Excelsior

Issue date: 11/23/09 Section: News

BC Radio. www.mywbcr.com

Brooklyn College students, faculty, and alumni, as well as a roster of established radio personalities embraced the longevity of BC radio as they celebrated the station's 41st anniversary this past Thursday in the Student Center.

Mariane McCune, of WNYC radio, moderated the open panel discussion where radio industry professionals and students spoke about the future of radio, as well as its place in a shifting media market.

"Even though newspapers and television tried to kill it, you can not kill radio," said Television and Radio Department Chair, Professor George Rodman. "Radio is appealing to the young people and they have a connection with it. It will never die as long there is young people who have passion for talent and they deliver their talent."

With the gaining popularity of Internet radio, more opportunities for new and young personalities to find their place on the airwaves are being created. Freelance television and radio producer/reporter, Veralyn Williams, former Hot 97.1 and Power 105.1 radio personality and current host on "Sex, Really?" an online podcast with WNYC's Radio Rookies, views internet radio as a very profitable asset and a great launching point for many new radio personality careers.

"I will encourage young people to get into Internet Radio, especially when you are first entering the business, even if it doesn't pay the bills right away," said Williams, adding, "use Facebook and Myspace as your backup because there are so many people on these sites. It's not expensive. It will enhance traditional radio just as long as you have a topic that people will want to listen to. I found a topic that is meaningful to me, which is relationships, and now I'm an expert on it."

The panel also discussed some of the complaints and areas for improvement in radio today citing that some hosts and personalities do not address issues that are important to the audience, and that some stations opt only to play songs and use a voice track. Television and Radio major, Jordan Patrick, feels that this kind of programming detracts from the overall connection and "will turn the listener off,

"People can not connect with the disc jockey if they are using voice track all the time, it will turn the listener off," said Patrick. "That is not radio to me at all because the disc jockey is only playing music that will people will grow out off eventually but everyone is only thinking about money."

Continued...

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