THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, October 19, 1995 TAG: 9510170077
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 05 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DAWSON MILLS, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Medium: 67 lines
The residents of Bowling Green, a community of 349 homes off of Princess Anne Road in Norfolk, have a new radio station that, for the time being, is exclusively their own.
WBGB 1510 AM signed on the air Oct. 6 with a format that includes music, talk and call-in shows, as well as public-service and job announcements.
Broadcasting daily from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., the signal is transmitted through the electrical system serving the community and can be received in each of the homes there. It is modeled after a similar station, WBIP 1560, serving the Ida Barbour neighborhood in Portsmouth.
Staffed by volunteers who run the station's CD players, turntables, cassette decks and transmitter in a studio set up in the Bowling Green Recreation Center, the station provides an opportunity for residents of the community to learn about broadcasting.
``It's real nice,'' said Chris Goodman, 21, a geography major at Norfolk State who, along with Terry Jackson, was doing a board shift at the controls during the station's first day of operation. ``Our community needed to get kids off the street. This will help out, to get some kids in to learn about broadcasting.''
Goodman heard about the station and volunteered, learning how to operate the equipment the first week. He ``might'' switch his major to broadcasting, he said, now that he has an opportunity to gain some firsthand experience.
Dr. Herman Clark, principal of Bowling Park Elementary, was keynote speaker at the ceremony marking the station's grand opening. He praised the involvement of parents in the community's school and cited some of the neighborhood's other assets: three churches, the recreation center and the new station.
Some 25 area residents turned out for the dedication, followed by a ribbon-cutting and tour of the station's facilities.
Afterward, Vera Franklin of the Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority, who had cut the ribbon, spoke about the importance of the station to the community.
``We hope it'll make a difference,'' she said. ``People started coming through earlier today, at 11 a.m., when they first opened up, out of curiosity. A half-dozen kids spent a lot of time. I believe that the trick is to give lots of positive alternatives. Athletics is one. This is another. That way we can capture the kids one by one.''
Franklin noted that stipends of $60 per month are available to those who volunteer to join the station's staff.
WBGB is a project of the Norfolk Redevelopment & Housing Authority and the Bowling Green Tenant Management Association, and is funded by a $15,000 grant from the HUD's Drug Elimination Program.
The programming is seen as an adjunct to existing communication initiatives already available in the community and will focus on issues and concerns of the residents. David Frank, who was responsible for the Portsmouth station after which WBGB was modeled, was consultant to the project and serves as the station's general manager.
Future plans include expansion of the station to include Roberts Village and eventually all of Norfolk's public housing community. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by DAWSON MILLS
Terry Jackson is among the aspiring broadcasters at new radio
station WBGB.
by CNB