A three-judge federal panel unanimously ruled last week that the 2011 district reapportionment plan for the state’s 14 U. S. House districts, 38 Michigan Senate districts and 110 Michigan House districts is unconstitutional partisan gerrymanders. The court also ordered that the new map for the Michigan Senate would be used in a special 2020 election for… read more
Senator Gary Peters (D-MI) along with Montana Senator Steve Daines (R-MT) introduced legislation to combat pirate radio in the Senate. S. 1228 has been referred to the Senate committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation. Radio pirates cause real economic harm to broadcasters and signal interference inhibits broadcasters’ ability to serve their communities. The MAB greatly appreciate Senator Peters’… read more
In a post on his Broadcast Law Blog, MAB Washington attorney David Oxenford reminds Michigan broadcasters that are part of an Employment Unit with 5 or more full-time employees should be preparing to add to their online public inspection file their Annual EEO Public File Report – due to be added to their files by… read more
This past January, the State Emergency Communications Committee (SECC) met and approved a proposal to move St. Clair County from the Southeastern EAS Region to the adjacent East Central Region. The reason for this change was continued complaints from broadcasters that reliable, clear reception of the Southeastern LP-1 and LP-2 stations has been difficult. As part… read more
Midwest Communications has announced that Miggy Santos has joined the company’s WNWN-FM (Battle Creek) as brand manager. Santos comes from the Neuhoff Media clusters in Bloomington-Decatur, Illinois. Santos takes over management duties from longtime (20+ years) programmer P.J. Lacey, who will remain on the staff. Market Manager Kurt Luchs said, “First off, we want to… read more
Matt Seward, managing editor of the Cadillac News, was elected president of the Michigan Associated Press Media Editors association for 2019-20 at the group’s annual convention on April 28. Vincent Duffy, news director at Michigan Radio in Ann Arbor, was named president-elect. Also elected to the board for three-year terms were: — Director, representing Small-Market… read more
WLEN-FM (Adrian) will be honored with the National Service to Community Award. This award is presented each year by the National Association of Broadcasters Leadership Foundation (NABLF) to honor the public service commitment that local radio and television stations make year-round to their communities. WLEN was selected to receive this award for it’s Thank a… read more
By: Russ White, MSU Today, WKAR “I never expected to be a teacher. I really never did,” says retiring MSU hall of fame broadcast educator Gary Reid. Forty-four years later, he has impacted hundreds of broadcast and communications-related careers. Reid tells how his predecessor, the father of the classic rock radio format Fred Jacobs, “put… read more