Now Hear This COMMUNITY RADIO SLICES THROUGH THE STATIC by Sean Kennedy photo by Sapna Shenoy Recently, The Declaration featured discussion about the differing roles of several local radio stations in the community, most notably those of Charlottesville's two non-commercial stations, WTJU (91.1-FM) and WNRN (91.9-FM). Both are good for what they do, and the story of WNRN's founding a few years ago and the ensuing competition between the two has received much press. This article, highlights WTJU's unique contribution to the community through its truly educational, non-commercial mission. "The goal of non-commercial educational radio is, number one, to try to provide music, news, and various public affairs to an audience," said Chuck Taylor, station manager of WTJU. "I didn't say largest audience or smallest audience. Just an audience." He emphasized the audience because listeners are the primary concern of educational, non-commercial radio. Whether such stations are playing what people in their communities want to hear or drawing on their in-house knowledge about music and public affairs (or, most likely, a balance between the two) the audience is paramount, overriding all other concerns. At commercial radio stations money is just as important as the listeners, but at a non-commercial station like WTJU, financial concerns are less important. "We believe the true mission of community radio is to provide programming regardless of the money," Taylor said. Of course, this mission is somewhat easier at WTJU because a significant portion of its operating budget comes from U.Va.: the salaries of its two paid employees and its studio and office space. Most other necessary funds come from listener donations. Therefore, without the harsh financial constraints of most radio stations (commercial or noncommercial), WTJU is able to embody the true spirit of community-oriented, educational, non-commercial radio by giving a prominent voice to aspects of culture that are usually lost amid the insistent purr of dollars that seems to permeate most radio stations today. On the other hand, WNRN exemplifies a growing trend among non-commercial radio stations in the face of federal funding cutbacks and dwindling audiences: going commercial to survive economically. The very essence of noncommercial radio is lost in the process, and the result is that in many markets across the country, commercial radio is virtually indistinguishable from ostensibly non-commercial radio. WNRN is non-commercial only in the strictest sense of the word. Since it is non-profit, it doesn't have the same ravenous corporate demands for revenue that for-profit commercial radio stations have. Still, the station needs to support itself financially, and without the economic help from a university that WTJU enjoys, fundraising proves to be a hard task. WNRN raises the funds it needs through underwriting. Every hour of programming at the station is sponsored by an underwriter, usually a local business. This means that in exchange for contributing money to the station, each underwriter's name and its respective sales pitch are broadcast over the air. The effect is that of an advertisement, but to get those underwriters, WNRN has to ensure a sizable listening audience, preferably one amply peppered with members of the coveted 18-to-29-year-old demographic. To that end, WNRN requires at least half of each show's songs to be from its select playlist, while the other half must be from the station's general collection. The resulting airwaves sway to the beat of homogenized modern rock, sounding more like a virtual twin of WHFS (the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area's commercial powerhouse) than any true noncommercial station. "What's happening in community radio and public radio in general -- and I think it's a terrible move -- is that they are responding strictly to the money," said Taylor. "If a show does poorly, it's gone." A testament to the importance of WTJU and its like-minded non-commercial stations comes from indie rock label extraordinaire Touch and Go. Back when WNRN was still Stu-Comm, Inc. and was in the process of becoming a full-fledged radio station, music director David Sherwin wrote a letter requesting the label to start mailing the station CDs. However, Sherwin couldn't avoid taking a jab at WTJU's rock department, asserting that it "programs only the most obscure art-rock." Touch and Go never responded to Sherwin, but instead wrote to Darius van Arman (then the rock director of WTJU) expressing their thanks "for playing our incredibly obscure art-rock." This is what WTJU and non-commercial radio are all about: airing music or public affairs in spite of claims about "obscurity"; it's the obscure programming that needs to be aired the most. For first-year Walt Hakala, a DJ at WTJU, the station provides a safe haven at U.Va. "I think it's a little place for cool people to kind of hide out from the Rugby Roads" of the university, he said. "At a school this large, the fact that it has such a small audience is really surprising. It doesn't say too much for the university we attend." But, as Taylor said, the fact that many students don't listen to WTJU actually underscores the station's ultimate aim. "People say that in true community radio you play exactly what your listeners want you to play," he said. If the stations did that, though, "you'd be hearing Mariah Carey on the radio all the time, because for the majority of people, that's all they know. Our mission is to expose people to different types of music and programming and allow them to choose for themselves, whether they like it or not." "I think in the next couple of years you're going to see a dramatic decrease in decent programming anywhere," said Taylor, "and the last place you're going to hear it is on college radio stations because they at least have some financial support from a university." Most community stations will have to succumb to more commercial and accessible programming, he said. "I think it's a terrible thing, but they don't have any choice." In fact, it's the listening audience who has the choice. There's nothing wrong with the commercial programming of WNRN and similar radio stations, but it's the diverse, original, and educational fare of community-oriented stations like WTJU that is absolutely vital to the radio industry and to our culture at large. The next time you tune in to your FM dial, remember that we need to hear what non-commercial radio stations air. We need their refuge from the storm.

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