Revived KBSU program at BSU

I first started at the Bemidji (Minn.) Pioneer as an intern in the summer of 1996. That would begin six years as a news reporter, sports reporter and copy editor for a small, six-day-per-week daily newspaper in northern Minnesota. I wrote a large range of stories from multiple beats, to features to sports, my favorite being the coverage of the Red Lake Reservation High School basketball team named the Warriors. Here is a collection of my stories from my time at the Pioneer.

Feb. 26, 1997

By Devlyn Brooks

Staff Writer

A group of Bemidji State University mass communication students want to put the "punch" back into their degrees by revitalizing the campus' television station -- KBSU.

On the average day, a subscriber of Midwest Cable will see on KBSU Channel 17 endless hours of schedules for the A.C. Clark Library, the Gillett Recreation Fitness Center and the Beaver Bookstore. They are informed about upcoming campus events through public service announcements, and they may see scrolling advertisements for local businesses such as Pepsi, Telnet and Busby's.

However, for several years there has been a distinct lack of local programming produced by BSU students.

Current station co-managers Gwen Dashner and Eric Redlinger and production manager Larry Baumgartner say they hope to change this trend.

The three managers and a handful of other volunteers took the first step this winter in revitalizing the station, putting together three locally produced shows that air once a week.

• "KBSU Live at 5" is a weekly news show which gleans stories from the campus' newspaper and other news sources to produce segments of local, state and national news. In addition, a sports update and local weather is added.

• "News, Reviews and Menus" is an older KBSU show that was modified with a new name and format. The show is divided into three segments of local news, movie reviews and quick-and-easy menus for colleges students.

• The third locally produced show in KBSU's repertoire is a BSU Student Senate roundtable, in which several of the student senators discuss weekly campus issues.

Broadcast Assistant Professor Bob Smith, a veteran of the Mass Communication Department who was given a decrease in his teaching load to help the students revitalize the station, said there are a number of reasons for the lack of support the station has seen in past years.

However, most importantly, is the fact that no significant amount of money has been allocated to maintain KBSU's equipment or facilities since the early 1980s, Smith said. when the station's equipment aged, the students lost interest and the station became "stagnant."

The major jump start to this winter's activity was a contribution from the dean of the College of Arts and Letters, he said, but the students have also been selling advertising and producing outside work to bring in money.

Dashner added two other reasons to the list of why few students get involved. She believes the BSU Mass Communication Department does not do enough to encourage incoming students to work at KBSU, and also, in general, there is not a large awareness of the station.

So, what does the future have in store for KBSU?

Mixed results, according to both Smith and Dashner. In the short term, the people who are volunteering this quarter seem interested in lending some assistance next quarter as well, Dashner said. And Smith added there will be an introductory television class, in which students must work at the station for a number of hours, that will help.

But long term, the managers of the station say it would take a sizable investment -- upwards of $25,000 -- by BSU to maintain a quality station.

"I think the administration would like to do something to help us, but they don't know how much the station will be used in the future," Dashner said. "I would like to see them back us, and I would like to see support from the (mass communication) department. Without television, our mass comm department won't be much of a mass comm department."