Monday, June 21, 2010

14. A Message from Burr Beard to WTJU Speaking to the Need for Celerity

I appreciate all the civil, coherent and thoughtful ideas put forth online today.

[name of recipient removed]

The need to move quickly on the proposed program changes is necessary to build interest and audience for a fall fund drive. The summer is a perfect time for such change, the new programming and older programming in new time slots will have time to work out the kinks and grow strong before students return in the fall, venues get busier with live music and everyone feels the renewal of the fall season. That's why public radio fund drives occur in the fall and why the year's most succesful fund-drives happen then. 90 days would put us right at fund-drive time to launch what probably would never happen. Forgive me for my candor, but change, major enough to meet the goals of the university, probably would not happen in 180 days with a committee of over 150 well meaning, invested and good people such as yourselves.

12 comments:

  1. It needs to be done quickly is a poor argument for making drastic changes.

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  2. Please send this to Mr. Beard and others who may be interested:
    This is a hasty decision that obviously creates a lot of controversy, and there is good reason for that controvery, and those reasons should be carefully weighed before deciding that this is the way to proceed. I believe there is more at stake than you might think, and damage that is done by this might be difficult to repair. My guess would be that the short-term damage from the ill will from upset volunteers and listeners will outweigh corresponding short term gains of possible new listeners - you could easily end up making LESS money by the end of the fall drive than you would if you retained playlist-free radio. More than anything else, playlist-free has been THE CORE ATTRIBUTE of WTJU for many decades; as Ann Porotti stated, it should deserve more careful consideration before discarding it so quickly.
    Playlist-free brought me back to WTJU - I'm almost never in C'ville, but I listen to WTJU.net all the time -- I'm writing and listening now from a hotel in NYC. Playlist-free is the reason I contributed $150 (plus matching grant from my employer) this year. WTJU is my strongest connection to the University. The plan outlined in consistency.doc threatens to severely damage that -- I can't imagine Prof. Bebop, Black Circle Revolution or Lady D having to fit arbitrary "Currents" into their sets. I'd absolutely hate to hear the jazz DJs playing "commercially appealing" tracks. However, I can EASILY imagine my going back to my record and CD collection if I can't look forward to another perfectly unique Radio Freedonia broadcast, or to being challenged by The Hep Imp Show. I will INCREASE my contribution next year if the DJs remain free to program their own shows. But I won't contribute at all if I'm not listening anymore.

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  3. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  4. Celerity? This use of this word when rapidity of motion or action could have been used is emblematic of why WTJU and it's followers are in trouble.

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  5. Yeah, them $10 words 're f'r sissies, college boy.

    or, as was said in the courtroom scene in Idiocracy:

    He talks like a faggot.

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  6. 'Celerity' was shorter. Hey, let's get into basic grammar and usage. You mis-used 'It's'; when you add the apostrophe, it means 'it is.' Now shut up.

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  7. Thanks for the grammar lesson and the polite and understand way you delivered it. It's that spirit of serving the public that has gotten WTJU the rapid following it now enjoys!

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  8. I felt that your snarky statement deserved a similar response. Quid pro quo, friend.

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  9. Also, I don't feel out of line pointing out that you are also mis-using the descriptor 'rapid' above. Sorry, back to my pedantic radio antics, or PedAntics, as it were.

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  10. No, it's the correct use of rapid in this case- as in how quickly most people turn their radio dial after listening to many of the WTJU's shows. You must have been thinking of the commonly used rabid following; which seems to be best used when describing most of WTJU's defenders.

    I can certainly see where you might get confused by that trite and predictable usage.

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  11. If you so detest WTJU, why are you commenting here?

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  12. Edible Cville, you win... this time! *Slinks away up own ass, disappears in cloud of obfuscation.*

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