The stairway leading up to the 91.1 The Globe is narrow and winding. Campers’ feet patter on its metal steps, waiting to file into the studio. One boy points to a poster of a man in dark sunglasses, playing the guitar.
Ted Russell? he asks. Who’s that?
The stairway walls are lined with posters of other musicians he probably doesn’t recognize. They’re the bands and singers from folk, alternative, Americana, and world beats that have drawn a broad listenership to The Globe, now the nation’s top-rated college radio station.
Jason Samuel on a guided tour of 91.1 the Globe.
Photo by Josh Gleason
But The Globe hasn’t always played such a mixture. “Ten years ago, if you would have went up those steps, you wouldn’t have heard a lot,” explains Duane Stoltzfus as he introduces Jason Samuel to the campers. “It was quiet. They played classical music.”
Samuel took over as station manager at The Globe a decade ago and has transformed it from a quiet corner of Goshen College into a focal point of the campus and the city. Now Samuel leads the Write on Sports journalists through its control room and production studio. He’s enthusiastic and speaks quickly. Some of the campers struggle to write all that he’s saying.
Outside the production studio, Samuel issues a series of brief commands to his staff and then agrees to meet the campers back on their own turf, at the Write on Sports conference room. There, they question him on his career in radio and his move to Goshen College. He explains that The Globe has been awarded top college radio station in the country twice, largely because of its community focus.
“We’re at First Fridays, the 4H Fair. We cover high school sports as well as [Goshen College] sports.”
Like Justin Gillete, who recalled to the campers the day he fell in love with running, and Jack Nolan, who detailed his very first time calling a game on air, Samuel remembers vividly when he discovered he wanted to be in radio. He was in Philadelphia in fifth grade and his mom took him to a local radio station.
“I was absolutely captivated,” he tells them. He knew from that point that he wanted to be a DJ.
With just two weeks experience, most campers appear comfortable as reporters. One sits with Samuel in front of the group and interviews him. Others spring questions on him from the audience. They enjoy the interview and they like Jason Samuel.
Afterwards, the students stretch and talk about the interview. Many agree that they’ll work for their college radio stations when they have the opportunity.
Then, with notepads in hand, they head down to the newsroom to file one more story ahead of a 2:30 deadline.