The Berkeley Beacon

Issue date: 10/26/06 Section: News

Media Credit: Greg Townsend Chance Dorland, a sophomore visual and media arts major, leads a discussion at a recent meeting for ETIN.

On Nov. 6, the Emerson Talk and Information Network (ETIN) will begin airing solely on the Internet 24 hours every day. The station, which does not have a URL yet, will be directed toward a college audience and will focus on talk and news programs rather than music.

"It's talk for college students, by college students for the first time at Emerson College," said Chance Dorland, a sophomore visual and media arts major and program director for ETIN.

Although the project is still in development, a list compiled by ETIN of several proposed programs includes news broadcasts, a morning segment, and a political talk show.

A sports program covering Emerson's teams is also planned to air five times a week. Dorland hopes to eventually broadcast play by play announcing of games from inside the gymnasium in Piano Row.

Other programs include "Your Hard Work," for which students submit audio projects to be aired, and "Across the Pond," which features students living at Kasteel Well.

There are also plans for a show called "Intercoursing," modeled after the popular radio program "Loveline." According to Dorland, ETIN has asked medical students and professors from local colleges such as Boston University if they would make appearances on the show as the "doctor."

The focus on talk programs does not mean music will be banned from the station altogether.

Breaks during and between programs will be filled with songs, and ETIN news director and senior broadcast journalism major Stacy Hunsberger said music may be used overnight as filler.

General Manager of WERS and advisor for ETIN Jack Casey explained the development of the network in a phone interview.

Casey said students had discussed the idea of a radio devoted to talk for a few years, but came of it.

Dorland, looking for a new media outlet, expressed interest in working on such a station.

This fall, Casey talked with Marsha Della-Guistina, now an advisor for ETIN, who said the journalism department was considering a streaming news station.

Around the same time, Dorland brought Hunsberger into the project to operate the news portion of ETIN. With the aid of Casey and Della-Guistina, the station developed into the format it has now taken.

Continued...

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