Saving The WAWL

Students at Chattanooga State come together to protest the sale of the college's radio station.

WAWL-FM, or "91 Rock, The Wall" as it is known, will soon going off the air on FM radio.

Administrators say the sale allows them to update equipment and bring the college's mass communications program into the future.

But the students are not taking the sale lying down.

Trey McKinney, along with many others, want to let Chattanooga State administrators know that the college's radio station doesn't deserve to go off the air.

"We are a student run radio station," he says. "The only one in the area. It's just that I don't agree with his reasonings for why he's doing this and all the other good things that are coming from it."

The 'he' McKinney is referring to is Doctor James Catanzaro, the President of Chattanooga State.

Catanzaro says the plans for the station are simple--the station will still be around, but no longer on radio.  "The only difference is the platform," he says. "Will we be on FM? No. We will instead be on the web."

Catanzaro says the sale of the station's FCC license will help the mass communication program improve technology and bring the radio and television departments to industry standards.

But the move has met with criticism, in and out of the college.

And those protesting it, see it only as a way to get money.

"A lot of students feel that the $1.5 million has to do with it," says protester and WAWL DJ Leonard Hacncock. He adds, "does the school really need the money at this point? are there grants available?"

Catanzaro adds, "they do see it another way, but they don't have a longer view of things and they don't see what they're going to gain as a result of it."

McKinney says today's protest will hopefully show administrators "The Wall" is very important--not only to Chattanooga State, but also to the Chattanooga area.

"I've been doing this for nearly 2 years now, and I enjoy radio," says McKinney, adding, "this is what I want my career to be, and they're taking it away from us basically."

Catanzaro tells us a religious broadcaster has bought the station's license. He also tells us the station will go web-only once the sale is complete. That process could take around 6 months.

You won't be hearing much about the sale on 'The Wall', though. DJ's have been instructed to not talk about it on the air.