Radio: ga-ga?

Perhaps the main reason for starting up a blog - and let's be honest here - is the desire to be heard, the feeling that you've got something to say that people might be interested in. Alternatively, other bloggers claim (whether ingenuously or not) that they feel the need for a space in which to write and express themselves, and profess to have no concern about the existence of a "readership". To a certain extent, both of these are true for me. I enjoyed the creative freedom and involvement in the production of the university magazine Impact so much that, having severed my ties with it, I felt I needed some other outlet, and a blog proved ideal, just as it did for an award-winning alumnus.

In addition to a nationally-acclaimed magazine, Nottingham also boasts a high-quality well-organized radio station of nationwide repute, URN, which presents students with a fantastic opportunities to learn the basics of DJing and programme production. During their time at Nottingham fellow bloggers Paul and He Who Cannot Be Named got heavily involved, while URN was the place where SWSL associates Steve (TFM), Del (Radio 1), Neil (Ten-17 FM) and Tom (Classic Gold Digital) first cut their teeth.

So it was with a great sense of disappointment that I read this story from The Guardian (registration required): "The future of dozens of student radio stations around the UK, which provide a first step into broadcasting for hundreds of budding producers and DJs, is in jeopardy after the company that provides programming for many campus networks was declared insolvent. Campus Media, the owner of student radio programming provider SBN, has stopped funding the subsidiary and brought in a licensed insolvency practitioner to try and find a buyer for the business. If a purchaser cannot be found, SBN will be placed into liquidation. ... If the business goes into liquidation, many student radio stations could face losing their transmitters and studio equipment, which were paid for by SBN, as well as their main source of revenue and programming."

Just as university magazines throw up scores of talented young journalists and writers every year, so university radio stations provide the spark of inspiration for loads of enthusiastic wannabe DJs and producers. For the sake of the industry and, more importantly, of future students, I hope the crisis can be resolved as quickly as possible.

(Thanks to Simon for the link.)