6-3-14
That's the headline from a Salon piece written by Garrett Martin. It's about college radio in general and about Georgia State's WRAS specifically, which will soon replace its independent music for public broadcasting after a deal with GPB was announced last month. Martin writes the demise of WRAS is bigger than Georgia State or even Atlanta. "Today college radio is threatened by the same forces that undermine the commercial radio industry. The Internet has upended the entire notion of radio, as listeners can find almost anything they want at any moment."
Martin says younger listeners don?t grow up with a love for college radio, and thus don?t go out of their way to volunteer at a station when they?re in school, which leads to the increasingly common sound of older voices on the college frequency as community members fill in the gaps on the schedule. "Beyond letting students gain experience on FM radio or serving as a social club for students who aren?t into sports or Greek culture, college radio is still one of the easiest entry points into subcultures ignored by mainstream media. It provides college students and teenagers bored with the pop music that?s played everywhere else with a window into a secret and more honest world. It isn?t just for the young, though; college radio is for anybody bored by the artless sounds and repetitive playlists of commercial radio."
Read Martin's piece in Salon HERE
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