Re: WJUL and Lowell Sun Control

[Aaron Read <aread@speakeasy.net>]

At 01:47 PM 7/1/2003, Bill O'Neill wrote:
>There have been rumblings, of late, but now it appears official.  The 
>University
>of Massachusetts has apparantly signed a contract with the Lowell Sun 
>newspaper
>to take control of WJUL from 5-10 am. weekdays, with a Sat. am block to be
>taken, as well.  Steps are underway for the paper to build an ancillary studio
>for this purpose.  The school has also, apparantly, got the paper to fund a
>full-time station manager, with an internal posting listing the salary 
>level to
>as high as $59K.  Needless to say, the students and alumni are very concerned
>with this, particularly the swiftness with which this has occured.
>(snip)
>And so it goes.  Anyone want a $59K gig running a college station with a
>newspaper?  Good luck.  Makes me, jaundiced, wonder if more folks want the gig
>or more want justice.  We'll find out.
>
>Bill O'Neill

Hell - I'd LOVE to have that gig...who do I call?

 From my perspective, I can very much understand the concern.  But it 
sounds like people are already taking the wrong attitude - this is a great 
risk, true.  But that's because it's also a great opportunity.   This is a 
chance for WJUL to really put itself on the map by expanding it's "circle 
of awareness" to really interact with the local community.   And they're 
getting a paid staffer essentially for free?  That by itself is an amazing 
advantage; I can never overstate the importance of having a consistent 
presence year-to-year at the helm for a radio station.  It makes dealing 
with the administration and the outside world 10000% easier for the station.

A good station manager will know how to successfully manage student 
involvement so that the students will have their say, and actually learn 
something (besides the usual trial-by-error/reinvent-the-wheel method of 
all-student-run stations) while still reaping the rewards of more 
professional oversight.   Locally I'd say WMLN does this - arguably - the 
best; I think WERS management is a little too heavy-handed.    Nationally I 
know several stations, many that are near-copies of WJUL, that execute 
similar deals quite well.