Company wants time on school radio stations

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: chodge5 () utk edu
Date: November 16, 2004 12:22:24 PM EST
To: Dave Farber <dave () farber net>
Subject: Company wants time on school radio stations


For IP if you wish.

-c


> Company wants time on school radio stations
>   Districts, students unhappy with Texas broadcaster's effort
>   November 12, 2004
> http://www.freep.com/news/metro/hsradio12e_20041112.htm
>
> BY LORI HIGGINS
> FREE PRESS EDUCATION WRITER
>
> Drive through Southfield, flip the FM radio dial to 88.3 and chances
> are the sound you'll hear is a distinct mix of hip-hop and rap.
>
> But for how long?
>
> That depends on how successful a Texas company with religious ties is.
>
>  From nearly 1,300 miles away, that company, R B Schools, is making
> waves through Michigan's community of high school radio stations by
> trying to horn in on the air time of a handful of stations. It has done
> so by filing an application with the Federal Communications Commission
> that would force students to share their section of the radio dial.
>
> It's a situation that has school officials scratching their heads. Some
> are hiring broadcast attorneys and fighting back.
>
> "This is all new territory to me," said Peter Bowers, station manager
> at WBHF-FM (88.1), the radio station at Andover High School in
> Bloomfield Hills.
>
> His school's station is one of those targeted. So are Southfield High
> School's WSHJ (88.3) and Plymouth-Canton Educational Park's WSDP
> (88.1), as well as high school stations in Flint and Saginaw.
>
> The company wants the schools to agree to share their airwaves. If R B
> Schools' attempts to negotiate an agreement fail, the company wants the
> FCC to intervene.
>
> Officials from R B Schools, based in Keene, Texas, did not return calls
> seeking comment. Nor did Donald Martin, the Falls Church, Va., attorney
> who represents the company.
>
> The company's filing with the FCC indicates it intends to broadcast
> educational programming on topics such as literature, history, social
> sciences, health, hygiene, nutrition, child development, interpersonal
> relationships and civics.
>
> But the company's president, Linda de Romanett, is also president and
> director of several companies that operate radio stations that have
> religious programming, including WBAJ (890), an AM station in
> Blythewood, S.C., that boasts on its Web site: "We broadcast about
> Jesus!"
>
> "What this market doesn't need is another religious radio station,"
> said Dick Kernen, vice president at Specs Howard School of Broadcast
> Arts in Southfield.
>
> Ryan Fishman, a junior at Andover High School and operations director
> for WBHF, says the issue is broader than one of having to share time
> with another company.
>
> "This is a high school radio station. Our purpose is to broadcast
> educational programming," Fishman said. "To put on a religious program,
> after a student signs off the airwaves, seems like a conflict between
> the separation of church and state." R B Schools cites FCC policy that
> requires noncommercial educational FM stations to operate a minimum of
> 12 hours a day or be subject to a time-sharing agreement.
>
> Automated technology allows the Southfield and Bloomfield Hills
> stations to operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
>
> "Someone at R B Schools didn't do their homework," Bowers said.
>
> The Plymouth-Canton station operates from 6:45 a.m. to 10 p.m., five
> days a week, though it had plans to go all day long before R B Schools
> showed interest, said Patricia Brand, assistant superintendent of
> business for Plymouth-Canton Community Schools. The expansion of hours
> will happen in the next month or so.
>
> The schools say they believe they already meet the minimum hours rules.
> And they say R B Schools didn't file its applications in time. But
> there is still concern, because the FCC is reviewing their license
> renewals. They also worry that the company will target other schools.
>
> "I don't want to be too comfortable. You never know what can happen,"
> said Julea Ward, director of the Southfield High station.
>
> The Southfield district recently responded to R B Schools, telling
> Martin -- the company's lawyer -- that it has no interest in sharing
> time.
>
> There are 16 operating high school radio stations in Michigan,
> according to the Michigan Association of Educational Broadcasters.
>
> The stations give students an opportunity to learn all aspects of the
> radio industry, from behind-the-scenes work in production to crafting
> on-air personas.
>
> In Southfield, the radio station gives up-and-coming rappers like
> Tiffany Lindsay, a senior, a forum for displaying their music.
>
> On Tuesday, Brittany Johnson sat in Studio C of the school's radio
> station, listening to three cuts from Tiffany's CD, checking for
> anything inappropriate. The same occurs for any music the station
> plays.
>
> Tiffany, who goes by T-313, says it's weird to hear her work on the
> radio.
>
> "I'm my worst critic. I critique myself to the fullest. But it's good,
> though," she said.
>
> Down the hall in the station's main studio, Caleb Foster, 17, a senior,
> was working with several other students to program what listeners will
> hear this weekend.
>
> Caleb said he understands why R B Schools might see the station's
> airwaves as attractive, "but I don't necessarily agree with it," he
> said.
>
> Neither does Kyle Covington, a 16-year-old junior and the station's
> production manager whose on-air name is Young Masta. High school radio
> stations spend years creating an identity that is special to their
> school and community. That identity must be preserved, he and others
> say.
>
> "People rely on 88.3 being a particular style. It would go against what
> we stand for," Covington said.
>
> Contact LORI HIGGINS at 248-351-3694 or higgins () freepress com.

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