The phones in Ben Michael’s office won’t stop ringing. He turns the sound off on one phone only to be greeted by the shrill ring of the other.
As WESU’s new general manager, Michael’s task will be to correct some of the station’s organizational problems, some of which precipitated the addition of NPR programming.
“We were under-funded, we didn’t have the technology we needed, and we didn’t have the structure we needed,” said Michael of the station in recent years.
The University hired Michael as a consultant to the station, where he has been a DJ and board member for a decade already. Now, he will work for six months before entering the application pool for a permanent position as general manager.
According to Michael, having a general manager is a necessity due to the rapid turnover of students.
“We need someone year from year to show people what to do,” Michael said. “Without that guidance, that nurturing, the board tended to spin its wheels.”
WESU President Jesse Sommer ’05 said that, as a volunteer board member, Michael took him under his wing and taught him how to succeed in the radio industry.
“Having a friendly face there to help out DJs makes sure that over-the-air content sounds good and inspires people to take their shows and the station seriously,” Sommer said.
Rick Sinkiewicz, a music director on the station’s board of directors, is optimistic about Michael’s potential to turn the station around.
“Ben is in a position that could allow WESU to grow to its fullest potential,” Sinkiewicz said. “With the transient nature of students comes the inevitable non-follow-through of projects that take longer than four years. Ben will be a figure of stability at WESU.”
Since Michael officially began work as general manager two weeks ago, he has installed new equipment, organized the integration of a new ID system, and has begun to enforce a more strict enforcement of Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations.
Michael said that because WESU has had such loose organization in recent years, the station has inadvertently broken with some of the commission’s policies. Possible violations have included airing indecent material at restricted hours of the day and failing to monitor frequencies, which can result in overpowering other stations.
Because WESU is a non-commercial outlet, it is illegal for the station to accept money for promoting events and artists on the air. Although there is currently a ban on all promotions, Michael hopes to revise the protocol so that members of the community can be made aware of events and concerts.
“It would be a disservice not to let people know [what’s happening],” Michael said.
Although the station’s most pressing needs are administrative, Michael and his staff have greater ambitions for the future. In addition to making sure that the station is in accordance with FCC regulations, their goals include serving the greater listening audience, fundraising, and pursuing the goals of the University’s trustees, who own the license to the station.
“The goal is to utilize public affairs programming,” Michael said. “The University thought that would meet their educational goals, and this will bring in funds for the station.”
Although the staff initially thought this meant a limited number of options in the programs they could air, they have since tapped into a wide variety of subjects, including sports, politics and music.
“There was this initial misconception that we wouldn’t have any control over programming,” Michael said. “[But] we’ve selected stuff that we think will keep us different from other NPR stations.”
The station currently airs public affairs programs from 5 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. on weekdays, from 6 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Saturdays, and from 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. on Sundays. Ten of these shows are locally produced.
Dave Kadden ’05, music director and DJ at the station, hopes to see Michael re-organize the station’s handling of music.
“We’ve been so focused on getting the station organized that things like keeping in touch with record labels have taken a back seat,” Kadden said. “We’re trying to get back to that.”
Through regular contact with record labels, a radio station gets access to the newest music and is better able to offer a diverse selection to its listeners. With a faulty managerial system, this exchange becomes difficult to maintain.
“We want to have people in charge of different genres of music,” Kadden said. “They’ll talk to labels and promotional companies, listen to the music, and make sure it gets to the right DJs.”
In addition to having a general manager, Michael said that reestablishing a connection with the Intercollegiate Broadcast Society (IBS) would allow WESU to better standardize its practices.
“We lost contact with them,” Michael said. “We ended up having to create resources on our own, as far as training and general station protocol.”
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