WIU eliminating funding for WIUM/WIUW (our local public radio station)

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sealhall74
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ST_Lawson wrote: Fri Aug 24, 2018 9:34 pm
sealhall74 wrote: Fri Aug 24, 2018 9:26 pm Anyone want to take a shot at this question:

Why is it that WIUM is not online yet every NPR station surrounding is online?
Why is it you think WIUM is not online?
Go here: http://www.tspr.org/
right under the header bar where it has the "play" triangle next to "WIUM Tristates Public Radio" and the program that's being aired...press that.

Alternately: https://tunein.com/radio/WIUM-913-s29698/
Actually, I dont know what I was looking at. I have not been drinking tonight either. I like the passion that was shown in the BOT meeting. But Quincy U was in a similar situation about 7 years ago. They gave up the umbrella to their own NPR station and now UMSL is holding the umbrella. Quincy still has a NPR affiliate station.

Maybe it was WIUS The Dog I was confused about. That one is not working for me on my Ubuntu laptop with Chrome browser.
Well, if I click around a bit and clear up some error messages, even that seems to work OK.
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sealhall74
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sealhall74 wrote: Fri Aug 24, 2018 9:45 pm
ST_Lawson wrote: Fri Aug 24, 2018 9:34 pm
sealhall74 wrote: Fri Aug 24, 2018 9:26 pm Anyone want to take a shot at this question:

Why is it that WIUM is not online yet every NPR station surrounding is online?
Why is it you think WIUM is not online?
Go here: http://www.tspr.org/
right under the header bar where it has the "play" triangle next to "WIUM Tristates Public Radio" and the program that's being aired...press that.

Alternately: https://tunein.com/radio/WIUM-913-s29698/
Actually, I dont know what I was looking at. I have not been drinking tonight either. I like the passion that was shown in the BOT meeting. But Quincy U was in a similar situation about 7 years ago. They gave up the umbrella to their own NPR station and now UMSL is holding the umbrella. Quincy still has a NPR affiliate station.

Maybe it was WIUS The Dog I was confused about. That one is not working for me on my Ubuntu laptop with Chrome browser.
Well, if I click around a bit and clear up some error messages, even that seems to work OK.
Saturday Update: Now I know what I was or was not looking at. My HP laptop, Windows 10, Chrome browser is showing a blank space where the listen live box is. Strange, very strange, but is it just me?

FYI, same problem with South Dakota public radio site but not with the Quad Cities, Peoria, St. Louis, or Iowa Public radio sites. Also, I find it troubling that all the NPR sites are still using non-secure http links. At least the donate pages are secure.
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wiu712
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Headline story in Saturday's McDonough County Voice:

More than 170 protest WIU public radio cuts.
http://www.mcdonoughvoice.com/news/2018 ... radio-cuts
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sealhall74
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sealhall74 wrote: Sat Aug 25, 2018 7:50 am
sealhall74 wrote: Fri Aug 24, 2018 9:45 pm
ST_Lawson wrote: Fri Aug 24, 2018 9:34 pm

Why is it you think WIUM is not online?
Go here: http://www.tspr.org/
right under the header bar where it has the "play" triangle next to "WIUM Tristates Public Radio" and the program that's being aired...press that.

Alternately: https://tunein.com/radio/WIUM-913-s29698/
Actually, I dont know what I was looking at. I have not been drinking tonight either. I like the passion that was shown in the BOT meeting. But Quincy U was in a similar situation about 7 years ago. They gave up the umbrella to their own NPR station and now UMSL is holding the umbrella. Quincy still has a NPR affiliate station.

Maybe it was WIUS The Dog I was confused about. That one is not working for me on my Ubuntu laptop with Chrome browser.
Well, if I click around a bit and clear up some error messages, even that seems to work OK.
Saturday Update: Now I know what I was or was not looking at. My HP laptop, Windows 10, Chrome browser is showing a blank space where the listen live box is. Strange, very strange, but is it just me?

FYI, same problem with South Dakota public radio site but not with the Quad Cities, Peoria, St. Louis, or Iowa Public radio sites. Also, I find it troubling that all the NPR sites are still using non-secure http links. At least the donate pages are secure.
Saturday after breakfast update: The WIUM site behaves properly in my Internet Explorer. Why not for Google Chrome remains a mystery. BUT, this is exactly why you do not want to be out on your own NPR island when resources are very limited. Did the WIUM web staff test all the possible web delivery platforms? Probably not. If you have one delivery system and everyone using it, you can worry more about your content. Same thing goes for fundraising. Let someone at the top of the food chain make that happen.

These are minor issues for sure. As for the major issue of near-term funding, I would bet my last bottom dollar that WIU will end up kicking in at least 50% for the fiscal year. This just does not look good for a school with a signature broadcasting program in place.
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wiu712
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WESTERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY CREATES A NIGHTMARE SITUATION FOR TRI-STATES PUBLIC RADIO.

From "Spark News" (Ken Mills Agency, LLC):
http://acrnewsfeed.blogspot.com/2018/08 ... tmare.html
wiu712
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FAQ's about Tri-States Public Radio Funding.
http://www.tspr.org/faqs-about-tri-stat ... io-funding
wiu712
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Joined: Tue Apr 22, 2014 2:05 pm

WIU Ends Furlough Program for Administrators.

From Tri-States Public Radio, WIUM-FM:
http://www.tspr.org/post/wiu-ends-furlo ... nistrators
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Neckerchief
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ST_Lawson wrote: Fri Aug 24, 2018 7:15 pm There was a big and very vocal crowd at the public BOT meeting this morning: http://www.tspr.org/post/hundreds-urge- ... g-decision
Quite a few people very angry with this recent decision and how it went down (the fact that it was a 100% funding cut without any input from leadership of TSPR).
TSPR covered Friday’s BOT meeting with “Hundreds Urge Reversal of TSPR Funding Decision”. For some reason, comments are not allowed on that article, so I would like to post some comments here.

TSPR’s coverage of “Hundreds” doesn’t square with coverage in the McDonough Voice which stated “More than 170 protest WIU public radio cuts”. Who is correct? I did not count the number of attendees, so have no way of knowing the correct number.

One thing that stood out to me however was the age of the protestors. They seem to be predominately senior citizens. What I did NOT see was students out in force protesting these cuts. That tells me that WIUM primarily serves local senior citizens, and not students. Why should WIU students continue to pay for funding of a radio station that they do not listen to?
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Tere North
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Neckerchief wrote: Mon Aug 27, 2018 9:29 pm TSPR’s coverage of “Hundreds” doesn’t square with coverage in the McDonough Voice which stated “More than 170 protest WIU public radio cuts”. Who is correct? I did not count the number of attendees, so have no way of knowing the correct number.

One thing that stood out to me however was the age of the protestors. They seem to be predominately senior citizens. What I did NOT see was students out in force protesting these cuts. That tells me that WIUM primarily serves local senior citizens, and not students. Why should WIU students continue to pay for funding of a radio station that they do not listen to?
Well, more that 100 is more than 100, so I guess in UPI and TSPR speak, that is multiple hundreds - say 1.7 hundreds :D

And I couldn't agree with you more that funding should benefit students.


TSPR supporters have argued that their funding should not be cut, stating they annually offer about 12 internships to WIU students.

WIU Athletics has more than 400 student athletes.

Since most student athletes are at WIU more than a single year, to compare apples to apples, let's say a 4-year period of TSPR internships serves 48 students compared to 480 student athletes.

Thus WIU Athletics directly contributes to 10x as many students as TSPR, but the Athletics appropriated (from state funds) budget of $1,796,000 is 4x the size at that for TSPR of $453,920.

Conclusion #1: More student bang for the buck or ROI from WIU athletics.

Then consider the missions of the 2 entities. For TSPR, their mission is to "provide information and entertainment of the highest possible caliber to enrich and engage the public, enhance quality of life, and meet the diverse needs of people in our region and beyond." For WIU Athletics, their mission is to "provide an outstanding intercollegiate athletics experience to an academically successful and diverse NCAA Division I student-athlete population."

Conclusion #2: WIU Athletics is directly about serving WIU and WIU students, TSPR is about information and entertainment.

Journalism, whether print, audio, or video, is supported at WIU by the Western Courier (print), WIUS - 88.3 - The Dog (radio), and WIU - Channel 3 (TV), all run and operated by students.

TSPR is a logical elimination when funding is limited, it is our students who are at the forefront of WIU's mission, where emphasis in on providing "student-centered undergraduate and graduate programs characterized by innovative teaching, research, and service, grounded in interdisciplinary, regional and global perspectives."
wiu712
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