The media at Wellesley: A look into WCTV and WLZY

When you search for WCTV from the college's official website, it directs you to the home page of the old WCTV, which curiously became extinct in 2006. The page archives two past shows, both aired in 2001. The organization introduces itself as a "student-run television station that puts on six shows a year for the Wellesley College community." The student names that appear under the section, "Who We Are," are unfamiliar to the current members of the WCTV today.

The new WCTV, once gone and now brought back to life, is chaired by Grace Cheng '12, who is the mastermind behind the revival of the station. In the spring of 2010, she re-established the organization and successfully aired eight episodes, including four news reports and four feature clips. In the first news episode, anchorwoman Holly Bolland '12 planned to "showcase a particular student, faculty, staff member or organization who are probably slightly more interesting than you" in the upcoming episodes. The content of the show is admittedly both random and entertaining. In one episode aired last semester, the field reporter took a step-by-step approach to explaining the makings of Irish soda breads. Later in the episode, the former college government president, Katie Chanpong '10, made an appearance to scold the students to "lock it up," as there had been a 400 percent increase in vomiting on the Peter Pan bus from the year before, with a testimony that the company "has never seen this bad."

However, as WCTV is a fairly new organization, one that is constantly evolving, the format for the episodes is not guaranteed to be the same as it was in the spring. This year, Cheng plans to include official announcements, world news, CG reports, politics, athletic news and a variety of feature clips in an episode. Whether this lofty ambition will be materialized in the upcoming episodes, the students will have to wait and see. The episodes from WCTV can be found on YouTube (@WellesleyCollegeTV), and students can directly contact the station by e-mailing Grace Cheng or wellesleytv@gmail.com.

Now, the interview with Grace Cheng.

The Wellesley News (WN): What made you decide to bring WCTV back on campus? Was it more as a response to demand from the student body or did you have a sudden inspiration?

Grace Cheng (GC): Spring of 2010 was the first semester that we worked on WCTV. There used to be WCTV before I was student here. I'm not clear on what happened, but in 2006, they stopped airing. Last spring, we started it up again. We shot four regular news episodes and four specials, reporting on the organization Freestyle, Ethos Fashion Show, the CG election and on former college President Diana Chapman Walsh giving her address to the class of 2010, which was a big deal for us, because everyone just loves her.

I thought there was a problem with the transparency on part of the Wellesley Administration—with the change of food suppliers for the dining halls, and then the whole thing with Wellesley students commuting from Regis and all. It's all of the sudden, "Whoa, what's going on? When did this happen?" When you are on camera, people see you, and that remind you to be more responsible for things you say. I thought WCTV was good way to establish more transparency. That was part of the reason [for bringing back WCTV].

WN: How did people react to the first episode?

GC: We never polled people, but I'm sure there was nothing negative [in their reaction]. Talking to people, I noticed that they were all pretty excited about it. Funny story: for our first episode, we—we blasted it—and I heard that some girl ripped out the sound because it was so loud. Anyways, the whole Lulu heard us alright.

Besides that, the alums tell me that they appreciate what we are doing. WCTV got more than 2,000 hits on the internet. It was a modest start, and I'm hoping that it will get better with time. We'll spread more spam out there, raise awareness, let people know that we are here.

WN: You are an Economics/ Philosophy major, which doesn't really have to do with media work. I guess you really wanted to do this badly?

GC: I was surprised when I first came here that a college like Wellesley didn't have its own TV channel.

The way I saw things, it was more like: We don't have it. We need it. Nobody wants to do it? Fine, I'll do it. I just knew that [WCTV] was really needed, so I did it. I love Wellesley, it's really great. So [re-establishing WCTV was] just a small way to contribute to it.

WN: But it must have been difficult reviving something for which you had no experience. How did you deal with the technology stuff?

GC: It was hard, learning everything for the first time. But Jarlath Waldron—he works for the Media Services—helped us out a lot with handling the cameras and stuff. He's a media genius.

WN: How did you initially get people to join? Did you have to run around the campus recruiting people?

GC: I advertised heavily to the students in CAMS classes. I just got lucky with the people I got. People started to fall into place. We all love what we do, proud of the shows we put on. We are a very passionate bunch.

WN: How is the organization funded?

GC: We managed to work without the funds in the past. We borrow our cameras from the school. We managed. But this semester, we are trying to constitute WCTV, and are planning fundraisers.

WN: In your opinion, what are the advantages for Wellesley of having WCTV?

GC: Faster communication. TV matches the pace of the world today. You can watch us virtually anywhere on campus, every two weeks, at 5 o'clock. The alums could keep in touch with the school, and the prospective students could learn more about Wellesley by watching us.