MORE FROM LARRY BERGER:
After 25 years at WYEP, the non-profit production company we formed as SLB (Saturday Light Brigade) Radio Productions, Inc. in 2000, we opened a $250,000 digital broadcast and production facility in the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh upon its annexation of the old Buhl Planetarium in 2004. We're located where the Miniature Railroad & Village used to be, and broadcast to three stations weekly with more on the way. During off-air hours, we teach kids about radio, create radio dramas (6 in 2006 alone), and pursue other projects consistent with our mission of creating radio that children and adults can enjoy together.
In my 1970s days in public radio, I and a few others (e.g., W.T. Koltek, Jay Farrell, both represented here, and the late John Demchak) felt strongly that public radio did not mean unprofessional radio or unformatted radio. With colleagues like those above, legendary stations like the 1980s WTAE/1250 and solid airchecks from Robert W. and the like, I learned that radio is at its best -- regardless of format -- when it *sounds like radio*. I'm grateful for early mentors and having an opportunity to create the magic we love from our own studios. I'm also grateful for experiencing the tape-splicing, capstan-cleaning, wow-and-flutter analog days as well as today's digital technology as well as the many chances I had to do so much with so little.
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