Washtucna Campus Update: Washtucna on the air

 Washtucna’s publishing class, along with Washtucna’s Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) chapter, visited Radio Tri-Cities in Kennewick on Tuesday, Oct. 16. Radio Tri-Cities is home of four FM stations and two AM stations including “Cities” 95.7, “Eagle” 106.5, and “Power” 99.1; and it is owned and operated by Ingstead Radio Washington.  The students were given a tour of the offices and studios by the program producer, A.J. Brewster, and were able to ask questions regarding marketing, broadcasting career, sales, technology, and legal issues.

Radio Tri-Cities itself is divided into two different workspaces; the first workspace contained the offices of the employers who were in charge of marketing and managing advertisements.  The general manager was able to answer questions and share his knowledge about target audiences, revenue, promotions, and responsibilities as general manager.  Students were impressed with the information shared by the general manager regarding marketing and business, and for some, it was an eye-opening experience into possible careers.

The second section of the workspace was the actual radio studios and disc jockey (DJ) workspaces.  As Brewster continued the tour, students were in awe as they met the DJ’s who they listened to every day, as well as the equipment and technology they worked with.  While visiting the studio of 94.9 “The Wolf,” a radio host demonstrated filling in voice dialogue, a procedure that involves three computer screens as well as a microphone.  Another extraordinary highlight of the tour was viewing the computer technology room that was, literally, a wall of computers that required two qualified computer engineers to keep the entire system up and running.

As well as guiding our tour, Brewster provided interesting information on the career of broadcasting, and how imperative it is to start as early as possible. 

He suggested one way to begin a career in radio broadcasting was to “volunteer” at a radio station and immerse oneself in the technology and learn to use it through hands-on training. 

By the end of the tour, the students were enthused and enlightened after gaining information on the field of broadcasting, and fairly excited after meeting some of their favorite DJ’s. 

In the future, don’t be surprised if a Washtucna graduate hosts your favorite morning radio show.