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  1. Signatures
    286 out of 7,000
    Petitioning
    1. WTJU General Manager (+ 3 others)
      Petitioning
      close
      • WTJU General Manager (Burr Beard)
      • Asst. VP for Public Affairs (Carol Wood)
      • Director of Media Relations (Marian Anderfuren)
      • Sr. VP for Development and Public Affairs (Robert Sweeney)
  2. Created By
    Brandon Collins
    Charlottesville
About this Petition Petition Letter
Why This Is Important

WTJU is a national treasure, a unique and valuable artistic asset of the Charlottesville and UVA community.

It is our belief that the mission goals of WTJU can only be met by retaining the current structure of announcer determined programming and scheduling.

The eclectic nature of WTJU must be protected from cultural extinction!

This e-mail will go out to the WTJU General Manager, UVA's Assistant Vice President for Public Affairs, UVA's Director of Media Relations, and UVA's Senior Vice President for Development and Public Affairs.

Stay tuned for more e-mail campaigns targetting Out-Going UVA President John Casteen, In-Coming President Teresa Sullivan, the WTJU advisory board, and the UVA Board of Visitors, as well as fresh new e-mail "bombs" to those mentioned above!

Recent Signatures

Keep Announcer Based Programming at WTJU

Greetings,

WTJU is, and has been, a unique form of cultural expression and education in our community for over 50 years. For those 50 years announcers have been selecting programming for the station based on their in depth knowledge of the various genres they serve. There is an amazing cultural value in this, and I want the station to stay that way.

What works about WTJU is it's eclectic nature. No amount of reducing the announcer's influence on this will gain the station more listeners. Those who listen tune in not because they want what is familiar, not so they can hear the same songs over and over again, but because they want to hear what the DJs are going to select. Taking away their ability to have complete freedom to select which songs they want to play is taking away our community's ability to grow and expand our cultural knowledge.

Similarly, changing the schedule to eliminate individual shows in favor of simply one category of music will reduce the amount of listeners who tune in to hear specialized programming from very talented announcers.

The stated goals of increasing listeners, raising revenues, and increasing student involvement can be met through means not yet tried by WTJU management. Why not give the announcers a chance to be heard before changing the one thing that makes WTJU special?

Any attempt to make the station more repetitive or more competitive with commercial radio is folly and is in direct conflict with WTJU mission statement. WTJU is here to educate, to serve the community, not to compete with commercial radio and further homogenize American musical culture.

I demand that the station keep WTJU unique and eclectic. I demand that WTJU announcers keep their complete artistic and academic freedom. I demand that the current schedule remain based on individual shows not on block programming.

[Your name]