For our first post-Banquet podcast, we get a fresh perspective today. Dr. David Crider, now a professor at SUNY-Oswego, was a high-school summer staffer at WJPZ during The Pulse years. It was the foundational knowledge he learned under the staff there that led him to a career in radio, then higher education. He now advises the student-run station at Oswego, WNYO.
As a student at West Genny, David learned that then-Z89 was looking for break staffers to keep the station on the air when the SU students went home. He quickly joined up, learning from the outgoing Class of 1995 - folks like Dion Summers, Jeff Rossen, and others. Soon, David was doing sports updates and on-air DJ shifts. He was learning from others like Scott MacFarlane and Jason Palladino, who he'd become great friends with.
While the flip to the Pulse came as a surprise, it really got David excited, as the station was aligning with his own musical tastes. Soon, he and Brent Axe were doing a morning show together, Live and Loud in the Morning. He was also doing overnights (for break staffers that was the full midnight to 6:00AM), including New Year's Eve/Day.
When it came time to go to college, David went to school that had its own radio station, Susquehanna University in Pennsylvania. Following WJPZ's flip back to Z89, David was able to keep the Pulse brand alive, albeit a bit further south. When WQSU flipped from block format to alternative, they became 88.9 The Pulse.
Today's guest spent several years in radio, interning for Brent Axe in Utica and working in Syracuse at WSYR with Alex Silverman. In between, he worked in Pennsylvania radio in several different gigs, which he takes us through.
When he tired of the radio industry in a professional sense, David decided to pursue a career in higher education. This led him back home to Newhouse, where he got his Masters. So his time at Z89 and his time getting a Syracuse diploma were a decade apart. He later got his doctorate from Temple University, before joining the faculty at SUNY Oswego.
As the faculty advisor to WNYO, Dr. Crider constantly draws on what he learned at WJPZ, as he explains.
Like many of our episodes, today's includes a funny story from a New York State Fair broadcast - this one involving a stolen picnic bench and Governor Pataki's security detail.
The WJPZ at 50 Podcast is produced by Jon "JAG" Gay, Class of 2022, and his company JAG in Detroit Podcasts
Want to be on the show? Email JAG at jag@jagpodcastproductions.com
Connect with the WJPZ Alumni Association: https://wjpzalumniassociation.org/
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