As I walked into the radio station for the first time, I wanted to throw up from my nerves (which were perhaps due, in part, to the fact that I had just secretly taken a sticker from the front desk and had no clue if I was allowed to do so). As luck would have it, I had been accepted as the newest staff member at KJHK Lawrence, 90.7 FM, Your Sound Alternative. The next thing I knew, I found myself standing in a room that only seemed like it was from a movie, filled with computers, microphones, soundboards and other sophisticated-looking equipment.
As the weeks went by, I began to find my niche at KJHK – I actually started listening to 90.7 FM any chance I found, I became somewhat accustomed to all of that equipment and I no longer felt too timid to speak during the meetings I attended. Also, I thoroughly began to enjoy my time at the station and started counting down the days until the next time I would return. This motivated me to uncover the mysteries surrounding the behind the scenes goings-on of the station that someone once compared to a barely controlled experiment – in the best, most exhilarating way possible, of course.
I began my sleuthing with two of the main honchos responsible for the ideally smooth operations of KJHK, Margaret Hair (Program Coordinator) and Tom Johnson (General Manager) to gain the perspective of full-time employees. I realized not only how hard each of them works to keep the station functioning at all times, but how focused they are to ensure that KJHK remains a student-run radio station – emphasis on the word “student.” Margaret revealed to me that as Program Coordinator she focuses on overseeing the content and programming aspects, while corresponding with each of the student directors within the station. Nearly everything we discussed during the interview circled around promoting and fostering the creativity of the students involved with KJHK. She refused to take any of the credit for helping cultivate the success of KJHK, instead telling me that her focus was to help the students reach their goals and realize their ideas for the station.
Similarly, Tom told me that he strives to give the students the tools and skills necessary for them to be able to run the station themselves, while balancing the demands of his job requirements. As the General Manager, Tom does everything from manage the budget to maintain the FCC regulation to assist with the promotion, production and development of the station. Both Tom and Margaret laughed upon hearing my request to describe a typical workday, explaining that one of those is nearly as mythical (or simply as difficult to find) as the Loch Ness Monster. He and Margaret are faced with tasks ranging from unjamming CDs in the disc player to covering for no-show DJs to demonstrating technological magic when faced with malfunctioning computer programs.
Part of the beauty of a student-run radio station is the unpredictability and potential chaos that could ensue – according to them both, something weird is bound to happen at least once a day. Therefore, Tom says that the key to his job is to have a good sense of humor and a high level of empathy towards the students. On the flip side of things, I felt highly privileged when Tom showed me a presentation filled with station metrics, which revealed a vast array of listenership, multimedia and website data so extensive that you’d expect to find something similar in an intelligence analyst operation for some government sector. This proves that much more thought and preparation go into the station than most people might think.
I gathered more proof of this hard work after talking to several of the student executives on staff at the radio station. For example, Matt Primovic, the current Station Manager, explained to me that establishing goals as well as the overall vision of the station comprise part of his job duties. This year, his focus has been to improve the quality of programming, in part, by streamlining a schedule for the plethora of special programs aired on KJHK to help increase listener retention. In addition, Emilie Stafford described many of the demands involved with her position as Music Director, which range from reviewing the approximately 150 new music suggestions per week to discussing albums with various promoters. Both of these positions involve large amounts of responsibility, commitment and organization – traits that each member of the executive staff possess and fosters amongst his/her staff members.
Oftentimes, the student directors must encourage their staffs to think outside of the box for ways to reach out to new listeners and to promote the station because it lacks much of the funding and resources that other commercial stations utilize. Jerod Barker, current Production Director, discussed many of benefits associated with functioning as an independent station, such as the ability to function from purely creative motives, rather than a monetary-based system like other commercial stations. To him, this means that KJHK offers a different type of music than most stations because the music and lyrics are dictated by the artists themselves, rather than by mainstream, capitalist demands. Therefore, listeners can truly relate to the unique, candid music on a level typically unattainable with most of the more mainstream tunes. Heidi Trautman, the Communications Director, also celebrated the eccentricity of the station when she cited the lack of fear of being different as the predominate attribute KJHK posses over other stations. In addition, Your Sound Alternative (which does an excellent job living up to its slogan) takes pride in promoting local bands, as well as the goings-on in the Lawrence community.
So why should you listen to KJHK? First of all, the station is brimming with a diverse spectrum of talented, passionate workers that strive to provide nothing but the best music. Secondly, KJHK provides a refreshingly original and incredibly diverse music selection sure to ignite your spunky, unconventional side, with special programs ranging from sets that play nothing but local music to others that focus on trendy, French music. Finally, KJHK endeavors to support local musicians, Lawrence and the University of Kansas in as many ways as possible. For example, the excellent sports staff at KJHK covers many KU athletic events throughout the year. At the end of the day, while KJHK is not afraid to show its wild, alternative side, the people at the station are also fearless in showing their love and passion for KJHK, music, Lawrence and KU, which serves as the driving force for the success that the station currently experiences and will continue to experience in the future.
All photos submitted by Danielle Peterson