Left: Francisco Naraez, Emmi Velez, Jack Connolly and Gianfrano Blanco.
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WVUM’s community celebrates diversity, creativity and self-expression WVUM offers so much more than just music. Specifically, as the flagship radio station for all UM sports, WVUM boasts an extensive audience on game days. The radio station gives students a front-row seat at all home games, discussing everything from basketball three-point shots to volleyball serves. In addition to music and sports, WVUM hosts a variety of news shows, giving students daily coverage of the most recent stories, from on-campus elections to international scandals. For those interested in politics, the news show Counterpoint presents domestic news through a political lens. Ezra Remer and Danny Larose debate the political hot topics of the United States. Remer, the sophomore WVUM news director, discussed how much he appreciates this political show and the fact that he is able to “present unbiased, multifaceted news reporting.” For instance, Remer remembers attended
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the Donald Trump rally last year when Trump was only a candidate. At the rally, he made sure to interview a range of voters, gathering different and often conflicting perspectives to add an interesting twist to this political show. Velez also has memorable experiences. For her first show, the power in the UC went out, causing all the computers in the studio to crash. Thankfully, a friend who also worked at the station came and the pair improvised with banter and random CDs in an attempt to fill the dead air. “It was the worst first show ever, but in hindsight, I’m so glad it happened to me. I remember saying to myself, ‘Well, I almost broke the entire radio station on my first day, so it can only go up from here,’” Velez said. On campus, WVUM has an incredibly strong presence, however, WVUM makes sure to extend past the UM in order to provide music, sports and news to the greater Miami area. The
radio station works closely with various events and music festivals based in Miami. Jack Connolly, the junior public relations and promotions director, discussed how people at UM “don’t realize how connected we are to the outside community.” As head of PR and promotions, Connolly endorses events through onair promotions and various social media platforms, which allows him to send reporters to cover the events in Miami. Thus, these reporters and bloggers attend some of the most well-known music festivals in Miami for free, such as Ground Up, Okeechobee, and Ultra Music Festival. WVUM offers a truly welcoming environment for people to come together for the love of music and radio. “WVUM’s community celebrates diversity, creativity, and self-expression, and I think that’s part of what makes this station so special,” Velez said.