WESU FM is a valuable broadcasting asset. It has been managed over the years by a combination of students and local announcers and subsidized by Wesleyan and the WSA. Prospective student broadcasters have not had professional help in developing shows, and it has proven difficult for students to have full responsibility for the station during breaks, especially the long summer vacation. On occasion there have been security issues because of unauthorized entry into the station. WESU serves both Wesleyan and the broader community with programming of general interest, but it cannot, without losing the general audience, broadcast information and announcements of interest only to the campus.
The present arrangement creates concerns about whether the station is in compliance with FCC regulations. The Wesleyan University Trustees hold the license to WESU and must assure that the station and its programming comply with FCC requirements.
The WESU board brought all of these issues to me last spring. They requested an advisor, then a Wesleyan station manager to address some of these issues. This request led me to consider more fundamental changes that will, I believe, provide ample room for student and local broadcasters and relieve the station management of having to operate it on a year-round basis. I am therefore exploring the possibility of affiliating WESU with a National Public Radio member station in Connecticut in order to offer a mix of public and student broadcasting, along with selected local programs. This combination of NPR, student and local programming would be broadcast to Middlesex County listeners, and also made available on the campus via the web. The campus-wide service would provide an opportunity for programs and announcements that might be of great interest to Wesleyan but not to the larger WESU broadcast audience.
During breaks, the public radio programming would be carried throughout the day to community listeners and to the campus.
The goal of the arrangement is to combine the best of public radio with the best of student broadcasting. We are hoping to develop a service that is consistent with high-quality public affairs programming-both nationally and locally-and with Wesleyan’s educational purposes. We want our students to have opportunities to learn from broadcasting professionals, as well as to create their own radio programs.
The University has had exploratory conversations with WESU, which is headquartered at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, CT, but no formal agreement has been reached. Under the anticipated arrangement, Wesleyan would not sell the license to WESU. WESU would raise funds on air during its pledge periods and share proceeds with Wesleyan. The station should at least break even and hopefully generate a surplus to support training and programming.
I have asked students at WESU to put together a proposal for how they would use a service that combines such NPR programs as “All Things Considered,” “Morning Edition,” and “Talk of the Nation” with Wesleyan and local programming. I look forward to their leadership in building the future of WESU.
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