tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5889627852774263513.post9062986602520989831..comments2023-08-10T10:19:38.242-07:00Comments on Spinning Indie: College Radio in the Wall Street JournalJennifer Waitshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11249194013365198161noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5889627852774263513.post-15801772813415380902009-05-15T21:53:00.000-07:002009-05-15T21:53:00.000-07:00WCAL was not "college-owned" -- something that eve...WCAL was not "college-owned" -- something that even the St. Olaf College Board of Regents did not understand when they "sold" it in 2004. The college was the trustee for a public / federal non-commercial educational license and facilities that were built and maintained almost entirely by donors.<br /><br />This is an important distinction for other listener-supported stations. If their existence is due, in great majority, to the munificence of donors, then they may be charitable trusts and NOT under the "ownership" of the institution with which they are affiliated.<br /><br />Unfortunately, most student-run stations are not directly supported by their listeners and rare mainly supported financially by the institutions they represent. That means they have little recourse when that institution wants to rid itself of the station.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5889627852774263513.post-18233921342244630122009-04-25T10:52:00.000-07:002009-04-25T10:52:00.000-07:00Thanks for all the clarifications about WCAL. Inde...Thanks for all the clarifications about WCAL. Indeed, although college-owned, it wasn't a student-run station at the time of the sale.<br /><br />Although the Wall Street Journal article was touching on the plight of a public radio station being sold off; it raises a point that also applies to the many student-run stations that have been sold off, shut down, etc. KTXT is one such example, of a student station shut down by the school as a cost-saving move.Jennifer Waitshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11249194013365198161noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5889627852774263513.post-71465036574779549912009-04-24T20:51:00.000-07:002009-04-24T20:51:00.000-07:00Just to clarify regarding "it saddens me when coll...Just to clarify regarding "it saddens me when colleges give up student-run stations": WCAL was not a student-run station.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5889627852774263513.post-47445773529568834872009-04-24T10:14:00.000-07:002009-04-24T10:14:00.000-07:00Correction: WCAL was not a student-run radio stati...Correction: WCAL was not a student-run radio station.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5889627852774263513.post-43905892381209187872009-04-24T06:26:00.000-07:002009-04-24T06:26:00.000-07:00While WCAL began from physics experiments and beca...While WCAL began from physics experiments and became a student-run radio station in the early 1920s, it had long since become a professionally run radio station. <br /><br />WCAL was the first listener-supported radio station in the county (donations began in 1924) and a founding member of National Public Radio (NPR). At the time of it's sale, the station was a 100,000 watt non-commercial licensed public radio station with a repeater station in Rochester, MN.<br /><br />WCAL was truly an "indie" station with a budget "in the black" at the time of the sale due to its generous donors/members. Not all public radio stations can claim that.<br /><br />St. Olaf College still has a student run radio station - KSTO - a frequency that is only available on campus.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com