Today UW-Madison joins the ranks of colleges across the country — WSUM will become a broadcast student radio station. At 2:22 p.m., WSUM station manager Dave Black, journalism professor emeritus James Hoyt (two people who have worked diligently to get the station’s tower in Montrose built) and numerous other people will flip the switch launching the station onto the airwaves. It has been a long fight.
Students have worked since 1973 to launch a radio station. WSUM began as a small station in the dorms and later lost its FCC license. Since then, the station has had a tumultuous few years simply attempting to get back on the air.
Throughout the struggle, student government has been both student radio’s biggest backer and its largest headache. Riding the political winds of student government often made it hard to raise money outside of the university because as the years went by and student leaders changed, so did the student government’s view on where outside money should come from, Black said.
The biggest setback came in 1988, when the student government pulled the radio’s funding entirely because it felt student broadcast radio was lost cause. Only in the 1990s did student government provide critical funding that helped build the tower and defeat WSUM’s opposition.
Specifically, WSUM’s most recent hurdle was the lawsuits from the town of Montrose attempting to halt construction of the necessary radio tower. Fights with the town and threats of losing the station’s FCC license almost stalled the project again — but this time the station prevailed.
The UW-Madison student community will never be the same after this afternoon. Until now, aside from the two daily student newspapers, students’ mass-media outlets have been noticeably limited. Hoyt said WSUM has the opportunity to fill a void, not only on campus but also within the city of Madison.
“I would like the station to become integrated with the campus life so that it is fully and carefully reflecting student interests and has a diverse interest of students participating,” he said. “I hope that station is home to a wide range of musical interests as well as public affairs and cultural interests. Because it is a full-power station, it is not licensed just to serve campus, but all of Madison, and I hope it helps to build bridges that are not limited to campus.”
The radio station will provide more venues for a student voice. WSUM plans to carry only student programming, which means WSUM is students’ best opportunity to tell the rest of Madison how they feel.
Right now the student voice is confined to the Isthmus area, while the rest of Madison goes on with its life. A radio station with a citywide audience holds the potential for the campus and the city to become more integrated.
