Post-Dramatic WLUW Feelings

There was a recent comment posted on a lot of the message boards concerning the state of WLUW-FM Chicago (see here and here to catch yourself up), and it spurred a reaction out of me that I felt was a bit more important than the comment section. It is a direct response to the anonymously left comment you can read below, but also features a lot of my thoughts on the subject now that I have had a little time to reflect on the situation. If none of this concerns you and you are just here for the music, then feel free to skip ahead to the two new reviews posted today.

Anonymous comment left:

Guys - LUW always supported local/indy music way before the "community" designation. I seriously doubt that's going to stop simply because the University is opting out of its contract with BEZ. History would tell you that just 5 years ago BEZ's involvement was considered the worst thing to ever happen...the same types of outrage, blogging and petitions you’re seeing now, were out there then decrying the association between the two.

Sean [sic] and Craig, while seemingly great stewards of the station, are just the most recent in a long line of faculty and staff that have given their hearts and souls to the students and listeners… The station has been around for 30 years.

Change happens. The University finally realized what an asset they were holding, and quite frankly, the infighting and general lack of comportment and “bi-partisanship” during the last major change (way before BEZ entered the picture) did real, long-term damage to the Dept of Communication both in their internal dealings with each other and how they were perceived in the greater university community. People lost their jobs or were forced out. Students who complained were subtly threatened in ways way beyond acceptable behaviors from Dept Heads. Tenures were denied and those educators moved on.

With a “New” Dept of Communication (whatever that means) in the works, maybe it made sense to take the entire thing back under control. History would show that in previous incarnations the station was a very real draw for students of both broadcasting and community affairs. There are professionals in the industry all over the US that are Loyola/LUW grads – go to Wikepedia and look at the VERY small number of Alumni listed. I can add another 20 to 30 working at what they love off the top of my head.

We all know about the groups like “Friends of WLUW” If you’re interested in the flip side of some of the goings on over the last several years, take a look at http://www.wluw.blogspot.com/

Having said all that – I’m taking a wait and see attitude.

In response:

I do understand what you are saying; and very much understand that Loyola had every right to do what they did with 88.7 being their frequency. And though I wasn't around at the time, I have been fully informed on the craziness that went down when WBEZ stepped in.

The biggest concern I have had with the entire situation is the callousness Loyola has shown in their steps to take back the station. They have still yet to say a single word to us that I am currently aware of at this moment. We have entered into a transition period, but have no idea what we are transitioning towards. It feels mostly like they just wanted to say they have a radio frequency to lure in front of potential students, but don’t really care what happens once they get their tuition. And I emphasize “feels,” because again, Loyola has not said a word to us about their ideas concerning the station, so I have no idea what is going on in their heads.

I agree with what you implied as well, educating students in radio is absolutely a good thing, but it just seems like there was a better way to approach this whole situation. First of all, I personally would be a hell of a lot more inclined to come to a university which houses a professionally run community radio station than just some trial-and-error, student-run college station. We already enlist the second most student volunteers of any radio station in Chicago, second only to WNUR, and we reached out to students on a continuous basis and in a number of different ways from flyering the campus before interest meetings to setting up booths during the school’s get-involved fairs. When I was picking out assistant Music Directors to assist me, I was even asked specifically by Shawn Campbell to make sure one was a student because they are assets to the station.

And I realize that WLUW has been supporting the local/indie music scene prior to it becoming a community station (but to a much lesser degree, to my knowledge it was a Top 40 station for a good duration of time). But as a community station who makes all of its own programming decisions, it can do so much more than as a run-of-the-mill college radio station. The definition of a “community radio station” alone designates that you have to reach out into the community to stay supported and operational, and then you return the favor by supporting your supporters in every way you can. It’s a give-and-take system that benefits both the community and the station.

From a music department standpoint, it will be most detrimental. I approach this position like it’s my full-time career (it’s not, I work 40 hours on the side to pay for rent, etc). And to be done right, it really needs to be a full-time position, but the money is not there and I have no problem doing it for the minimal amount I do make (minimum wage, 10 hours max a week, though I clock many more hours as you can tell by Audiversity) or nothing at all. For typical college stations, the turn-around for music director is yearly, which is why nearly all college stations stagnate. The position has at the very least a 6 month learning curve just to associate yourself with the innerworkings of the particular station, familiarize yourself with the tastes of the DJ body and audience, and to establish connections with the music industry that services you. I have been the MD at WLUW for about a year-and-a-half and I’m still tweaking my system on what seems like a daily basis. Stability in a music department is the only way it can grow productively, and that is just not a liberty that is allowed in college radio for obvious reasons: they are student-run stations and students graduate. I plan on sticking around probably until I am forcedly replaced by a student, but it’s incredibly frustrating. When before it honestly felt like we were well on our way to establishing ourselves on the same level stations like KEXP, The Current and WFMU are regarded, it now it feels like we are working towards nothing. Not that working for the current listening audience is chump change by any means, but I have lofty ambitions, and I was very much hoping to achieve them through WLUW because I knew the staff was aiming for the same goals.

And as far as the hyperbolic statements the “WLUW Watch” blog (whose existence I was aware of, though it seems to suffer from the same hyperbolic statements it is calling out and appears, as far as I can tell from reading, to be fueled somewhat by personal vendettas; but since I wasn’t around personally during the period that spurred that site, I will remain as objective as possible) reposted from the Chicagoist article, they were said, they were heartfelt, and perhaps they were a little over the top. But you have to understand that we all took the station incredibly serious and were putting a ridiculous amount of energy into it, so you can’t blame us for being upset when the ball was dropped seemingly out of nowhere. I think the biggest concern for most of us is not losing an outlet to play indie rock or whatever, but the possible disbandment of both the community within the station walls and the accompanying listening audience we have connected with over the years. WLUW was the first community I joined when I moved to Chicago (which was only 2 months before I started volunteering), and they not only welcomed me with open arms but also gave me the opportunity to work my dream job (music director of an independent radio station). Now a year-and-a-half later, every single one of my best friends in the city came from the station, I have learned a countless amount of information about radio, music and the city of Chicago, it was the catalyst for starting this very website, I have met a ridiculous amount of wonderfully intriguing people through being on the air or at a WLUW participating event, and it has open more doors than I could have ever hoped in such a short amount of time. It’s not only disappointing that I am losing this myself, but it won’t even be an option for others in a similar situation as mine in the future.

Maybe it won’t be as drastic of a change once Loyola let’s us know their plan, maybe it will. Like you implied, only time will tell, but it just doesn’t seem plausible that this move will benefit the station. From every indication we have been given (emphasis on indication), the station will become an academic lab and student-run, which obviously equals college radio. I have no problem with college radio, and it was an integral part of my own education, but it just seems like squandered potential with the direction WLUW was heading. Why couldn’t Loyola just have created a closed-circuit station for an academic lab like most schools have? I can’t believe that would be any more expensive. Or work with Kois and Campbell to at least attempt to figure out how they could integrate student curriculum with the existing community format? It just seems to me like the entire situation could have been handled better by Loyola.

I guess it’s on to bigger and better endeavors though, no need to sit around a gripe about lost opportunities. Click here to sign a petition to help persuade Congress to approve more Low Power Frequencies in urban areas, and check out the newly formed Chicago Independent Radio Project so we can work towards securing a license if it passes and hopefully give Chicago an independent, community radio station full of localism, diversity, adventurousness and immediacy it can be proud of sharing.