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NC North Carolina: Rooted in music; Low power FM station aims to provide community radio for Carrboro
NC North Carolina: Rooted in music; Low power FM station aims to provide community radio for Carrboro 
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| North Carolina: Rooted in music; Low power FM station aims to provide community radio for Carrboro |
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Copyright 2005 The News and Observer The News & Observer (Raleigh, North Carolina) July 22, 2005 Friday Final Edition SECTION: NEWS; Pg. B3 LENGTH: 608 words HEADLINE: Rooted in music; Low-power FM station aims to provide community radio for Carrboro BYLINE: Karen Hauptman, Staff Writer BODY: CARRBORO -- Triangle Slim, sitting in a radio broadcasting booth tucked away behind an old drive-through bank teller window, likes to be spontaneous as he broadcasts blues, bluegrass, folk and other roots music over the airwaves. His relaxed tone is part of his radio personality, but it's also part of the character of a community radio station -- a unique character that Triangle Slim and others want to bring back to Carrboro. "I wouldn't want to do it for a living," he said between queuing up songs for his "Roots Rampage" show on Carrboro's low-power FM radio station, 103.5 WCOM-FM. "That would take the fun out of it." Triangle Slim -- by day freelance journalist Bob Burtman -- reaches listeners in a three- to five-mile radius. The Carrboro station was set up in 2004 by a handful of local residents tired of bland corporate radio; it's among a growing number of small stations cropping up nationwide. The Federal Communications Commission opened up low-power FM airwaves in 1999; since then, 1,297 stations have been established nationwide, with 39 in North Carolina. By the FCC's definition, those stations are not owned by commercial organizations -- in fact, groups who have interests in other media are not eligible for licenses. Each community radio station has its own local flavor, and Carrboro's is true to form, staffed by more than 40 volunteers and housed in a building owned by the local grocery cooperative, Weaver Street Market. Ruffin Slater, general manager of Weaver Street Market, is the president of the Public Gallery of Carrboro, which operates the station. He filed the application with the FCC, arranged for WCOM's current digs in an old bank at Weaver and North Greensboro streets, and continues to guide the operation. A federal grant provided the start-up money for the high-tech radio equipment in the studio. The station's budget of $50,000 per year comes entirely from donations, grants and fund-raisers. "We're always hustling, but low-key and with good humor," Burtman said. Right now they're encouraging listeners to visit Chapel Hill Massage, which will donate $20 to the station for every massage through Sept. 1. A concert at the ArtsCenter is coming soon. Using a computer program that allows disc jockeys to line up satellite feeds and plan shows in advance, the station now broadcasts 24 hours a day, with about six to 12 hours a day of original programming -- more local original programming than WUNC (91.5 FM) and WCHL (1360 AM) combined, said Chris Frank, a member of WCOM's steering committee. It also runs programs from a satellite Spanish-language service called Radio Bilingue and features Latin music on two Saturday night shows. Frank estimates that 30 percent to 40 percent of the station's programming is in Spanish. "Nothing like this is being broadcast in this area, in terms of having the in-depth news coverage and programming devoted to the Hispanic population," Frank said. "It was one of the missions of the station to serve the Hispanic community." Listeners outside of the broadcast area will be able to tune in once WCOM establishes a Web site that broadcasts its shows over the Internet, Frank said. He said the station plans to continue expanding its program offerings. Community radio is needed, Frank said, "so that the people in the community can have a voice, so that you can hear the voices of the people and the opinions of the people in your community, rather than stuff that's just syndicated programming that comes from a satellite. "If something happened on the street in front of us right now, I would come on and tell you about it," he added. "That doesn't exist anywhere else." GRAPHIC: Bob Burtman, right, a volunteer DJ for WCOM, interviews musician Mike Craver from Lexington during a live broadcast Tuesday evening of 'Roots Rampage.' The broadcast booth window is a former drive-through bank teller window. Staff Photos by Juli Leonard Burtman, known on air as Triangle Slim, says doing his show for a living 'would take the fun out of it.' Burtman is not only a volunteer DJ for WCOM but also is on the programming committee. The station broadcasts 24 hours a day, including six to 12 hours of original programming. Staff Photo by Juli Leonard LOAD-DATE: July 22, 2005 |
