The WFUV Student Experience

WFUV is an NPR affiliate station, not only highly regarded for its eclectic music mix and award-winning news and sports programming, but also for its unparalleled student training program.

We offer opportunities in a wide range of areas:

• News & Public Affairs - WFUV's newsroom is a training ground for aspiring media professionals. We focus on the fundamentals of audio news reporting, as well as other storytelling platforms. Young journalists will cover spot news reporting and learn how to gather sound, write for the ear, interview sources and how to train their voices for hosting . As their skills develop they will focus on “NPR style” longer form, narrative, in depth, audio-rich stories. Fordham students who join the newsroom will also help with WFUV’s “What's What” daily news podcast. Young journalists will learn to serve as hosts, reporters, directors and editors to produce news stories, public affairs features, social media content and eventually video segments for the podcast.
• Sports - WFUV Sports is where passionate young minds go to discover what they can become in the field. The program is a training ground for communicators, storytellers, innovators and leaders. In addition to being the flagship station for Fordham athletics, WFUV Sports is also the home of “New York’s Longest-Running Sports Call-In Show” – One on One. The three-hour, live talk show airs every Saturday and features original commentary, special interviews and in-depth reporting. WFUV students also work in the field as beat reporters on the coverage of professional games. WFUV is credentialed media for all the major pro teams in New York City. The department offers a complete training program, from audio and video production to on-air hosting and more. Students take part in workshops with professionals in the industry, many of which are notable Fordham and WFUV alums.
• Live Music Audio Engineering - Student audio engineers are responsible for the mixing and post-production of live in-studio music performances as well as assisting with off-site concerts and other in-studio broadcast operations as needed.
• Live Music Video Production - Student videographers are responsible for the shooting and editing of live in-studio music performances and off-site concerts. See the WFUV YouTube channel for examples.
• Audio Production - What does it mean to be an audio producer? The Student Production Training Program will answer that question by exploring what audio producers do in radio, podcasting and live event production. From crafting the narrative arc of audio stories to handling the post-production audio editing -- audio production is both creatively and technically fulfilling and can be applicable in a number of fields including radio, broadcast, digital, journalism and podcasting. Student producers will get the opportunity to work on on-air content, digital content like podcasts and FUV Live Sessions and live event production of FUV Live sessions in the studio and at venues around New York City. 
• Broadcast Engineering and Operations - Student broadcast engineers are responsible for the technical operations of the radio station with opportunity to become a Certified Radio Operator (CRO) through the Society of Broadcast Engineers (SBE). The training provides a foundation for the wide variety of work broadcast engineers perform, which includes: Audio Engineering, Audio Production, Broadcast IT, Business IT, RF Engineering and basic radio station operations.
• Music - The Music Manager provides wide ranging support in the WFUV Music Department. Responsibilities include creating prep materials for DJs about new music, organizing incoming mail, integrating new music into the media library, reporting airplay to trades, and working to maintain WFUV’s profile in the music community.
• Ceol na nGael - Student Hosts present Ceol na nGael on-air each Sunday afternoon from 12-4. Responsibilities include creating weekly playlists, engineering the show, conducting interviews with artists, and editing pre-recorded shows when necessary.
• Promotions - The Promotions Department is responsible for increasing awareness of WFUV and managing giveaways to our listeners. Students manage every part of the process from building web pages, to pulling winners and communicating with the venues and ticket winners. Promotions also supports WFUV members by offering them tickets to shows, discounts at area businesses (through the WFUV MemberCard partner program), and keeping them informed about area concerts through the WFUV Events Calendar.
• Underwriting - Underwriting Associates assist the department in many aspects of the sales process, including: pulling research and developing materials (presentations and newsletters) to tell our story to prospective advertisers, posting to socials and tracking audience numbers (on-ar, online and through the stream), learning how to prospect, pulling audio clips & cataloging them and competitive tracking. Along the way we give them the hows and why's of what they're doing.

The goal of the WFUV student experience is to provide participants with opportunities to get real-world practical experience in public media.

Fordham students filming Bailen in the WFUV performance studio
 

TRAINING WORKSHOPS

WFUV also offers some training workshops during the academic year. The goal of each workshop is to provide you with the necessary skills to continue your WFUV career, as an employee in that particular department.  However, participation in these workshops does not guarantee future employment.  Fall 2024 training workshops will be offered in the following areas:

• News & Public Affairs
• Sports
• Live Music Video Production
• Live Music Audio Engineering
• Broadcast Engineering and Operations
• Audio Production

To apply to a training workshop, please submit a WFUV Student Workshop Application.
The deadline to apply is Friday, September 27, 2024. Once all applications have been received, we will be in touch with you regarding your application status. Please note, due to high demand, not all applicants can be accepted to the program.