Prep school radio

[Sid Whitaker]

The demise of WPAA (due to lack of student interest, I presume?) raises some
questions about the future of over-the-air prep-school radio stations. The
faculty advisor at WNMH (Northfield Mt. Hermon School, Northfield, Mass.) told
me that almost all students bring MP3 players with them and rely on the web for
their satisfying their musical desires. Apparently it's rare to see a radio in
a dorm room these days. (I feel old!) The feeling there is that WNMH will need
a streaming-audio presence on the web to remain viable as a student-run and
funded organization. He also said that another western-Mass. prep-school
station, WGAJ Deerfield (Deerfield Academy), is rarely on the air, presumably
because few students are interested.

However, he did say that interest in doing a show or working at WNMH remains
very high, with 200 students a semester vying for 30 or 40 on-air shifts.


Sid Whitaker
Portland, Me.