To the Leadership at WERS:

I was saddened by yesterday’s lead article in the The Berkeley Beacon that describes some recent changes in programming at WERS. Specifically, dropping afternoon news reports and an editorial shift  from “hard-hitting” news to more entertainment fluff serves no one in the community except those fixated on ratings. At heart is the question of whom is the institution that is WERS intended to serve; clearly a priority should be the Emerson College community, both as a critical listening public as well as a training forum for prospective radio journalists and disc jockeys representing the Emerson student body.

There is more than ample opportunity for Emerson graduates to join ranks with the mainstream in the never-ending quest for ratings domination. Please reconsider the loss of journalistic value to our students and community, and help promote healthy, in-depth investigative reporting that is increasingly challenged by the commercialization of mainstream media.

Keith Rollinson
Post Production Manager | TRF
Emerson College