Why College Radio Matters
By Harrison Zeiberg
I won't pretend that I am an unbiased reporter. This is an opinion piece and as I'm sure the title of this opinion piece tells you I have a clear angle that I'm trying to get across. No, I am not an unbiased reporter. In this circumstance I'm probably the furthest from being such a thing.
College radio, and radio in general, is not the medium that it once was. Where families used to gather around the hearth to tell stories they then gathered around the radio to listen to their favorite shows. Then they transitioned to the TV and radio became a medium only listened to in cars or when a TV wasn't available, and so started it's decline. Then after the TV came phones and computers and you could not only listen to your favorite music or watch your favorite shows wherever you wanted, but more importantly, whenever you wanted. You have become the host of whatever program you want. Now the hearth, the radio, and largely the TV are gone as the mass collective mediums that they once were. As we have more choice in what we want to watch on various screens of various sizes, well, we've taken that choice, and the hearth in all of it's iterations is gone.
But just because radio is not as popular as it once was and most likely will never be as popular again doesn't mean it isn't important. Popularity as a medium does not equal importance. Radio gives the few opportunities that a college student really has to speak to a wide audience and give their own opinions and views. Most colleges don't have TV stations and the internet is not a kind place to venture into for those who want to be creative. Radio is one of the great mass mediums that is accessible to college students. I would not be surprised if not only most young people but most people feel like they aren't listened to. That they have things to say but don't have a place where people will listen. Radio gives college students for a few hours a chance to be heard.
Over these past few months I've spoken to students who are part of college radio across the country. I talked to them about their lives, and hopes, and how these past few months have changed them, and I asked them about the one thing that connected us. I've learned that some college stations are the only radio stations for thousands of people in certain areas of this country. They are the only voices for entire communities. The only voices for music, sports, news, and even the weather. That means that in some sections of this country it's our voice that people are listening to. Young people. Students. We are being heard. That's what college radio gives us.
Of course Covid changes everything and as many disappointed Wheaton students have learned, no we don't have live radio right now. Our studio, although very nice and a place where I've spent many happy hours, is the size of a really nice closet, and so not conducive for Covid safety protocols, and what's the fun of radio without having a few cohosts next to you? No, sadly live radio will have to wait for the grand return to Wheaton College that it, by my thinking, it so richly deserves. For now we only do podcasts.
Even though you can't really hear Wheaton's radio in Wheaton's parking lot, a link let my family and friends listen to the music I wanted, and heard me talk to my friends in a way that they may never hear if radio didn't exist. It was a connection that I miss. But podcasts are something new, and although they aren't "radio" they are the next best thing.
In these last few months our station President has interviewed a sitting Senator and a Member of Congress. In these past few months I've watched college radio stations come together to support each other in the hope of preserving a medium we all, for some improbably reason, love. It has been incredibly fulfilling watching people take the leap and decide to put their voices online for strangers to listen to. We have people who have done great podcasts talking about their lives and different subjects and that, if nothing else, at least gave me something to listen to in a time when I wasn't really hearing other student's voices. It let me feel connected. What could be more needed in these times?
College radio matters and it will continue to matter as long as student's want a voice. Who cares how much the wattage is? Who cares what the range is? At a certain point that doesn't really matter. Of course getting listened to is nice. Of course I like seeing what we've done and that other people are appreciating it, and I check the analytics frequently. But I've also found that the simple and very complicated act of creating is important because without it the world would be a much more dull and boring place. The act of being creative is a necessary aspect of life and of being in college. To create not for listenership, but to create simply for the indescribable feeling that comes with creating, that's the opportunity college radio gives us.
Of course none of this is perfect. No, if it was I would be on campus right now and the word Covid would never have had to be uttered. But we work towards making things better. College radio has been a place for me to go and create and find something that is good in a time when there isn't much good going around. That's why college radio matters. That is why it will continue to matter.
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