Culture :: Essays
WMFO and the Freeform Mission
By Bazooka Joe; 1996For the last seven years I have been doing some volunteer work at a radio station that goes by the call letters WMFO. The radio station is owned by Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts. WMFO itself is located on 490 Boston Avenue on the third floor of Curtis Hall. Typical of much of New England city planning, almost nothing on the exterior of the building indicates that it is indeed Curtis Hall, nor does it provide a street address. This lack of designation is appropriate because WMFO evades definition and refuses categorization as we shall see.
The interior of WMFO is quite large as far as college radio stations go. WMFO contains a main studio, a production studio, and a training studio as well. WMFO also has two offices while the rest of the station is crammed with equipment and our audio library. Our library at last count had over 4,000 selections to choose from. The downside of the library is that if we don't cull out some material soon the floor will give way. While reducing the library is necessary, it also gives the station considerable angst in deciding what must be weeded out. The task is how to streamline the library without threatening the library's diversity.
The walls of WMFO reflect the diversity of the station. Posters and stickers in every room and hallway promote bands and radio programs of every kind. If you peeled any of the flyers off the wall you would only find more flyers or a random sampling of artwork or, some graffiti message. Hand-made mobiles dangle from the ceiling and cast eerie shadows in the glow of the purple and orange track lighting. Next year will bring new disc jockeys (djs) with new artwork and creations springing in their wake.
WMFO is also located at 91.5 on the FM bandwidth. In this sense, WMFO is also an ever shifting region of radio waves that varies according to our transmission strength, the time of day, the signals of other stations, and the atmospheric conditions in the area. If the logic of location is pushed a bit further, WMFO can also be found wherever a receiver is tuned to our frequency. This means that WMFO can also be found in homes and offices, or in cars, or in the headphones of people walking about.
Radio technology blurs the concept of location. So, where, then, is WMFO: the radio station, in a nebulous area of radio waves, or where ever there is a listener? Maybe it's best to opt for all of the above and spare ourselves the headache of solving this Zen-like riddle.
WMFO's broadcast range is actually quite small because it is a non-profit college radio station. Commercial radio stations, on the other hand, have larger ranges because they can afford the broadcasting fees stipulated by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Commercial stations pay these fees from the money they generate through advertising.
Commercial stations must compete with other stations for businesses who wish to purchase advertising time over the air. Commercial stations promote the size and demographics of their listener base to attract businesses. Therefore, the commercial stations must carefully choose and customize their formats, whether they are easy listening or talk radio. The station's format must be accessible and inoffensive to insure the station's revenue. At the risk of sounding offensive, to my ears safe and standardized commodity formats are a time-tested recipe for pabulum.
Non-profit radio stations, on the other hand, rely on government grants and gifts of tax deductible donations for their continued existence. Free of the need to advertise and broadcasting within a smaller range, non-profit stations have more room for flexibility and diversity in their format. Since its inception in 1968, WMFO has decided that the best way it could serve Tufts University and the local multi-cultural community was to adopt a freeform format.
Freeform, as the name suggests, is an oxymoron. It is the creative duty of each dj to strive to resolve this conundrum. Every dj has his own agenda and his own unique way of utilizing different approaches to express himself. The results are a broadcast that is ever-changing in its themes and ideas. The djs at WMFO must conform to the broadcasting standards of the FCC and the local community. These standards, however, are vague in definition. WMFO is a firm believer of freedom of expression and will play fast and loose interpreting the 1st Amendment. Otherwise, the only limits placed on the dj are the length of his show, the contents of WMFO's audio library, and the dj's imagination.
Some djs will stick to a traditional approach. They will choose a genre (or genres) such as jazz or blues and go from one song to the next. They will announce the obligatory station id, give the time, inform the listeners of what was played, and provide a public service announcement (PSA). Some djs will create a surreal sound-collage with strands of music, fragments from documentaries, bits of noise from sound effects from sound effects albums, and mix in a PSA or two. Other djs will focus on a theme like religion and deliver a program that uses show tunes from Godspell, gospels, Tuvan throat singing, and readings from the Koran. Still other djs will explore a genre such as contemporary classical and spend many shows mapping out the genre. There are also djs who will hop from genre to genre and theme to theme on every show they do.
Despite all the diversity, djs tend to lapse and play within the parameters of what they are already familiar with. These djs will have a lull in creativity and repeat themselves. Some djs will do this deliberately to perfect whatever idea they are trying to reach. In either case, this repetition is temporary and it is only a matter of time before the dj will explore new terrain. So, even though the station is in a state of flux in its format some patterns do emerge and remain consistent for a time. Eventually they will dissolve only to reform and cluster around some new variation.
WMFO, like some stations, will invite the listener to call and contribute to the dialogue. It has happened on occasion that a WMFO dj will go beyond the typical listener call-up framework. The dj will do his best to let the listener dictate the direction of the show. Sometimes other listeners will phone in to respond to a previous caller or engage the caller in conversation. The results can be bland and predictable but sometimes it is interesting. Rarer still, the program will veer into unexpected directions and complexity that is sublime. The singularity of the radio station becomes a plurality. Eventually, however, the broadcast returns to more recognizable forms.
Working at WMFO has taught me that New England has the most diverse selection of commercial and non-profit radio stations in the country. There are thousands of radio stations out there, each with its own particular format: country, rock, folk, etc... WMFO represents the pinnacle of this diversity. WMFO can't be said to appeal to everybody but it sure makes the attempt of having something for everyone. WMFO still has a long way to go in exploring the limits of freeform and I hope other radio stations will follow our example in diversity. With the twenty-first century looming on the horizon of our multi-cultural world, it only makes sense to reflect the environment. Radio should embrace the diversity and also explore...
