By Douglas Esser
UWave Radio, the 糖心vlog视频 station, may need another name. Radio hardly describes all the media, programming and community building that takes place through the student-run station in Husky Hall.
Video, social media, podcasts and targeted audiences are taking UWave beyond a single format, said Amoshaun Toft, the faculty adviser and an assistant professor in the School of Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences (IAS).
鈥淥ur students are learning the cutting edge of where digital broadcasting is going. It鈥檚 multimedia. It鈥檚 live and archived, and it鈥檚 engaging specific communities because that鈥檚 how media works,鈥 Toft said. 鈥淚t is an academic and career trajectory, a creative outlet and expression space.鈥
Discovery format
With the slogan 鈥測our voice, your vibe,鈥 UWave students share their opinions, attitudes and favorite music daily. The audio storytelling is an opportunity for listeners to discover ideas and people that are perhaps outside their usual interest areas.
UWave began as an effort to establish a student-owned, low-power FM station, which was unsuccessful. It then started streaming over the internet in 2012. Listeners simply click on the link on its or on its or accounts.
鈥淲e need to be smart about where we鈥檙e reaching listeners, but it鈥檚 still sound. All the same tools still apply,鈥 Toft said. 鈥淚t just may not be coming through your FM dial.
鈥淧eople are listening more than ever 鈥 it鈥檚 just that they鈥檙e listening in different technology and platform formats,鈥 he said.
Toft has been teaching in the Media & Communications Studies program since 2009 and uses some of his multimedia storytelling courses to connect students to UWave Radio.
Amplifying voices
Station manager Brannan Widdis (Media & Communications Studies 鈥20) is interested in 鈥渢he way people connect to each other through talking鈥 and would like to move into a career in radio or related media. He was the promotions director last year.
This year, Widdis plans to put archived shows on the UWave website and to start producing prerecorded podcasts.
鈥淲e have a really great environment here at UWave Radio,鈥 Widdis said. 鈥淎nyone who is part of it is very open and accepting. We鈥檙e just here to have a good time, do some radio and be creative.鈥
Studio engineer Mo Abdullahi (Global Studies 鈥20), who has a background in technology, is responsible for equipment as well as training new hosts to produce shows.
With plans for law school eventually, Abdullahi says he sees UWave Radio as an outlet for his creativity. He plans to launch his own lunch hour show Tuesdays and Thursdays called the Lunch Break. It will feature news about campus events and student interviews.
鈥淚鈥檝e met a lot of international students from places I should have known more about. I鈥檇 have them speak about what they want to speak about,鈥 Abdullahi said. 鈥淭his is an accepting environment, a diverse environment. We respect all voices, and we want them to amplify theirs.鈥
Students in charge
UWave is managed by Student Engagement & Activities. Brenda 脛聬脿o, staff program manager, supervises the two paid positions 鈥 manager and engineer. She also provides advice on institutional policies and oversees budgets. The student activities fee funds operations, and the student technology fee pays for equipment.
Students maintain editorial control of the content. Any student with an idea for music, talk or information programming can apply to host a show. No experience is necessary. They learn to use the equipment on the job.
Dozens of volunteers produce shows and carry out business, promotions and technology functions. The hands-on experience can lead to jobs in broadcasting, journalism, the arts or social advocacy, 膼脿o said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a fun, experimental sandbox where students are in charge, and they can take leadership positions and feel responsibility for this entity that they are creating,鈥 said Toft.
Tatum Wollum and Alex Farmer, both majors in Media & Communications Studies who graduated in 2019, created the Coffee & Country show, for example.
The show was designed 鈥渢o bring a little yeehaw into your life鈥 and featured music and interviews with up-and-coming country artists. Last summer, the hosts received press passes to cover the Watershed Festival at The Gorge and posted video clips from the event on Facebook and other social media.
Angelica Mendoza, a 2019 IAS graduate who received the Chancellor鈥檚 Medal, created the 鈥淭remenda Diosa鈥 (Tremendous Goddess) show. Her mix of music and talk celebrated women of color and shared information to help other first-generation or marginalized students.
鈥淚鈥檝e had people tell me their lives have changed, because they hear themselves,鈥 Mendoza said.
