Women and people of color have traditionally been excluded from Dartmouth Broadcasting and positions of management within the stations. Because of the dearth of women and minorities involved with Dartmouth Broadcasting, Sally Huntoon '93, former general manager, worked out a three year plan which addressed the need to recruit women to radio and to encourage their active involvement with Dartmouth Broadcasting.
The three year plan was soon forgotten.
Station management quickly forgot the report, never worked towards the goals outlined in it and never passed it on to the general managers and station directors who came after Huntoon.
The issue of diversity and the need to increase it has been constantly neglected, leading to what is presently the least diverse group of directors in recent memory. For the first time in at least four years, the three senior Directors of Dartmouth Broadcasting (General Manager and Program Directors of WDCR and WFRD) are white males. Women and minorities still comprise only 43 percent of both stations; 87 percent of them are on WDCR.
In addition to having the majority of women and minorities working at WDCR, the station plays over 90 percent of the female artists represented at both stations, as well as the only ethnic and diverse music in the Upper Valley. WFRD plays music by only 7 women artists (with the exception of new artists, who are often female, but whose albums get pulled from the library once their singles are no longer in heavy rotation).
The present diversity at Dartmouth Broadcasting, however limited, is in a precarious position. Philip Augur '95, General Manager, has undergone preparations to transform 1340's present music format to that of a news/talk station supplied by an AP or CNN news-wire twenty-four hours a day.
If interested, students could be able to supplement the running news-wire with their own news and talk shows. These types of shows, however, already exist on the present WDCR format.
But, students have not traditionally been interested in producing news/talk programming -- this year only three students have expressed interest in talk shows. Only one student has followed through with the training process and developed a weekly show. Furthermore, the news department has had problems achieving a high-quality nightly news program. Because the department is understaffed, the Dartmouth Nightly News (DNN) program has been cut back from five to three times per week.
Current lack of interest aside, the implementation of a news/talk station in place of WDCR's present format is reprehensible; it would eliminate the diversity that is represented only on WDCR. A news/talk format could never hope to approach this type of diversity.
No women have expressed interest in talk radio in at least the past two years. Last year, "On Target", the lone talk show on WDCR, was supposed to ensure that it had a diverse group of panelists every week. However, the producer of the program was unsuccessful in recruiting women for the panel, and the show was eventually terminated because it was unable to meet its goal of including a diverse group of people and views.
In a recent article appearing in The Providence Journal-Bulletin by John Martin, he points out that "only...Imus [of Imus in the Morning] and [Rush] Limbaugh saw their audiences increase in '94" (1/20/95, pg D13). Far from being diverse and educational, news/talk shows that make money are heavily slanted towards specific viewpoints and are not inclusive or tolerant of anything beyond their individual agendas.
Replacing WDCR's current programming with news/talk would eliminate the only radio station in the Upper Valley which plays alternative, rap, R&B, hip-hop, jazz, reggae, ska, techno/house, Korean or Spanish music. WDCR, with its current format, welcomes anyone who wishes to do radio to design his/her own format. This allows for the constant possibility of new types of music and other creative programs to be broadcast in the Upper Valley.
Doing away with a radio station that serves as a creative outlet for any interested Dartmouth community member would limit each student's education (as a potential participant or potential listener). WDCR currently attracts more participants than all the other areas of the radio stations combined, as well as attracting a vastly more diverse audience than the college's classic rock station.
A news/talk format would destroy many existing possibilities, bringing with it only a limited potential for student-initiated programs -- a potential which already exists. Moreover, if the news/talk station is intended to make money as has been stated, then only marketable programs will be allowed to air and students with creative, but not popular, ideas would be excluded.
