By Jack Armstrong
Photo By 1190 News. Jack Armstrong on first row left.
You’re listening to Radio 1190 News, I’m your host, Jack Armstrong. We go now, to a Letter from the News Director:
Over the past two and a half years, I’ve fulfilled the position of News Director for Radio 1190. The station has grown to nearly 160 active student volunteers, 50 of which play their part at Radio 1190’s News Team. Pushing easily over 150 estimated total stories, over 60 unique bylines, and for this semester, 50 total shows and not a single day missed from Monday to Friday this semester. Those are numbers that go beyond the call sign, 1190. Numbers don’t lie, especially when the only number that defined you at the start was zero. Radio 1190’s News Team struggled to find its footing after COVID struck CU Boulder, I wasn’t a perfect News Director, but my team and I built this program while we were flying it.
This past semester has been my favorite, I’ve had volunteers give me stories from a GSA Drag Show, a women’s rights protest called the ‘Repro Rally’, stories straight from Colorado’s Capital, and right at home reporting from Folsom Field. To every volunteer I’ve ever worked with, I’m so proud of you, what you’ve accomplished, and I’m so proud for the fact that you took initiative — even if it was only coming down to a News Team Meeting, in this world that’s more than enough and it’s more than enough — to me.
This past semester I’ve seen my team light up. I had volunteers writing print stories for the first time, and the editorial team ran ahead of that milestone to put on a masterclass of an election coverage night. John Meylor, Sam Sarma, Lily Wright — you guys are my heroes because you represent what News Team is supposed to be: overly dedicated, unwaveringly creative, shockingly tenacious, and independently powerful.
This past semester has been a proof of concept, and this concept wouldn’t exist without Radio 1190’s Assistant News Director Juanita Hurtado. Every success of this team is as much of a victory for me as it is for you. Your ability to rally every person around you to be focused while making space to care for their needs is astounding. As we always say to one another — go kick ass.
I have to thank those at Radio 1190 who made the station look what it’s like today. To Eric Scace and Iris Berkeley, our respective engineer and operations manager, thank you for your unbridled dedication to making this place function. To all the managers at 1190, Aiden Brolly, Oliver McKinney, Elliana Nickel, Jazmyn Chioda, Jake Thompson, Luke Crumplar, and Luke Petet, thanks for all the hard work you do to make sure people feel welcomed and consistently invited to our station. It’s hard to do and y’all make it feel effortless. I also have to thank you to Dr. Keyana Simone, thank you for taking a chance to green light all my plans for the News Team, even the half-baked ones. To every one of our listeners, thank you for being there, through it all, with Radio 1190’s News Team.
This is Radio 1190 News’ Jack Armstrong, signing off.