STORY BY SATYARTH MISHRA
Sheridan Radio could be on the air next year.
“We have a radio station right now but it’s not live,” said Michael Jackson, Media Arts professor and chairperson of the Sheridan Radio working committee at Sheridan.
Sheridan Radio is a committee of college faculties, who are working toward developing a live radio station at Sheridan.
Jackson explained that radio Sheridan right now has a broadcast frequency 90.7 FM, but it is only playing music and there are currently no live shows.
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Sheridan Radio used to have live shows 20 years ago, but later it was limited to broadcasting music within two kilometers of the college.
“Right now it’s just hooked up to a computer and there is programming, that’s basically slotting in songs from iTunes.”
The first meeting of the Sheridan Radio working committee discussed developing the station on the basic model of other colleges’ radio broadcasting systems.
“A group of us are going to Mohawk College to have a look at their radio program. They have a very well known radio program and it is very established, so we are probably going to look at it as a model,” Jackson said.
“We want to get the station more active. We want to use it as a vehicle for teaching, creative advertising, journalism, doing things like podcasts, interviews and round table discussions,” he said.
Sheridan Radio will also allow many students to show their talent and to do some creative things but the whole process of developing the radio station will take at least a year, he added.
Giovanni Spagnolo, a Media Fundamentals student and his friends created a Facebook page called Bring Back Radio Sheridan that has about 163 members, and many wanted Sheridan Radio to be more active and become a place for local music and theatre artists to broadcast their talent.
“I was doing Mohawk Radio for about two years,” said Spagnolo.
“There is so much talent at Sheridan and people need be showcased and heard, so local bands, local singers, artists, basically anybody who wants to show their talent, I think radio would be the best platform for them,” said Spagnolo.
Since Spagnolo created the Facebook page, he has received support from many Sheridan students.
“We have a lot of people that are interested. They are very eager to start, I mean, all the shows and the scheduling, we already started [making plans],” he said.
Spagnolo believes that Sheridan Radio is needed and would be a symbol of pride for the college.
“It’s going to give us our own name and image and at the end of the day, it’s mainly pride. Every school has it then why we should be the only school that doesn’t have it?” Spagnolo added.
Spagnolo and his friends have recently been writting proposals and petitions to submit to Sheridan Radio’s committee.
”Now we are starting a website and a petition,” said Spagnolo. If a lot of people are interested, it will get us more support. People around the school eventually listen it to it and tune to it at 90.7 FM.
Maija Saari, associate dean of Film, TV and Journalism at Sheridan, formed the Sheridan Radio working committee, where all proposals are approved by discussions with each members.
