I'm a writer at heart, so this is one of the places I write. It's where I store my ideas, observations, interests. This is my personal reflective journal on a range of topics. I'm told journaling is good for the soul. I hope so. And since there's nothing quite as powerful as an idea, maybe a few of those will manifest themselves in my writing. Thank you for reading and always feel free to post a comment.
A big thank you to WEHC-FM station manager Richard Graves for sharing with our class this morning his time, knowledge and expertise. He truly gave us the "lowdown" on what it's like to work in noncommercial radio.
He also took us on a tour of the public (noncommercial) NPR radio station (WEHC-FM) that is located on EMH campus in the McClothlin Center for the Arts.
Richard is a good man to connect with if you're interesting in working professionally in radio. (He's also worked at a commercial radio station).
As I mentioned in class (and again this morning), the general manager and essentially the founder of WEHC-FM is Dr. Teresa Keller of the Mass Communications Dept. at EHC. So we have an excellent resource on radio right here in the Mass Comm Department!
Thank you all for coming this morning and for being good listeners.
Good luck with the NPR podcast homework writing assignment that's due at start of our class Monday.
As we noted in class Wednesday, March 16, one of the keys to being informed about radio is to understand how radio--one of the eight major forms of the mass media of communications--falls under the purview of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The FCC is directed by five commissioners appointed by the U.S. president and confirmed by the U.S. Senate for five-year terms. The current five commissioners, among the most powerful folks in Washington, hail from Connecticut, Kansas, South Carolina, Washington, D.C. and New York.
The FCC has no control whatsoever over print media (newspapers, magazines, newsletters...) but the FCC does come into play with any sort of electronic media that relies on use of the public airwaves. Thus, radio and TV have to meet certain FCC guidelines or standards. (Important to mention here that neither satellite radio (Sirius XM) nor Internet radio is regulated by the FCC).
Why is it, then, that print media escape scrutiny by the FCC--when radio stations and TV stations do not?
Because radio stations and TV stations are viewed as public trustees of the public airwaves. There's a limited number of frequencies available on the electromagnetic spectrum, and, but for the FCC (which assigns a frequency to a radio station) that spectrum would be a jumbled mess. Radio frequencies would overlap or interfere with one another to such an extent that listeners wouldn't be able to understand anything!
Key point: For a radio station to be on the air in the U.S., it first has to be licensed by the FCC. And every so many years, that same station comes up for re-licensing. A radio station has to operate consistent with the "public interest, convenience and necessity" in order to keep its license. It's also the case, as we noted in class, that the FCC tells a station what frequency it can broadcast on, how much power it can have, and where its transmitter or tower can be located.
As to a radio station losing its FCC license, that is very rare, but it does happen. Some reasons for license revocation include proof that the station:
1. Broadcasts obscenity or profanity or sexually explicit material between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. (when the FCC says children are more likely to be listening).
2. Spreads messages that are racist or bigoted.
3. Unfairly treats a political candidate (an example would be a station charging a low advertising rate for one candidate's commercial, while an opposing candidate had to pay a much higher rate for a commercial of equal time and placement during the day or night).
4. Broadcasts libelous, false or defamatory messages
5. Has a manager or owner or other key player who has been charged or with a serious criminal offense.
With regard to #1 above, a station runs the risk of losing its FCC license (and thus its ability to stay on the air) if it broadcasts INDECENT material. But this is a sticky, murky area to get a handle on. Because what, exactly, is indecent material?
(A famous U.S. Supreme Court justice once declared: "I don't know what obscenity is but I know it when I see it!")
At times, it seems to be somewhat subjective as to what the FCC considers indecent.
Consider the half-time show during the 2004 Super Bowl with singers Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake. In the heat of the performance, Timberlake ripped off part of Jackson's costume, exposing one of her breasts to about 90 million viewers in America and a much larger worldwide audience. CBS, which broadcast the Super Bowl that year, apologized, but the FCC still investigated. The result: CBS was fined $550,000.
CBS appealed the decision, and the fine was later overturned. But it was still a big hassle and a lot of legal expense for the network. (Better that the half-time show incident had never happened!)
Okay, so what kind of material might be considered indecent, obscene or profane and thus frowned upon by the FCC?
That's always a murky question, but the U.S. Supreme Court has offered a few guidelines:
1. The standard for obscenity is set by "individual community standards." This means there is no national standard for obscenity or indecency. What is declared as obscene or indecent in Abington, Va., might be acceptable in LA or NYC. A local community can establish its own standards for what material should be protected by the First Amendment.
2. The work (or in the case of radio or TV, the broadcast or program) must be "taken as a whole." It's not enough for a program to be declared obscene on the basis, for example, of one sexually explicit statement or one or two references to the "F word." The "work as a whole" must be sexually explicit or obscene.
3. The work (or broadcast) must appeal to "prurient interests." Prurient means overly lustful or lewd or a perverted interest in nudity, sex or excretory functions. Likewise, a broadcast program that has "serious, literary, artistic, political or scientific value" cannot be outlawed or banned by the FCC. A broadcast, for example, about sexual health, birth control, alternative lifestyles, online dating or teen suicide might offend or upset some listeners. But it would not be deemed prurient. And thus it would be protected by the First Amendment.
As an aside (and you can read about this in our textbook) some people complain that they are offended by messages broadcast by radio or TV. But just because someone is offended doesn't mean that the material disseminated on the airwaves is indecent or obscene. Beyonce, for example, created quite a stir at the half-time show of the 2016 Super Bowl with her "Formation" song and dance performance of that song. Some felt that she was critical of the police and fomenting tensions between the police and certain segments of society. But what Beyonce sang and danced during that show is definitely protected by the First Amendment. Here is her performance, in case you missed it:
Enough for right now about the FCC and radio. Looking forward to our field trip visit to WEHC-FM 90.7 tomorrow!
We covered this in class on Wednesday, March 16, but here, in writing, is what we said about podcasts:
Q: What is a podcast?
A: It's an audio (MP3) file that can be distributed over the Internet.
Q: How do you listen to a podcast?
A: Can be listened to online or downloaded to a computer or an MP3 player.
Q: What do you need to listen to a podcast?
A: All you need is a basic computer or electronic device (phone, tablet...) that is connected to the Internet.
Q: How do you create a podcast?
A: Very easily with, for example, the GarageBand app on an Apple MacBook computer--or with an equivalent app on a PC.
Q: When was the first podcast created:
A: 2004. Became very common by 2005.
Q: Are podcasts replacing radio?
A: No. Podcast audiences are growing but still are not nearly as big as radio audiences. Think about it this way: How much time do you spend listening to radio very day or every week? How many podcasts do you listen to daily or weekly?
Q: What's the value or utility of a podcast?
A: If you miss a particular program or broadcast on the radio, there's a good chance the station made a podcast of that program. If that's the case, you can go to the station's website, find the podcast and listen to it. So podcasts offer a sort of historical archiving of broadcast/radio programs.
I gave this NPR assignment in class yesterday (March 14). Here it is, just in case...
Guidelines: NPR is an important part of the radio industry. If you haven't listened to NPR, you are definitely missing out!
For this assignment, listen to TWO podcasts from the following programs on NPR. Your choice on which two podcasts you choose. It could be two from Prairie Home Companion. Or it could be one from Prairie Home Companion and one from Car Talk, etc.
You will be writing about the podcasts you listened to.
Here are your choices (and where you can Google them):
1. This American Life podcast
2. Car Talk podcast
3. Prairie Home Companion podcast (then click on SoundCloud).
4. Fresh Air podcast
Choose your two podcasts, listen to them, then write about them.
For your paper, which you can write in first person, address the following (for each of your chosen NPR podcasts)
A. What did you listen to and for how long?
B Describe or summarize the content of the podcast you listened to.
C. What did you like about this podcast?
D. What did you dislike (if anything) and what would be an area for improvement you would suggest for the creator of this NPR program?
E. What did you learn about NPR from listening to this podcast?
F. Would you listen again to an NPR podcast of this program? Why or why not?
Your paper must be typed (double-spaced) 2-3 pages. The deadline is the start of our class on Monday, March 21. No emails or attachments will be accepted. I want a hard copy by that deadline. I may call on a few of you that day to share your experience from listening to these NPR podcasts.
Criteria for grading:
1. Short graphs very much preferred
2. Mechanical perfection in grammar, spelling and sentence structure
3. The extent to which you followed the guidelines for this assignment. Did you address all the required questions?
4. The extent to which you took this assignment seriously. Done or thrown together at the last minute? Or thoughtfully written? I will be able to tell.
5. Meeting the assignment deadline
Ok. Here, by the way, is a taste of Prairie Home Companion. Turn up your sound and enjoy!
We had a short, ungraded quiz in class on Monday, March 14. We also went over the answers to the quiz questions. How did you do? How would you do if I hit you with these same questions (or very similar questions about radio) in the near future? Better be able to answer these!
1. About how many radio stations are there in the U.S.?
2. What does FM (as in FM radio) stand for?
3. Define "narrowcasting."
4. Name an early pioneer or inventor or trailblazer of radio.
5. Name two areas (within the division of labor or management structure at a radio station) that you might work in.
6. Name the public radio station based at Emory & Henry College.
7. What federal agency licenses a radio station?
8. Name the satellite radio company in the U.S.
9. What, in terms of radio, is "payola
10. List or name two different formats (for music or songs) that you will find in radio.
I've decided to extend an opportunity for extra credit--connected with the upcoming events/speakers of Mass Communications Week at EHC. (See previous blog post about the agenda for the week.)
To receive extra credit, you must attend one or more sessions of MCW, and write a short paper (1-2 pages) about that experience. Describe in your paper what session(s) you attended, and summarize briefly what happened or what was said. Most importantly, write about: 1) what you learned from the speaker(s) that you didn't know before you attended the session; and 2) how the session(s) you attended connect with what we are covering or reading about in our MCOM 101 course.
The extra credit paper must be typed and double spaced and turned in to me by the start of our class on Monday, March 21. No emails or attachments accepted. Must be a hard copy in my hands by start of our class on March 21.
Hope you attend and participate in Mass Communications Week.
For our class on Friday, March 18, do NOT come to our regular classroom.
Instead, report to the campus radio station—WEHC-FM—at 10 a.m., March 18.
Station manager Richard Graves will be giving us a tour and overview of the solar-powered station. Come with your questions about working in radio.
The radio station is located on the campus of EHC in the bottom level of Woodrow W. McClothlin Center for the Arts.
As you face the big white columns of the building (on the side of the building that is near the red brick path that goes down the hill to the cafeteria), follow the sidewalk to the left of the building and enter the side entrance.
With this blog is a picture I snapped of the solar panels and transmitter tower for WEHC-FM. You can see the panels near top of the hill just off exit 26 of I-81 (the Emory exit).
