Michael McIntyre ’87 visited with TCOM4620 via Skype on April 4, 2012. Michael is the host of WCPN’s Sound of Ideas a daily public affairs program that airs on the NPR affiliate in Cleveland, Ohio.  He is also a featured columnist for the Cleveland Plain Dealer notably writing The Tipoff for the PD. He shared insights about hosting, producing, writing for the paper and how media convergence is at the center of the industry today. He is a wonderfully gracious alumnus and we are glad that he was able to take time from his busy schedule to talk with our students.

Karen Schaefer visited Stephen Merrill’s TCOM4620 Radio Programming class and talked with students about opportunities in non-commercial media, fielded student questions and provided students with valuable industry insights.

Karen Schaefer Bio

Karen Schaefer is a veteran public radio journalist based in Northeast Ohio with more than 65 national, regional and local awards for her in-depth reports, documentaries and interviews on subjects ranging from the environment to politics, the economy, homeland security, and breaking news of the day.

Schaefer began her career in public broadcasting at WBNI-Fort Wayne in 1979 as a volunteer music show host.  Nine years later, she moved to Ohio, where she began freelancing for magazines and newspapers, among them the Cleveland Plain Dealer.  She also produced a short weekly radio program for four years for WCLV, a classical radio station in Cleveland.

In 1998, Schaefer was hired as a freelance journalist at public radio station WCPN-Cleveland.  She became a full-time employee in 2000.  First as a general assignment, then environmental beat reporter, Schaefer produced stories for WCPN and national and international news networks including NPR, the CBC, the BBC and Voice of America.  She provided exclusive coverage of the Davis-Besse nuclear plant’s near-disaster for NPR, covered multiple presidential campaigns, and filed national stories ranging from NASA funding to Ohio’s Underground Railroad history.  She also produced numerous television segments for WVIZ-Public Television in Cleveland.

Schaefer moved to Ohio public radio station WKSU at Kent, Ohio in 2006.  For the next three years she produced daily features and spots for local broadcast.  At WKSU, her stories for NPR included obituaries of Ohio soldiers killed in Iraq or Afghanistan, as well as features on air traffic controllers, the recession and green technology.

In October of 2009, Schaefer was downsized from WKSU as part of a cost-cutting move. For the past two years, she has been freelancing once again.  Her stories have aired on NPR, WBEZ-Chicago, WBUR-Boston’s Only A Game, and The Allegheny Front, a Pittsburgh public radio environmental news program.  She is currently working on a radio history project for the Ohio Humanities Council.

Schaefer has been a member of the Society of Environmental Journalists since 2003.  Throughout her career, she’s been fortunate to receive training from some of the best in the biz:  David Candow, CBC producer and NPR’s ‘host whisperer,’ Davis Nelson of the Kitchen Sisters, journalism guru Jay Rosen, and voice coach Marilyn Pittman, to name a few.  Schaefer has also been named a fellow for multiple workshops and fellowships, including SEJ, the Ohio Sea Grant, and the Institutes for Journalism and Natural Resources.  She’s been invited to speak at numerous venues, including the Ohio State University, and has taught classes at Oberlin College and Kent State University.

The BG News ran a feature story on the WBGU-FM / WFAL DJ training course that is offered each semester to students and community volunteers. Read the full article here!

WFAL is the featured station of the week for CBI! Read more about Falcon Radio on the CBI blog and listen to WFAL on falconradio.org.

The TCOM3680 Radio Workshop class led by Stephen Merrill has teamed up with 88.1 WBGU-FM to present a night of live radio dramas. Performed live on stage at the Clazel Theater, will be class adaptations of two Cavalcade of America dramas. The selected titles are “Teddy Roosevelt – Man of Action” starring Aaron Weiss and “Treason” a story about Benedict Arnold starring Aaron Lewis and Craig Sullivan.  This presentation will be recorded and mixed for broadcast in the early weeks of November on 88.1 WBGU-FM.

This live recording will begin at 8:30 pm and is free and open to the public.

**Due to scheduling difficulties on the anticipated date, a new date is in the works for this event. Stay tuned for details.

Students at BGSU should take comfort; there will be a large concert this fall semester. 88.1 WBGU-FM, the longest running college radio station at BGSU, will be hosting its 60^th anniversary bash in November at the Clazel Theater. “We have been planning this concert since late May” said Stephen Merrill, faculty advisor for WBGU-FM, “the students started planning this show anticipating that UAO would be producing a homecoming show at the Stroh Center. When the students learned the homecoming show was canceled, they got really energized to make this concert something a lot of the BGSU community could enjoy.”  WBGU-FM started as WRSM in 1947, but got an FCC license on November 29, 1951. “60 is a sexy number,” said Craig Sullivan, Promotions Director for WBGU-FM. “We wanted to celebrate this milestone in big way, and we thought a concert with a band that really represents college radio would be a great way to do it.”

WBGU-FM conducted several online polls and surveys with station listeners over several months to get a feel for the type of concert they wanted to see; suggestions were made for all kinds of bands from indie rock, to hip-hop, jazz and folk. “This just represents the diversity of our listening audience,” said Rebecca Priebe, WBGU Program Director, “it was certainly a taxing process, but I think we landed the right band for the date and the venue.” WBGU-FM receives some operating funds from SBC, however none of the funds for this concert come from an SBC line item. “The funds for this show were raised through station programming and listener donations,” said Brad Woznicki, General Manager for WBGU-FM. “It’s a credit to our listeners and the business community that they have embraced WBGU so much over the past 60 years.”

Details about the WBGU-FM anniversary show will be revealed live on-air Thursday October 13^th on the Afternoon Rush at 4:30 pm. Students and community members are invited to join WBGU at 11 pm Thursday at the Clazel for the initial ticket release party, DJ Shownuff will spin a blend of underground hip-hop and other staples of college radio music.