On Friday Oct. 3, WCSB 89.3 FM stopped airing Cleveland State University student and community programming, after nearly 50 years on the air. That's when WCSB changed to the new terrestrial home of JazzNEO, Ideastream Public Media's 24/7 jazz service. This was done through an operating agreement between Ideastream and CSU leadership, a decision which has upset fans of the student-run programming.
CSU says this new partnership with Ideastream will create professional development and career opportunities for its students. Ideastream says this change expands the reach of its jazz programming, which was previously only accessible via streaming and HD radio.
Supporters of the student-run station say that the format switch came without notice and was handled poorly.
We are dedicating Tuesday's show to talk with the leaders behind the decision to hear more about the reasoning behind it, and give our audience a chance to ask questions. We'll then bring in the most recent former student general manager of WCSB, and an alumnus who ran the station in the late 90s, who are critical of the loss of the college radio station.
Guests:
- Kevin Martin, President and CEO, Ideastream Public Media
- Laura Bloomberg, PhD, President, Cleveland State University
- Alison Bomgardner, Former General Manager, WCSB
- Lawrence Daniel Caswell, Former General Manager, WCSB; Statewide Documenters Program Director, Signal Ohio
Editor's note: The Ideastream newsroom, which includes the "Sound of Ideas," is editorially independent from Ideastream Public Media leadership. No guest or anyone in IPM executive management had any input over how we ran this discussion, and no guest saw any of our questions in advance.
