Reinventing the Wheel vs. Grinding the Same Old Axe: An Ethnographic View of the Students and Community Members at a Massachusetts College Radio Station
Using the notion of an ‘ideal public sphere’, this article explains and analyzes the democratizing impulses and the clash in intentions as students and local community members negotiate for access to the airwaves at WMUA, a unique hybrid college radio station in Western Massachusetts. Undergraduate...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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University of Westminster Press
2017-06-01
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| Series: | Westminster Papers in Communication and Culture |
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| Online Access: | https://www.westminsterpapers.org/article/id/96/ |
| _version_ | 1818903713837744128 |
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| author | Tarik Sabry |
| author_facet | Tarik Sabry |
| author_sort | Tarik Sabry |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Using the notion of an ‘ideal public sphere’, this article explains and analyzes the democratizing impulses and the clash in intentions as students and local community members negotiate for access to the airwaves at WMUA, a unique hybrid college radio station in Western Massachusetts. Undergraduate students technically control the station, but many of its actual practices fit a Community Radio model that disproportionately favours community members. Students use their WMUA for their own entertainment or see it as a place to gain on-air experience and build resumés. Community members, however, use their WMUA to produce empowering content for audiences beyond the University. With institutional memory and cultural capital, they largely control WMUA’s structure.With data from long-term ethnographic research, this article critiques the normative Habermasian public sphere by showing how regulatory practices limit individualistic, developmental goals of the students, even as these practices facilitate the outside community’s progressive agenda. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-19T20:55:55Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-477102a03754444aa517b13ec4147bb1 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1744-6716 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-19T20:55:55Z |
| publishDate | 2017-06-01 |
| publisher | University of Westminster Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Westminster Papers in Communication and Culture |
| spelling | doaj.art-477102a03754444aa517b13ec4147bb12022-12-21T20:05:57ZengUniversity of Westminster PressWestminster Papers in Communication and Culture1744-67162017-06-015110.16997/wpcc.50Reinventing the Wheel vs. Grinding the Same Old Axe: An Ethnographic View of the Students and Community Members at a Massachusetts College Radio StationTarik Sabry0Communication and Media Research Institute University of WestminsterUsing the notion of an ‘ideal public sphere’, this article explains and analyzes the democratizing impulses and the clash in intentions as students and local community members negotiate for access to the airwaves at WMUA, a unique hybrid college radio station in Western Massachusetts. Undergraduate students technically control the station, but many of its actual practices fit a Community Radio model that disproportionately favours community members. Students use their WMUA for their own entertainment or see it as a place to gain on-air experience and build resumés. Community members, however, use their WMUA to produce empowering content for audiences beyond the University. With institutional memory and cultural capital, they largely control WMUA’s structure.With data from long-term ethnographic research, this article critiques the normative Habermasian public sphere by showing how regulatory practices limit individualistic, developmental goals of the students, even as these practices facilitate the outside community’s progressive agenda.https://www.westminsterpapers.org/article/id/96/ethnographypublic spherecommunity radiocollege radio |
| spellingShingle | Tarik Sabry Reinventing the Wheel vs. Grinding the Same Old Axe: An Ethnographic View of the Students and Community Members at a Massachusetts College Radio Station Westminster Papers in Communication and Culture ethnography public sphere community radio college radio |
| title | Reinventing the Wheel vs. Grinding the Same Old Axe: An Ethnographic View of the Students and Community Members at a Massachusetts College Radio Station |
| title_full | Reinventing the Wheel vs. Grinding the Same Old Axe: An Ethnographic View of the Students and Community Members at a Massachusetts College Radio Station |
| title_fullStr | Reinventing the Wheel vs. Grinding the Same Old Axe: An Ethnographic View of the Students and Community Members at a Massachusetts College Radio Station |
| title_full_unstemmed | Reinventing the Wheel vs. Grinding the Same Old Axe: An Ethnographic View of the Students and Community Members at a Massachusetts College Radio Station |
| title_short | Reinventing the Wheel vs. Grinding the Same Old Axe: An Ethnographic View of the Students and Community Members at a Massachusetts College Radio Station |
| title_sort | reinventing the wheel vs grinding the same old axe an ethnographic view of the students and community members at a massachusetts college radio station |
| topic | ethnography public sphere community radio college radio |
| url | https://www.westminsterpapers.org/article/id/96/ |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT tariksabry reinventingthewheelvsgrindingthesameoldaxeanethnographicviewofthestudentsandcommunitymembersatamassachusettscollegeradiostation |