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Benny Smith: unsung hero
Posted By katie allison granju
There’s a great piece in Metro Pulse this week about WUTK Director Benny Smith and his tireless efforts to keep improving the station with very little support from the University of Tennessee:
…the station is at its highest ebb since Smith, a former WUTK program director as a graduate student from 1988 to to 1991, returned as station manager in October of 2004. Smith estimates that more than 100 students work at the station in some capacity every semester—a huge increase from the years immediately preceding his return—and WUTK has been recognized nationally, nominated as a finalist for the College Music Journal’s College Radio Station of the Year, as well as being a finalist in five of the publication’s best-of categories (including one category recognizing those stations that do the most with the least funding). And for the Knoxville community, it is, for the most part, the only on-air venue for less mainstream artists like Nick Cave, the Black Keys, and Death Cab for Cutie—to nick just a few of many names from the WUTK playlist—not to mention the only station where a variety of local artists are played on the air, regularly and often. (One commercial station, 105.3 plays a few tracks from local performers, but not in the same numbers.)
But a year after he came, Smith had an unhappy discussion with Journalism and Electronic Media Department Head Peter Gross, who told him in no uncertain terms that the modest but still vital operating funds he had taken for granted since his return would no longer be available.
“Before that happened, I had taken for granted that there was some kind of budget. Now, they keep the lights on and keep the doors open, which is great; I appreciate that. But that’s what they do for all the classrooms. There’s nothing above and beyond for WUTK, and I feel we are above and beyond as far as what we do.”
May 9th, 2008
If only the university would realize what a valuable asset they have in the open-minded, creative, musical resource they have in Benny Smith, they might find themselves budgeting better…people with the knowledge of the history of modern music like Benny are the ones who set places like The University of Tennessee and WUTK apart from other universities…the university could really help its recruiting efforts of top broadcasting/journalism students if a little more attention was paid to WUTK and Benny’s efforts.
Kathy (Waters) Scoggin, graduate of The University of Tennessee, 1989, Communications