Re: Daily News on WFAN history

[Donna Halper <dlh@donnahalper.com>]

And Kevin wrote--
>On another note I saw something odd on the WIP website
>http://www.610wip.com/stationinfo.asp
>
>"610 WIP became Philadelphia's "Pioneer Radio Voice" on March 17, 1922.
>The station, which was owned and operated by the Gimbel Brothers
>Department Store, was the city's first radio station. Unfortunately,
>much of the station's history has been lost or destroyed over the years"

More likely, the station didn't want to pay somebody to do some research 
for them.  But yes, when stations changed ownership, it was all too common 
for their historical archives to get thrown out.  I saw that first-hand 
when I tried to do WBZ's history and found that only about 2 boxes had been 
saved... I contacted WIP and offered to give them some of the info they are 
lacking, but we'll see if they do in fact want it.

>Kevin also wrote--
>That is truly sad and makes us appreciate historians like Donna Halper.

It's nice to be appreciated.  It's a tragedy that current owners fail to 
see the benefit of maintaining a station's heritage so that the next 
generation can know about it... yeah, it may not make money for your 
station, but it contributes to a sense of continuity.  Many people who grew 
up in Boston, for example, recall fondly the people they listened to, and 
some of those personalities were still being listened to by the next 
generation of fans-- I know plenty of parents who turned their kids on to 
Jess Cain, for example.  I said it on Gary Francis's show yesterday (btw, 
if you didn't listen, you missed the surprise visit of our own Garrett 
Wollman, who was also a guest on the show) and I'll say it again-- radio 
owners are making a big mistake by removing any trace of localism from 
stations.  A station's history is part of that localism, and to treat a 
radio station like it could be from just about anywhere and has no roots in 
the community is, in my view, not a good strategy.