KLSU radio listeners can tune in today for special programming content highlighting the importance of college radio for the first-ever College Radio Day.
Jeff Martinez, KLSU station manager, said College Radio Day was started by Rob Quicke, the general station manager at William Paterson University in New York. In its first year, more than 300 high school and college stations have joined the movement.
The participating stations are changing their programming today to stress the important role college radio plays in the community. KLSU will feature a 40-minute documentary about the past, present and future of college radio, Martinez said.
The event is especially relevant now because several college radio stations, including those at Vanderbilt University and the University of San Francisco, have sold their licenses to corporate entities in the past year due to tightening budgets, Martinez said.
Martinez said college radio is important because it provides an alternative to main-wave stations, is broadcast to community members by locals and offers hands-on experience for student employees.
“College radio is a different avenue for things you wouldn’t necessarily see on commercial radio stations. There’s a different art form that you hear on a college radio station,” Martinez said. “It’s where a lot of bands that we drop on a day-by-day basis start from, like Kings of Leon, Kanye West and Arcade Fire. All those people started on college