�Ǹ�Թ�

As volunteers for the �Ǹ�Թ�-based KGNU community radio station, Juanita Hurtado and Jack Armstrong were trained to be compliant with federal broadcasting regulations.

Listen live

��

���� ����

��

What they did not learn was how to run a station with total creative freedom.

It’s certainly a lesson they’ve learned since taking leadership roles at Radio 1190. In the past year, the station—formally known as KVCU 1190 AM—captured numerous awards for radio features, reporting and podcasting while growing the news team from a handful of volunteers to more than 30 regular participants.

A big part of the increase in student involvement came from Armstong’s experience as a senior strategic communication major in the public relations track.

“The biggest strategy for me has been learning about promotions and what makes them effective, so I went to classes and pitched Radio 1190,” Armstrong, the station’s news director, said.

Radio 1190 now offers news broadcasts each weekday during the academic year, along with daily student-curated music programming. The station also has expanded to include a featuring news, blogs and podcasts showcasing student-created visuals and music.

The station’s growth isn’t just in its numbers or programming. Iris Berkeley (Jour’01), whose career in media and communication has included radio production, hosting and DJing, was involved with 1190 as a student. Today, she is back as its operations manager and is impressed by the station’s commitment to diversity.

Building a community

“This isn’t just a radio station—it’s a community,” Berkeley said. “We want to be committed to making sure everybody on the campus is not only welcomed but finds their place here.” ��

For Hurtado, the station’s assistant news director and a junior majoring in journalism, inclusion comes through her radio segments, which began incorporating Latin American music to bring visibility to that community. ��

While she was nominated for multiple awards over the past year, the impact her Spanish-language segments created brought her the most joy. Hurtado shared that Keyana Simone, faculty director of student media, “told me that while training new DJs, some of them said that because they heard my shows in Spanish, they wanted to start shows in Japanese and Polynesian.” ��

Unlike Berkeley, the station’s current news directors aren’t interested in careers in radio—Armstrong hopes to be a production manager, and Hurtado wants to be a freelance writer. But they recognize the broad applicability of the skills students develop by working in radio—whether storytelling, hosting, website maintenance and development, social media, or community engagement. ��

“We want to make sure students develop not only the skills to earn them jobs, but also awards that prove to recruiters the quality of their work,” Hurtado said. ��

It’s a vision she shares with Armstrong. ��

“I have a very distinct goal—that when people see Radio 1190 on a resume, it will attract recruiters,” Armstrong said. “We do have some national distinctions already, but I want to get to the point where people get an interview or a callback because Radio 1190 has that recognition.”

Iris Serrano is studying strategic communication and journalism at CMDI. She covers student news and events for the college.