Stop the transfer of Purdue University’s WBAA to an Indianapolis media conglomerate

Purdue University’s radio station WBAA should be engaged in plans to celebrate its 100th year anniversary next year.   However, during the week of July 4, when school was not in session and with little advance notice, University President Daniels and his Board of Trustees voted to transfer the station’s license to an Indianapolis media conglomerate.  The purported justification was that student internships and postgraduate opportunities would be greater in a corporate “partnership”.  No mention was made of the loss to the university, to the 27,000 listener members, to the community culture and its local business sponsors, and the local economy.

With the systematic desiccation of our local newspaper and its reduction in staff, it is without a letter-to-the-editor column, opinion page, local event calendar, and other than write-ups from the police blotter, no local news.  In addition to filling that void, WBAA has nurtured the Purdue student body and the local Greater Lafayette community in many ways:

It has provided broadcast training and internships to generations of Purdue students, many of whom ultimately made national media careers.  We fear for the loss of jobs of its current longstanding staff, whose well-known voices wake us in the morning, enlighten us with news and information during the day, soothes us with music (all day classical on its FM station!) –jazz, celtic, bluegrass, and country.  This local flavor, acquired from many years of listener feedback, will be lost in the transfer, as will autonomy over programming.  Business sponsorships promote our local economy and our local businesses.  Losing them will make for a tear in the fabric of our community.

WBAA is one of Purdue’s crown jewels, a significant part of its history representing all that we value, from the integrity of news reporting, outstanding talk and information programs, and great music. Therefore, we urge that the transfer of WBAA to Indianapolis be immediately reversed to allow for public discussion and public input.