Each new DJ must pass a written operator’s exam and in-studio board test. Personnel director Bobby Earle quizzes DJ Lenard Williams on the AudioVault software during his board test. Photo by Jamie Lynn Gilbert.
Student Media Mission Statement
As a public forum for free expression, the student media at North Carolina State University exist to inform and to entertain, first and foremost, the students followed by members of the surrounding community and peers in the journalism profession. Working in student media gives participants hands-on experience in the mass media which will assist them regardless of their career goals. By upholding the highest standards of journalistic ethics, the student-run media will help students become competent as ethical and responsible adults, who are enthusiastic about their future involvement in human affairs and optimistic about their future.
WKNC Mission Statement
WKNC strives to provide information and entertainment to the students of N.C. State University and the citizens of the Raleigh-Durham area. WKNC also provides NCSU students with the opportunity to gain experience in preparation for jobs in the broadcast industry. Finally, WKNC attempts to use its airwaves to compliment and support N.C. State University.
WKNC’s Charter
The campus student-operated radio station shall present musical and other forms of entertainment, and supplement the newspaper with instantaneous coverage. Whenever appropriate, the station shall engage campus and other figures of student interest for discussion and debate programs. In short, WKNC-FM shall compliment, through its unique format, the functions of the other student media.
Statement Of Equal Opportunity Employment
Discrimination based upon race, color, religion, creed, sex, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or sexual orientation is in violation of federal and state law and North Carolina State University policy, and will not be tolerated. WKNC will follow all Student Media, University, state and federal procedures, policies and laws regarding equal opportunity employment.
Student Status
WKNC is one of only a handful of college stations across the country which is not only completely student run, but is student-run, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. WKNC is also unique that we compensate some of our “student volunteers” for their time spent at WKNC. We are able to do this because student fees subsidize a portion of our annual budget. Consequently, we do not offer paid employment to individuals not currently enrolled as full-time, part-time or lifelong learning students at N.C. State University.
It is the policy of N.C. State Student Media that all employees, paid and unpaid, maintain the minimum grade point average established in the current Student Media Grades and Full-time Status Policy. All paid student employees of Student Media shall be full-time students at N.C. State University unless in their final semester of study. WKNC permits part-time and lifelong learning students to be unpaid DJs.
WKNC does, periodically, have alumni and others affiliated with the university assist us with training or other station duties. Alumni should make every effort to involve students in their programs. In the event the schedule is full for a given semester, non-students may be asked to give up their air shifts so students may have them. Those not enrolled during the summer semester, but enrolled in the fall, are still considered active students. Students with more than one air shift may also be asked to give up their additional shifts.
Programing Strategies
WKNC features block programming of its four primary music formats: indie rock, electronica, hip hop and metal. Block programming means that each different format of music is given a block of time each week when listeners will be able to tune in and consistently hear that genre of music. During the weekends we feature a number of specialty programs not available during the week. For example, every Sunday morning between 10 a.m. and noon WKNC airs a show called “Geet Bazaar.” Listeners who might not normally listen to our station at this time of day during the week because they don’t really like rock music tune in to hear music from India and Pakistan. Formatting the radio station in this way not only gives us great flexibility in programming many different styles of music, but also allows us to have these “blocks” of time sponsored by businesses in the area interested in targeting customers who would be likely to listen to certain kinds of music.
Although it would certainly be interesting, not block formatting our music like this and allowing disc jockeys absolute freedom as to what kind of music is to be played has proven to be undesirable. Experiments in the past have shown this approach to be unsuccessful in captivating the imagination of the public at large. Tune in to 89.3 WXYC in Chapel Hill for one such example.
Wknc And The “Bigger Picture” Of Fm Radio
The radio “market” consists of all the AM and FM stations in our area, in this case the Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill or “Triangle” area. Most radio stations try to format their programming with a style of music or news unique to their market. That’s why some stations play country music, some classical music, some feature a lot of news, sports, and talk shows, while others play rock n’ roll. Hence the market is “segmented” into radio stations with different formats. Over the years, WKNC has developed a unique niche in our market.
Unlike most radio stations, the goal of WKNC is not to focus on a certain style of music, but rather a certain quality of music. Anyone who has listened to any commercial radio station anywhere in the country can attest to the fact that governmental deregulation and the ensuing conglomeration of the radio industry has led to a dramatic drop in the variety and quality of FM radio programming. College radio has been a spectator to those developments and is left with the task of serving as an alternative to the pre-packaged slop that most things above 92.1 MHz have become. A 1998 poll of NCSU students, who directly fund WKNC through their student fee allocation, showed that the types of music they most wanted to hear on their radio station were alternative/indie rock, electronica and hip hop. Surveys from 2006 and beyond reinforce that, along with metal, students still list these among their top listening choices.
WKNC cannot compete with large commercial stations, run by full-time professionals with large promotional budgets, for major shares of the listening audience as a whole. We can, however, provide an alternative for those who grow tired of listening to the same old songs and commercials. WKNC has a large and loyal following of listeners in this market, but the secret of our success is in keeping those “crossover listeners” tuned into 88.1 FM for as long as possible.
Although indie rock, electronica, hip hop and metal may be our bread and butter, we are equally proud of our diverse programming. WKNC is experimenting with new ideas for shows to keep us on the cutting edge. For more details on programming at WKNC we encourage you to speak with the program director or any other music staff member.
Mission, Organization And Programing Strategies
Each new DJ must pass a written operator’s exam and in-studio board test. Personnel director Bobby Earle quizzes DJ Lenard Williams on the AudioVault software during his board test. Photo by Jamie Lynn Gilbert.
Student Media Mission Statement
As a public forum for free expression, the student media at North Carolina State University exist to inform and to entertain, first and foremost, the students followed by members of the surrounding community and peers in the journalism profession. Working in student media gives participants hands-on experience in the mass media which will assist them regardless of their career goals. By upholding the highest standards of journalistic ethics, the student-run media will help students become competent as ethical and responsible adults, who are enthusiastic about their future involvement in human affairs and optimistic about their future.
WKNC Mission Statement
WKNC strives to provide information and entertainment to the students of N.C. State University and the citizens of the Raleigh-Durham area. WKNC also provides NCSU students with the opportunity to gain experience in preparation for jobs in the broadcast industry. Finally, WKNC attempts to use its airwaves to compliment and support N.C. State University.
WKNC’s Charter
The campus student-operated radio station shall present musical and other forms of entertainment, and supplement the newspaper with instantaneous coverage. Whenever appropriate, the station shall engage campus and other figures of student interest for discussion and debate programs. In short, WKNC-FM shall compliment, through its unique format, the functions of the other student media.
Statement Of Equal Opportunity Employment
Discrimination based upon race, color, religion, creed, sex, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or sexual orientation is in violation of federal and state law and North Carolina State University policy, and will not be tolerated. WKNC will follow all Student Media, University, state and federal procedures, policies and laws regarding equal opportunity employment.
Student Status
WKNC is one of only a handful of college stations across the country which is not only completely student run, but is student-run, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. WKNC is also unique that we compensate some of our “student volunteers” for their time spent at WKNC. We are able to do this because student fees subsidize a portion of our annual budget. Consequently, we do not offer paid employment to individuals not currently enrolled as full-time, part-time or lifelong learning students at N.C. State University.
It is the policy of N.C. State Student Media that all employees, paid and unpaid, maintain the minimum grade point average established in the current Student Media Grades and Full-time Status Policy. All paid student employees of Student Media shall be full-time students at N.C. State University unless in their final semester of study. WKNC permits part-time and lifelong learning students to be unpaid DJs.
WKNC does, periodically, have alumni and others affiliated with the university assist us with training or other station duties. Alumni should make every effort to involve students in their programs. In the event the schedule is full for a given semester, non-students may be asked to give up their air shifts so students may have them. Those not enrolled during the summer semester, but enrolled in the fall, are still considered active students. Students with more than one air shift may also be asked to give up their additional shifts.
Programing Strategies
WKNC features block programming of its four primary music formats: indie rock, electronica, hip hop and metal. Block programming means that each different format of music is given a block of time each week when listeners will be able to tune in and consistently hear that genre of music. During the weekends we feature a number of specialty programs not available during the week. For example, every Sunday morning between 10 a.m. and noon WKNC airs a show called “Geet Bazaar.” Listeners who might not normally listen to our station at this time of day during the week because they don’t really like rock music tune in to hear music from India and Pakistan. Formatting the radio station in this way not only gives us great flexibility in programming many different styles of music, but also allows us to have these “blocks” of time sponsored by businesses in the area interested in targeting customers who would be likely to listen to certain kinds of music.
Although it would certainly be interesting, not block formatting our music like this and allowing disc jockeys absolute freedom as to what kind of music is to be played has proven to be undesirable. Experiments in the past have shown this approach to be unsuccessful in captivating the imagination of the public at large. Tune in to 89.3 WXYC in Chapel Hill for one such example.
Wknc And The “Bigger Picture” Of Fm Radio
The radio “market” consists of all the AM and FM stations in our area, in this case the Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill or “Triangle” area. Most radio stations try to format their programming with a style of music or news unique to their market. That’s why some stations play country music, some classical music, some feature a lot of news, sports, and talk shows, while others play rock n’ roll. Hence the market is “segmented” into radio stations with different formats. Over the years, WKNC has developed a unique niche in our market.
Unlike most radio stations, the goal of WKNC is not to focus on a certain style of music, but rather a certain quality of music. Anyone who has listened to any commercial radio station anywhere in the country can attest to the fact that governmental deregulation and the ensuing conglomeration of the radio industry has led to a dramatic drop in the variety and quality of FM radio programming. College radio has been a spectator to those developments and is left with the task of serving as an alternative to the pre-packaged slop that most things above 92.1 MHz have become. A 1998 poll of NCSU students, who directly fund WKNC through their student fee allocation, showed that the types of music they most wanted to hear on their radio station were alternative/indie rock, electronica and hip hop. Surveys from 2006 and beyond reinforce that, along with metal, students still list these among their top listening choices.
WKNC cannot compete with large commercial stations, run by full-time professionals with large promotional budgets, for major shares of the listening audience as a whole. We can, however, provide an alternative for those who grow tired of listening to the same old songs and commercials. WKNC has a large and loyal following of listeners in this market, but the secret of our success is in keeping those “crossover listeners” tuned into 88.1 FM for as long as possible.
Although indie rock, electronica, hip hop and metal may be our bread and butter, we are equally proud of our diverse programming. WKNC is experimenting with new ideas for shows to keep us on the cutting edge. For more details on programming at WKNC we encourage you to speak with the program director or any other music staff member.