
{"id":7980,"date":"2009-11-12T11:23:51","date_gmt":"2009-11-12T19:23:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/?p=7980"},"modified":"2009-11-12T11:23:51","modified_gmt":"2009-11-12T19:23:51","slug":"recently-radio-station-powered-by-volunteers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/2009\/11\/12\/recently-radio-station-powered-by-volunteers\/","title":{"rendered":"Recently: Radio station powered by volunteers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>By Valarie Schwartz, columnist<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>With a Chapel Hill-located antenna and a reservoir of volunteer sweat, Carrboro has hosted WCOM, its own nonprofit 100-watt radio station for five years. At 103.5 on the dial, the low-power FM station has proven the power of grit and gumption, providing 24\/7 programming without an ounce of corporate control or advertising.<\/p>\n<p>We can thank Ruffin Slater, general manager of Weaver Street Market, for getting the station started and for bringing in Chris Frank (of the Red Clay Ramblers), who was the only person ever on the payroll, serving as part-time station manager for a short while. <!--more--><\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I help out in technical ways. I built a new website and help out when things break,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Frank said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I live close and frequently get calls and go down.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>The programming is a testament to the work ethic of this former mill town, with 57 locally produced shows covering a multitude of music genres, the black and Latino communities, journalism, local writers and what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s happening in the community, plus \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Democracy Now\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Free Speech Radio.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d The station has something for everyone \u00e2\u20ac\u201d\u00c2\u00a0on an annual budget of $12,000.<\/p>\n<p> \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Nobody gets paid,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Jackie Helvey, the Friday co-host of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153West End Report,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d which airs every weekday at 6 p.m. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153You\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re committed to doing it every week, and if you can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be there you better have something ready. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s very unique for a town of our size to have such great programming \u00e2\u20ac\u201d it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s very eclectic.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>Think about it \u00e2\u20ac\u201d a town the size of Carrboro with both an independent newspaper (you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re reading it now) and a radio station, that has been streaming and pod-casting since day-one. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s all fun, and I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know anybody who doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have a ball doing their show,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Helvey said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Whatever your show focuses on is what you consider fun.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>Tom Arnel, host of the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Placeholder Show,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d thinks it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s fun to hear what music other people like to listen to on his show at 5 p.m. on Saturdays. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153The first half of the show, I share some music with the audience myself, and then turn it over to the guest DJ for the second half-hour,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Arnel said. He has had some notables, like Sylvia Hatchell, the UNC Women\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Basketball Coach, and all of the current Carrboro aldermen, as well as his neighbors, local singer\/songwriters and his mother. <\/p>\n<p>Perhaps his most famous guest yet, Elizabeth Edwards, is scheduled for this week, Nov. 14. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I walked in to make a contribution and ended up marrying the station,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Audrey Layden, Helvey\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s co-host on Fridays and the co-host of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Carrboro Book Beat\u00e2\u20ac\u009d with Paul Nagy at 10 a.m. Tuesdays. She also hosts a show that teaches English and Spanish as second languages and serves on the development committee of WCOM. <\/p>\n<p>The focus these days, besides the continual need for donations to keep it afloat, is the search for a new venue \u00e2\u20ac\u201d one with indoor plumbing. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re on the Internet \u00e2\u20ac\u201d anywhere around the globe you go you can get us \u00e2\u20ac\u201d but we have no indoor plumbing,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Layden said of the studio, which is inside the expanded drive-through window of the building, once a bank, across North Greensboro Street from Weaver Street Market. A port-a-let stands nearby. The building (owned by Weaver Street Market) is for sale. The hope is for another storefront presence downtown that, like its current location, will be very low-rent. After all, the station is a gift to the community.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153WCOM gives you your neighbors talking about what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s going on out on the streets, what causes they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re championing,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Layden, who had no previous radio experience except as an interviewee. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I knew nothing, absolutely nothing, about being at the broadcast board. Chris [Frank] gave me two lessons, then said, \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcI\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll be around if you need any help.\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 I have made just about every mistake you can make, live on the air. My biggest accomplishment was learning how not to panic.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>Though the website receives several hundred hits per day, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no way to estimate the listeners. But continued community support, which has been the lifeline, speaks volumes. For only $10 a month, one may become a member of the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Less Than a Latte\u00e2\u20ac\u009d club, which provides a members-only bumper sticker and the satisfaction gained from supporting free speech. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153You\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re going to hear something you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re not going to hear anywhere else,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Helvey said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s real; you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re listening to the people of your community.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153The essence of a free society is open communication,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Layden said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s critical; not just fun and games. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s serious, and a very important part of our democracy.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>See wcomfm.org (and be sure to read its history) or send tax-deductible donations to WCOM, 201 N. Greensboro St., Carrboro, 27510.<\/p>\n<p>Contact Valarie Schwartz at 923-3746 or valariekays (at) mac.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Valarie Schwartz, columnist With a Chapel Hill-located antenna and a reservoir of volunteer sweat, Carrboro has hosted WCOM, its own nonprofit 100-watt radio station for five years. At 103.5 on the dial, the low-power FM station has proven the power of grit and gumption, providing 24\/7 programming without an ounce of corporate control or&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7980","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-community","category-recently"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7980","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7980"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7980\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7981,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7980\/revisions\/7981"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7980"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7980"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7980"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}