E&H’s radio range to get boost
Advertisement
Text size: small | medium | large
BY DEBRA McCOWN
Media General News Service
Published: October 15, 2008
EMORY, Va. – Aris Winger is a math professor; he never once thought he would have a radio show, but his Tuesday night on-air discussions on controversial issues have become popular on campus.
Among Winger’s interviews have been Thomas Robb, national director of the Ku Klux Klan; Eric Thompson, who sold the guns to the Virginia Tech shooter; and Roy Den Hollander, who recently lost a fight to have “ladies’ night” at bars declared unconstitutional.
“Most of these topics are so difficult to talk about, and we are going to talk about them,” Winger said. “Just because someone disagrees with us fundamentally about something … doesn’t mean we can’t discuss productively with them.”
In June, the voices of Emory & Henry College – including Winger’s – will be heard far beyond the campus, throughout Southwest Virginia and the Tri-Cities.
With recent approval from the Federal Communications Commission and a federal grant announced Wednesday, the college radio station, 90.7 WEHC, will build a new tower and increase its power to 10,000 watts – a hundredfold increase over what it was two years ago. The new radio tower will stand 199 feet above Interstate 81.
“It just evolved, I guess,” said Teresa Keller, chairwoman of the college’s mass communications department and general manager of the station. “I guess with anything, if it’s going well you want to do it bigger and better.”
About a year ago, the station increased its power from 100 watts to 500 – allowing it to broadcast beyond the campus and reach the fringes of Abingdon, the county seat.
“This time next year, we’ll be a major media voice in the region,” Keller said. “We’ll be on the radio dial right alongside Virginia Tech and East Tennessee State University.”
In addition to local programming, which airs from 1 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 11 p.m., the station is broadcasting NPR, talk and BBC news shows – all of which will be available in remote areas for the first time.
“They’ll get a worldwide perspective, and they’ll get richer presentations of the cultural resources in our region,” Keller said of the audience the station will reach. “It will literally open up a world of music, and it’s going to present a world of ideas that people might’ve had a harder time being exposed to before.”
U.S. Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Virginia, said he’s been working with the college for about six months to help it gain the $187,932 grant that will fund most of the cost of the new station, which will broadcast throughout the Tri-Cities.
“I think it’s an important cultural step forward,” Boucher said.
“It was a bold vision to go within the space of what will be approximately two years from a small radio station of only 100 watts, the signal from which didn’t go more than a mile beyond the campus, to what will be a 10,000-watt station, the signal from which will radiate over probably 10 to 12 counties, well into Tennessee and the entire Tri-Cities.”
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) (276) 791-0701
ONLINE: Radio programming from Emory & Henry College can be heard at http://www.ehc.edu and clicking on the WEHC-FM link.
SOME LOCAL PROGRAMS:
9 p.m. Sunday – On the Porch - Gil Braswell features the music and musicians of the region
9 p.m. Tuesday – The Flagship - Aris Winger engages in frank discussion with newsmakers on controversial issues of the day
9 p.m. Wednesday – Rise Up Singing - Steve Fisher features social justice and protest music, and singer-songwriters not heard on commercial radio
9 p.m. Friday – Let’s Get It On - Robert Weisfeld plays music and talks about local happenings
Post a Comment
(Requires free registration)
- Please avoid offensive, vulgar, or hateful language.
- Respect others.
- Use the "Report Inappropriate Comment" link when necessary.
- See the Terms and Conditions for details.
Click here to post a comment.
Can't find what you're looking for? Try our quick search:
