Radio Now Dead Air

The Otter Media has been streaming since 1996 on the California State University, Monterey Bay (CSUMB) campus. Yet why is it that when brought up many people are scratching their heads clueless on the topic?

Otter Media is a program that allows students to host their very own two-hour TV-radio show that can be viewed worldwide on ottermedia.net or locally on channel 71 Monday-Friday from 10 a.m.-2 a.m. It counts as a course, also, allowing students to receive one unit. A program dedicated to the students, to play music as loud as we want while receiving college credits and for some strange reason we know nothing about it?

The program is doing anything and everything, however, to change that. Executive producer Steven Levinson is trying to make it so that Otter Media is being shown on every campus monitor. Music director Dan Bramlage, junior, sociology, said, “last year was the first year where they were able to have the show tuned in at the Dining Commons (DC), which was great progress.” But why not have the show tuned in everywhere on campus: Tanimura and Antle Family Memorial Library; the Student Center Building; or the Otter Express (OE), where the show is aired.

A few of the DJs had mixed feelings about media on campus.

Roy Anderson said that the message boards on Channel 71 are boring, and TAT TV sucks, so Otter Media is the best option.

Alex Mosher feels that Otter Media should be on, but not on every television on campus.

Justine Morales said that the TVs in the OE and DC should start off on Otter Media just so that people are aware that it exists.

Station manager Carolyn Janis, senior, Teledramatic Arts and Technology says that their next goal is to reach out to local junior colleges such as Monterey Peninsula College and Hartnell to get them on board with the Otter Media team. All three radio heads Steven, Dan, and Carolyn agree that the goal of Otter Media is to give students a voice and a chance to be heard.

Levinson says that Otter Media has been a great start for many former students who now have careers in the field within radio. For example, Allison Hess a former Otter Media DJ is now the current director of Mapleton Communications. Melanie Walker, also a formerly known DJ, is now known as a national recognized music director.

All different types of music play on Otter Media, from: hip-hop, jazz, techno, alternative rock, classic rock, salsa, folk, indie, R&B, comedy, news, the boundaries are limitless.

Tune in via Internet at ottermedia.net or on channel 71. Visitors are also welcome, so stop by and see the Bomb Shelter in the OE (preferably on Tuesdays from 10 a.m.-12 p.m., not because my show is airing or anything...cough cough).