|
HATTIESBURG
- For
the 18th year in a row, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting
has awarded The University of Southern Mississippi's public radio
station the Community Service Grant. WUSM-FM(88.5) will use the
$15,625 grant to continue funding its award-winning programming
and to sustain promotional effects.
"This grant helps us obtain national shows off satellite,"
WUSM general manager Michael Davis said. "But mostly it will
be used to produce our own shows, like our award-winning news show
and interviews that we put on the Internet."
Operating under
the Department of Mass Communication and Journalism, WUSM-FM88.5
competes with 1,400 other public radio stations to reach its quota
from outside funding to receive this grant. Funding primarily comes
from listener donations and underwritings from local businesses.
"We're
not who you think we are" - the station's slogan -- personifies
WUSM, which provides more than just music to Hattiesburg and South
Mississippi, Davis said. From his experience, Davis said WUSM offers
"ultimate freedom in radio." Not only does it play a wide
variety of music, anything from classical to alternative, but it
also provides informational programming for world, national and
local news. Students -- typically radio, television and film majors
-- announce live news broadcasts. The station provides volunteer
students with the opportunity to gain experience in the field of
radio broadcasting.
WUSM coexists
with PRM, Public Radio Mississippi, which is the statewide public
broadcasting station for Mississippi. Davis said he believes Hattiesburg
is "blessed" because they can listen to both WUSM and
PRM.
WUSM is known
as a counter program, meaning it offers to listeners what is not
already offered by other radio stations. One such service is the
Friday Afternoon Concert Series, which promotes local bands. This
event gives the bands the opportunity to perform on campus, made
possible by WUSM along with Southern Miss' University Activities
Council. A weekly calendar of local performances is provided on
the station's web site.
Recently, WUSM
was listed along with seven other stations as a "select, influential
station" by Paste magazine, which focuses on "signs of
life in music and culture." Approximately four percent of local
auto listeners tune in to 88.5 FM, according to Audi-Scan, and 15
percent of Southern Miss students listen to WUSM, according to an
independent survey.
-30-
|
