format that gives it its thrift set up appeal. College students usually serve as the DJs, and a different set comes and goes each semester. College radio is still a throwback to the days where people listened to radio for the pure thrill of the music.Very little has been written on college radio in particular, although a lot of literature ex ists on non-profit radio as a whole. Only since the mid 1980s has college radio sprung into the spotlight as an important medium. Pour through any campus library and you will find many books on how to start your own radio station but little on the culture that has arisen from it. The most definitive source on college radios cultural influence is Samuel Sauls The Culture of American College Radio.