Changing frequency: newly formatted Black College radio stations work to jazz up their image, while serving campus and community

Black Issues in Higher Education, Oct 9, 2003 by David Hefner

At WCLK, the jazz station at Clark Atlanta University, a program called "Power Point" is produced in CAU's studios and syndicated nationally to 40 radio stations in mostly urban areas. "Power Point" features news on politics, health and finance.

"We pretty much have implemented more public affairs programming because of community need," says Wendy Williams, general manager of WCLK. "We have been able to beef up our program lineup."

Wiley College's radio station KBWC is another example of a Black college radio station that has reinvented itself. They received Black College Radio's award this year for the station with the most community service, and KBWC's Sean Nickelberry was honored as program director of the year.

"We've gotten a lot of positive feedback," says Shannon "Mercedes" Levingston, general manager of KBWC radio. "In two years, we actually turned the station around ... The station was only a one-format station (jazz), and the community wanted more of a variety. So in the last two years we now offer more of a variety, a mix of gospel, R&B, hip hop, smooth jazz, blues, reggae and old school. We call ourselves 'The Mix.' The music is parted and formatted so there's a particular day and time when the audience is more apt to be listening to (a certain) type of music. Two years ago, we were broadcast from 6 a.m. to midnight. Now, we're 24-7."

The radio station, which has existed for 27 years, has made it a point to be visible in the community.

"The station formed a club named 'KBWC Street Team,' to show that KBWC was about campus and community," Levingston says. "We sometimes created our own events and community service and other times we attached ourselves to pre-existing events to show that we're in the community and that we're on campus.

"We had to show (Black College Radio) the type of activities that we're involved in.... Like when we went to nursing homes for Valentine's Day and put on a program and helped serve lunch. We had one public service event a month--like for lupus and for breast cancer awareness. We also pass out literature in the community."

Levingston adds that they now have student involvement, and the campus and community is excited about the station. "We've done surveys, and they've indicated that we've come a really, really long way."

STRENGTH IN NUMBERS

Additionally, a consortium of Black college radio stations that are members of National Public Radio pushed for the creation of the "Tavis Smiley Show." The consortium--headed by radio stations at CAU, Morgan State, Jackson State, North Carolina Central and Texas Southern universities--urged executives at NPR to bring Smiley on in order to appeal to African American listeners.

"The consortium has made us stronger," Williams says. "We want to be able to develop more programs that we can share among stations, which will cut down on our costs."

Black College Radio's Jelks said moderate to high costs also are stifling Black college radio stations.

Fisk's Woolfolk couldn't offer a line-item amount of the expenses at the station. At CAU, Williams didn't want to give an exact figure but said the station employs 20 full-time employees, some on grants. Williams also said that 45 percent of the station's annual budget comes from the university, 20 percent from the Corporation of Public Broadcasting, and 35 percent from grants, underwriting and membership dues.