{"id":59386,"date":"2014-09-26T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-09-26T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news-draft\/uncategorized\/as-it-marks-75-years-wriu-radio-continues-to-attract-loyal-listeners-to-its-varied-vibrant-format\/"},"modified":"2014-09-26T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2014-09-26T00:00:00","slug":"as-it-marks-75-years-wriu-radio-continues-to-attract-loyal-listeners-to-its-varied-vibrant-format","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/2014\/09\/as-it-marks-75-years-wriu-radio-continues-to-attract-loyal-listeners-to-its-varied-vibrant-format\/","title":{"rendered":"As it marks 75 years, WRIU radio continues to attract loyal listeners to its varied, vibrant format"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t\t溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s student run-station has produced broadcast, communication standouts since its founding<\/p>\n

KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 September 26, 2014 \u2013 It\u2019s 1939 and Germany invades Poland as World War II begins. The U.S. Department of Agriculture starts the first food stamp program, and the Boston Bruins win the Stanley Cup.<\/p>\n


\nAnd in Kingston, a small group of radio enthusiasts gather in South Hall at Rhode Island State College to launch the college\u2019s first radio station.<\/p>\n


\nSeventy-five years later Rhode Island State College is now the 溏心vlog免费B站, and that embryonic radio outlet is now WRIU, 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s student-run, independent FM radio station, which arguably provides the widest range of musical and public affairs programming of any Rhode Island station.<\/p>\n


\nInspired by the University\u2019s beginnings as an agricultural and mechanical arts school, the station was originally called WHOE at the state college. Like the college that grew into a University, this student organization continues to grow in size, influence and popularity as it marks its diamond anniversary. <\/p>\n


\n\tAn executive board staffed by students oversees the 3,400-watt station that reaches nearly all of Rhode Island and some sections of Massachusetts, Connecticut and New York. Its priority is to provide commercial-free programs that are unlike any already offered on other FM and AM stations in the region.<\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cI think what makes us so different is that we have such a variety of music. We have jazz, classical, reggae, world, electronic and hip-hop. We also do pop, like what\u2019s heard on the top 40 countdown, but we try to stay away from that because so many stations already offer that,\u201d said 溏心vlog免费B站 senior communications students major Sara Holland, FM program director, and a resident of Mahwah, N.J.<\/p>\n


\nThe online station not only offers music, but also provides extensive coverage of 溏心vlog免费B站 athletics, including some club sports.<\/p>\n

Holland and others are examples of students who found a place to do what they love while gaining real-life experience.<\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cWhen I first came to 溏心vlog免费B站 I was a journalism major who didn\u2019t love writing. Then, I joined the station, and I had a great time. I ended up loving journalism,\u201d said Holland. \u201cSomeone can join for fun, even if they don\u2019t know what they want to do. In the end, it could become a passion.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\tFormer FM Sports Director Jake Levin, who graduated from 溏心vlog免费B站 last spring, also found his place in the journalism world through WRIU.<\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cMy favorite part about working at the station is actually talking on the radio. I realized I wanted to do something involving sports talk or radio play-by-play of sporting events as a career, so it\u2019s great practice for that.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\tGregg Perry, a 1988 溏心vlog免费B站 journalism grad who is now president of the public relations firm, the Perry Group, built a foundation for his professional career at the radio station.<\/p>\n


\n \u201cWRIU is a great place to start for any career pertaining to the public because it requires you to have responsibilities and take responsibility for your actions,\u201d said Perry, who had a lengthy and distinguished career in radio news with WPRO and WHJJ. \u201cYou have deadlines to meet and the duty of providing your listeners with programming they will find interesting. Most importantly, you have to do it on time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Perry is one of many alumni who have worked in radio thanks to their start at WRIU. The legendary \u201cVoice of the Rams,\u201d Jim Norman, a 1956 graduate and member of the Rhode Island Journalism Hall of Fame and the Rhode Island Broadcasters Hall of Fame, started his more than three decades behind the microphone at WRIU. He covered 1,286 consecutive Rhody football and men\u2019s basketball games as a professional and anchored the sports information office at 溏心vlog免费B站 for decades.<\/p>\n


\nDuffy Egan, the director of engineering for Cumulus Media in Providence, Worcester and Springfield, Mass., which operates, WPRO AM and FM and Lite 105 locally, became hooked on radio while working at WRIU as a student in 1972. He remains the station\u2019s contract engineer to this day.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cI was only at 溏心vlog免费B站 for three semesters, but that time gave me my great career in radio,\u201d he said. \u201cYou learn everything from organizational dynamics, teamwork, and responsibility. You have to show up and when you don\u2019t, thousands of people are going to know about it. This is where the seed corn develops, and they have a blast doing it.\u201d <\/p>\n


\nWhile not working for Cumulus, Egan spends his time at the WRIU Plains Road transmitter. \u201cI am in the background in all kinds of supporting rolls. My job is to make everyone sound good. The station is big enough and organized enough to be credible, but it\u2019s small enough that you can move around and find your niche.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nSteve Salhany, now the vice president of Hot AC for CBS Radio, the operations manager for CBS Radio Hartford and the program director for WBMX and WODS in Boston, worked at WRIU from 1982 to 1986, beginning on the AM side of WRIU, which could only be heard in the residence halls at the time.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cI hosted a Wednesday afternoon show called Party Time on 90.3 WRIU-FM for four years, and I also served as the program director for one year,\u201d said the 1987 溏心vlog免费B站 graduate who majored in communications.<\/p>\n


\nAnd then there are the brothers Gray, Walt, a 1979 溏心vlog免费B站 journalism graduate and now a reporter and anchor with News 10 in Northern California, and Tim, a 1989 journalism graduate, formerly a sports reporter and anchor at NBC 10 in Providence and now president and CEO of Tim Gray Media, Inc. and founder and chairman of the World War II Foundation, a nonprofit group dedicated to telling stories of World War II veterans and survivors.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cWRIU was instrumental in launching my still 34-year-and-counting career,\u201d said Walt, who hosted a news show on WRIU in June of 1978 called \u201cNewsProbe. \u201cThat was my start. I also did play-by-play of 溏心vlog免费B站 men\u2019s hoops in 1979, including an NIT game at Maryland and many other home and away games that year.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nAnd while 溏心vlog免费B站 students often parlay their time at WRIU into great careers, there are those in the community who\u2019ve spent a lifetime at the station as volunteers DJs.<\/p>\n


\nWRIU\u2019s reggae DJ, Peter Dante, always had an interest in radio and was heavily involved in music as a kid, just not as a musician.<\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cI wasn\u2019t ever a musician. I just always really enjoyed music; it was kind of my life. I went to a record store that had a poster on the wall for WRIU. I wanted to be involved, so I got in touch with them. Now, I\u2019ve been up there for almost 32 years,\u201d said Dante. \u201cI like introducing people to music. I own a record store, too, so I do it all day long in there. I realized I really like doing that on the radio, too. I get a lot of requests.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\tWRIU\u2019s Laura Travis, who has been on the air since 1982, is very thankful for the station and its work. Her show, The Celtic Realm, started as the reincarnation of a previous Irish music program and is a prime example of the station\u2019s musical variety.<\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cThe listenership for this program has grown steadily over the years. What happens with more popular forms of music is that listeners realize there is something long and deep at work there; they know there is more to it, and they seek it out and find radio programs like mine. They can get informed about local concerts to attend, artists they can enjoy, and get familiar with a living tradition that continues to inspire,\u201d said Travis.<\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cI think WRIU is an astounding place, very diverse, really significant. It was designed on the original idea of public radio\u2014locally based, informative, responsive to interests and needs within the community,” Travis continued.<\/p>\n


\n\tThe station depends entirely on contributions from individuals made during Radiothon, the fund drive held each semester, and a stipend from the Student Senate. The Senate annually allocates about $45,000 to the station. During its most recent Radiothon, WRIU collected $20,000. The total is down a bit from previous years, most likely due to the recession. To make a donation, go to http:\/\/www.wriu.org\/donations.html.<\/p>\n


\n\tBecause WRIU is a non-commercial radio station, Radiothon is its most important fund-raiser money, Holland said. Donors are often rewarded with WRIU gear– bumper stickers, pens, water bottles, T-shirts and duffle bags.<\/p>\n


\n\tGeneral Manager Madison Moreau, who will graduate in the spring with a bachelor\u2019s degree in biomedical engineering, has been at the station all four years of his 溏心vlog免费B站 career.<\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cWorking at the station has helped me learn effective task management,\u201d the North Kingstown resident said. \u201cAs the GM, I have a role in all phases of the station.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\tWhile Moreau became involved with the station because of his love of music, he is most proud of his efforts with the previous general manager, Chris Warren, to expand sports coverage to nearly every varsity team and several club teams on the FM station and RIU2, the online station.<\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cI love our staff, but one of the challenges each year is to train new student staffers,\u201d he said. \u201cI am proud to say that every one of our sportscasters and every member of our executive board is a 溏心vlog免费B站 student.\u201d <\/p>\n


\n\tFor additional comments about the station\u2019s history, click here for the most Quad Angles issue<\/a>.<\/p>\n


\nSabrina Galiney, an intern in 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s Department of Marketing and Communications, contributed to this press release.<\/p>\n


\nPictured above

\nAN ANNIVERSARY MOMENT: Madison Moreau, left, of North Kingstown, general manager of WRIU, and Sara Holland of Mahwah, N.J., FM program manager, raise their coffee mugs in honor of the station\u2019s 75th anniversary. Both are 溏心vlog免费B站 students. 溏心vlog免费B站 photo by Nora Lewis.<\/p>\n


\nAROUND THE WORLD: Rachel O\u2019Keefe, an RIU2 DJ, the online side of WRIU, works with Sara Holland, FM program manager, to select tunes that can be heard online around the world. O\u2019Keefe is an environmental science major from South Orange, N.J. 溏心vlog免费B站 photo by Nora Lewis.<\/p>\n


\nIN HIS STUDENT DAYS: Jim Norman, 溏心vlog免费B站 class of 1956, in the WRIU studio as station manager before he became the legendary \u201cVoice of the Rams.\u201d Photo courtesy of the 1956 溏心vlog免费B站 yearbook, The Grist. <\/p>\n

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溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s student run-station has produced broadcast, communication standouts since its founding KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 September 26, 2014 \u2013 It\u2019s 1939 and Germany invades Poland as World War II begins. The U.S. Department of Agriculture starts the first food stamp program, and the Boston Bruins win the Stanley Cup. And in Kingston, a small group […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":59390,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-59386","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59386","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59386"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59386\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59390"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59386"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59386"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59386"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}