Allison Wang: “With 91.9 KVCR News, I'm Allison Wang,” is a phrase I am very familiar with saying. I have been working with KVCR News since April 2023. First as an intern, then a volunteer reporter creating radio features, and now as an instructor teaching others about public radio and guiding them through the process of creating their own radio features. Throughout this audio documentary, I will be recounting the journey of the past two years and reflecting on the meaningful work that has been accomplished. This story will also include insights from nine individuals who helped bring this project to life. This entire saga began with my acceptance in the UC Riverside Political Science Department internship program. This program was founded by Professor Ron Loveridge back in the 1960s, but was revitalized when he returned to teaching after his mayorship in 2012. Currently, the program is co-led by Professors John Medearis and Yasemin Irepoglu Carreras.
Dr. John Medearis: My name is John Medearis and I'm a professor of political science and co-director of the local internship program in the political science department at UC Riverside. We have ongoing relationships with, you know, a couple dozen different organizations, government departments, elected officials in the Inland Empire. And instead of students having to find those positions, we do interviews in order to understand the students and be able to place them in an internship, that's a good match for them. My colleague Yasemin Irepoglu Carreras, we're the co-directors of internships for the political science department. And our goal is to make sure that sort of Ron's vision is carried on into the future so that the future political science students have the same opportunity that you had.
Allison Wang: After my interview, I was assigned to intern with KVCR News, a radio station located on San Bernardino Valley College's campus. In fact, the VCR stands for Valley College Radio. KVCR is a National Public Radio, or NPR, affiliate station, meaning they broadcast national NPR news but supplement it with local stories. In this case, news concerning the Inland Empire.
Rick Dulock: I'm Rick Dulock. I'm the program coordinator for KVCR Radio. Basically I run the radio station at KVCR. I'm in charge of the hosts and the programming. I've been in this position since 2010 or 2011. KVCR is public broadcasting. We do have a PBS station as well as our radio station, which is an NPR affiliate. The mission is to serve the Inland Empire. We're really focused on the local community. We bring national programming in, but we supplement that with local stories, local news, local content. Those segments run in our tent pole programs, Morning Edition and All Things Considered where most of the listeners are, you know, morning commute, afternoon commute. So that program reached out to us. Dr. Loveridge asked if he could send a student over from their political science program. And we've had at least one or two a year for the past ten or fifteen years, it's been quite a while. And it's been interesting because, you know, depending on the student, some students want to just come in and learn what they can and they might help us produce promos and they might do research. I think one of the students was very shy and really didn't want to do anything on the air. So we had them do research, research news stories for us and find information on specific topics so that we could produce news stories. And we've helped people develop skills. No matter where they came from or where they were going, we always figured out how to make it work. In your case, you started doing features and it was always long form storytelling.
Allison Wang: As Rick says, my focus has always been radio features. I would research a potential topic, identify a person of interest, reach out to coordinate and conduct an interview, create a cohesive and comprehensive story using that interview and added narration, sound effects, and the like. During my time with KVCR, I interviewed university professors, young students, business owners, K-12 educators, artists, community organizers, and so much more. Sometime around spring 2024 I wanted to take my occasional work with KVCR even further. I enjoyed making radio features in my spare time outside of my full-time student workload and my job. And it made me happy to contribute to the wealth of local news and knowledge. In creating these radio features, I was fostering a more personal connection with my community. So, that led me to the R’Course program at UCR.
Dr. Jennifer Kavetsky: Hi, I am Dr. Jennifer Kavetsky. I oversee the R’Course program. The program itself started in 2014 and I have been overseeing it since 2022. So we're one of the few universities in the country that have a program like this where undergraduate students can propose and teach a one unit class on almost anything. There are some restrictions, but generally it can be anything. So the goal is, one, to give undergraduate students a chance to develop the skills associated with teaching, so public speaking, classroom management, but also depth of knowledge on a topic, confidence. Make them stand out to employers because how many other people have taught a college-level class? It's also a chance to expand UCR's offerings beyond what a faculty could normally do, right?
Allison Wang: In Spring 2024 I submitted my proposal to teach an R’Course on public radio storytelling, titling my course, “Local Public Radio Storytelling with 91.9 KVCR News.” My intention was to guide students through the process of creating their own radio feature like I had been doing.
Rick Dulock: We like to fill bigger chunks of our schedule in Morning Edition and All Things Considered with local content. So when you approached us with the idea for this R’Course, I thought it was a fantastic idea because your local content was always sound-rich, enticing, interesting, and helped fit the curiosity of the public radio listener. And I was super happy when our executive director, Connie Leyva, gave us her blessing and we went off and running.
Allison Wang: After my proposal was accepted, I enrolled in Education 102: Democratic Pedagogy Developing R’Courses, the prerequisite class for teaching an R’Course. I took this class in the Fall 2024 academic quarter. It was taught by Dr. Jennifer Kavetsky.
Dr. Jennifer Kavetsky: There's a bit of a journey there. So some of it is practical hands-on stuff. How do you make a lesson plan? How do you design an assessment? Some of it's more big picture pedagogy stuff. What is the goal of assessment? What are we trying to do? Education 102, also teaches us about democratic pedagogy and how our courses exemplify it. These are usually passion projects, something you're really excited about, something that's coming from a passion you already have outside of the R’Course program, and you want to share it with your peers, and that is the democratic pedagogy in which Someone's own passion or own background is influencing the kind of work they want to do. And they get to share it with other undergrads. I think there's something valuable in the idea, that, like, of democratizing knowledge, especially in our current social, historical, political moment when a lot of people are questioning the value of universities or university education, making knowledge accessible and valuing the different kinds of knowledge. Accessibility is more than just physical access. That's important, but it's also like knowledge of something. Learning about new things, new niche topics that other people are really passionate about. Giving people access to those ways of knowing. That idea of valuing knowledge in all its forms and what universities can really do is they can make that knowledge accessible to people who might never have had a chance, right? This is why you take gen-eds. Even though sometimes you don't like them, the goal is, is exposing you to other things. Our students, the variety of ideas our students have, the variety of backgrounds they come from, I'm constantly amazed. I've been doing-I've been here since 2008 and I am always amazed by just the cool insights my students have.
Allison Wang: Accessibility is really the key theme that threads through this entire project. Any undergraduate at UCR with an idea can create an R’Course and make knowledge much more accessible to others. And in my case, in teaching the art of public radio storytelling, The features my students create further enrich the world with more news and insights about our local community. Not to mention, public radio is inherently accessible. Absolutely anyone can tune in, free of charge. And for those who are deaf or hard of hearing, transcripts of news stories are readily available online. My goal with my R’Course was to expand access to this form of media storytelling. Upon completing Education 102, I was set to teach my R’Course. I had sixteen students fully complete the course in the Winter 2025, academic quarter, and I am currently teaching eleven students now in Spring 2025, The features my students create are aired on 91.9 KVCR every week and subsequently published on KVCR's website as part of a series, Student Stories. You can access Student Stories at kvcrnews.org/student-stories. We started airing their features in early April, and it will continue throughout this entire summer 2025. I interviewed four of my Winter 2025 students about their experience creating their radio features and taking my class. Here are their thoughts and takeaways.
Charlie Burton: My name is Charlie. I am a second year Theater, Film, and Digital production major. I did my feature on an art club at UCR called the Starving Artist Club. My good friend Audrey is the co-president of it. I did it about how... The idea of creativity and connection plays for the club. It's an art club, but the social aspect of it is just as important as that. I felt very accomplished by the end. I did it in Adobe Audition, so it was the first time- I'd kind of done it in Premiere Pro for audio tracks, but- when I had to go like really zoomed in to like very small milliseconds and get out certain breaths and stuff and kind of figure out on the audio track when a sound kind of starts and stops, like I was, I thought that was pretty interesting and I thought it was very rewarding for me. Actually going through like a process and developing a narrative from an actual interview was something I was very glad I did and it showed me how storytelling, how it can be applied to just kind of other forms of media. So like in this case, radio. So how about that?
Jordan Storm: Hi, my name is Jordan Storm. I'm a second year Film major with an Education minor. I have an interest in pursuing, like, filmmaking and, like, costume design and things like that, but I also have a big love for education and teaching students about film and music and things of that nature as well. My feature for the class was concerning this punk band named Zonked. I've always, I grew up on punk music and I've always had a big love for the genre and just all kinds of artists, especially indie artists. So the artist that I decided to interview was Carson Storm. He's actually my brother. And because I love what he does and I would love to inspire him to keep working on it and I would love to bring his music to more people, so. So I did find it really interesting. It was like a whole new, like, adventure to see someone's creative process and dive into that and get to sort of like fan out with, with music that you really love. In terms of the narrative that I wanted to create, I would love, I love this like casual sit down interview with, with my artist because punk is such a genre that people don't understand or they're afraid of and making him seem like down to earth and human was really my goal in, in my interview. I think the impact of the entire course after going through it was sitting down with someone you're interested in and speaking to them and learning more about the world around you is more accessible than you think. Like, I mean, I'm not saying that you have to be on the radio, but just getting to know someone on a much deeper level with these uh, deeper questions is a really profound experience no matter what topic you're doing. Because, I mean, what he does with his, his music career is like none of my business. Like, I'm not gonna come over and be like, so what are you, what are you doing? Because like, I paint, I make film, like he's not coming in and being like, oh, let me see. And I mean, of course, we already have that chemistry, that like, camaraderie. So I think the work flowed really, really easily and the conversation was really natural. Storytelling by radio is way more easy to access than I ever thought it was. Like, I didn't know we had one, like, right down the street who was airing 24-7. I, I never would have thought I would have participated in something like this, and I, it was a very valuable experience, especially as someone in the entertainment industry.
Emily Wen: My name is Emily and I am a second year physics major. I did my feature on this-It's an on-campus student organization called A Friend in Me and it's focused on pediatric cancer. I really like the editing process just because working with audio, like, getting rid of extra stuff like pauses, I thought it was really fun. But also, how do I say, like putting the orders, messing with the orders around is really fun. So like, let's say in the interview, I asked this question last, but I thought, It'd be better for me to put this part in the front. I can do that. I thought that was really cool. It is definitely interesting. I'm a physics major. I don't think there's much related to it, but like, For fun-wise, like, if I go out with friends, go on a trip, I would definitely want to make a video, like, road trip video type of thing to wrap up and I think this is a good skill that I built. I think, well, before coming in here, I thought, like just learning how to edit audio would be like a cool skill to have and I thought that was the only thing I would, like, have to do honestly, but we have to, like, start from zero. So after you build the structure, thinking about how, the, how your feature is going to look like, what question you're going to include.
Lurdes Ortiz: My name is Lurdes Ortiz. I'm a fourth year UCR student, recent graduate. I did my feature on UCR's R’Garden, a program meant for students to combat food insecurity. And I feel like my feature would help a lot of other students to learn more about R’Garden and how to get free food and not be afraid of asking for help when it comes to food insecurity. I had no previous editing experience, but the way that it was explained in the course, I was like, oh yeah, I can take that on no problem. But actually sitting down and doing it and reviewing your voice and listening to your voice ten times over and then just kind of hyper fixating on a mistake. It, it kind of, it kind of got flustering at some points. So that was kind of challenging. Accomplishing like, and, and that it's going to be published on, um, an NPR supported, um, site, which is really great and I've been kind of raving about it to-the process and the experience- to like anyone who would listen. So, so after taking this R’course, I feel a lot more confident in my editing ability. I feel more confident in my ability to reach out to people in professional settings. I will definitely look back at my time with the art course and kind of interacting with people in the radio sphere and I would definitely, like, look back at it fondly.
Allison Wang: I am so proud of all my students for completing their features, from starting from scratch and going from idea to implementation.
Rick Dulock: Your classes have been full of people who were taking a class they didn't have to take. And that's something different. And it reminds me of, like, the NPR listener, right? The public radio listener. It's people who are curious, who want to try new things, who want new experiences and who want to learn.
Allison Wang: I worked hard to ensure this class would be engaging. I organized an optional tour to KVCR Studio, where Rick gave an insightful guided tour on the operations and logistics of the station.
Lurdes Ortiz: I also got to participate in the KVCR field trip. Rick was super nice and like, he gave us a lot of really cool information about KVCR. And seeing how the program runs and how he runs the program. I got to see a lot of behind the scenes that, you know, not every average person gets to see. I've always known radio has existed, but it was always like this mystery to me, just this thing that occurs that I play on my in my car on my commute home, but I never knew, like, how intricate And how complex just a simple broadcasting story could be and how many people it runs through.
Emily Wen: Going to KVCR, like actually see how it works. I thought that was really fun and I'm glad I did it.
Rick Dulock: We love showing people where we work. We have a great staff. Everyone's always friendly and helpful. So to be able to show your class while they're in the middle of producing their things where we're going to broadcast them from is really exciting for us.
Allison Wang: The R’Course program is truly special and goes to show how providing opportunities for students can go a long way.
Rick Dulock: Yeah, I think it was a brilliant idea having students teach students. I think peer-to-peer learning is really, really cool. And it was really interesting to see you in front of your class taking charge, but also being a peer at the same time, which is, I've never seen before.
Allison Wang: And again, creating an R’Course is accessible. Any UCR undergrad can create one.
Charlie Burton: I became pretty interested in teaching an R’Course after. Cause like, I think I've done three of them. They were pretty different in principle and how they did things from everything else I was doing. If I found a topic that I could kind of work with and, like, teach about, then it would definitely be something I'd want to do.
Jordan Storm: I would love to do one about punk. So this was a great, like, preparatory experience.
Allison Wang: My current Spring 2025 students are in the beginning to middle stages of creating their radio features. Let's hear what a couple of them have to say.
Zachary Hanson: Hi, my name is Zachary Hanson. I'm a fourth year History major at the University of California, Riverside. I'm going to be graduating this year and on to new fronts. I'm planning on doing my interview with two members of the, uh, indigenous language community at UCR. They're both doing Cahuilla language or cultural, uh, classes and I'd like to do an interview with them about, uh, cultural and language revitalization. Since I've gone to college, I've always been interested in native issues and that's been my main course of study. And I think there's a lot of power in language and culture. A lot of people don't know about these avenues of restoring, or of at least finding the past. And I think it's, it'd be good to put on public radio and get it out there. And it's really exciting to have access to that many ears and to be able to spread some sort of message.
Chloe Kim: Hi, I'm Chloe. I'm a fourth year English major. I'm doing my radio feature on a restaurant in Riverside Downtown called Arts Bar and Grill. And I'm going to be interviewing the owner, Andrea Pellaghi, this Friday. I just randomly found this restaurant in, like, the corner of Downtown a couple months ago. It was a great atmosphere when I walked in and I was really surprised and I feel like no one really talks about it. There's like... live music, people were getting up and dancing and I joined them too. And they were just having a good time. So I just thought it was really great and I want more people to know about it. When I think about this being on the radio, um, I feel a little bit nervous, but overall I just think it's really cool, mostly because for classes, you know, you just turn and work to a professor and nothing really comes from it. But this is like, it feels very tangible and real and it's going to be on a website forever and people are going to hear about it and it's going to have real results. I think there's just a lot to learn from here though just because we're doing so many different things, like I'm gonna be learning how to edit audio and also how audio works. And I'm learning about how to reach out to experts or other people which I've never experienced before. Also interviewing someone for the first time and trying. It's like you're getting your first sense of professionalism kind of.
Allison Wang: I think a lot about the impact of this journey for myself, my students, my community, and the world. For my students, as they have attested, they take away a breadth of transferable skills. Researching, interviewing, editing, communication, cold calling, storytelling, organization, professionalism, time management, all things necessary to carry out a project like creating a radio feature. As for myself, it's difficult to emphasize how transformative this project has been. I have never worked on something so all-encompassing that has such a tangible impact. Unfortunately, since I am graduating this June 2025, I can no longer teach this class. Should there be a dedicated and ambitious UCR undergraduate student out there who's interested in public radio and teaching, well, I'm very open to the idea of passing my class down to them. Dr. Kavetsky emphasizes the importance of seeing a massive project out to the end, both for my students and myself.
Dr. Jennifer Kavetsky: You know, going out into the working world, getting your first job, going to grad school, starting a family, those are all big, scary, intimidating things, right? And so I think if you can say, I've done this big, scary, intimidating thing, right? It makes you more confident to try the next big scary intimidating thing. I think it's also really good for people starting out to be able to take it, an idea from that idea stage to implementation, right? Because you often go from, oh, this would be so cool. And you hear stories about, like, Apple getting started in a garage, but like. How do you go from that to this other thing? So this is on a smaller scale, obviously, a chance for you to take it from an idea and see your idea in life, which many people haven't had a chance to do.
Allison Wang: As for community impact, numbers can do the talking. Student Stories delivers local stories that inspire, inform, and entertain our community. KVCR News nets anywhere from 35,000 to 60,000 weekly radio listeners. Stories created locally by UCR students will be on the air for twenty-seven weeks, over half a year. Global impact is harder to quantify. While Student Stories and KVCR are small fish in an enormous ocean of media and journalism, every action still has ripple effects. Spreading the appreciation and awareness of public radio is even more important in this day and age, with the rise of social media as a news source, generative AI, and the increasingly fast-paced nature of the modern world. Rick Dulock describes KVCR as the refuge for misinformation and disinformation running rampant on the internet and news waves. But KVCR's ability to fulfill this goal will be tested. On May 1st, 2025, President Donald Trump signed a new executive order to cut federal funding to NPR and PBS. Given that it's been only a week since this news has passed, we can only predict what will happen to the future of public radio and journalism. But finally, I return to the theme of accessibility, namely, access to knowledge and ways of knowing on the individual level, the community level, and even the global level. Providing and preserving access to knowledge is critical and it betters the world, and anyone can take part in that mission, whether through an art course, public radio, or thousands of other ways. Thirst for knowledge and the ability to learn are fundamental human traits. We must nurture them in any way we can. Thank you for listening. And now for the other phrase I'm familiar with saying: “from 91.9 KVCR News, I'm Allison Wang.”
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R'Course Program: https://engage.ucr.edu/rcourses/overview
Student Stories: https://www.kvcrnews.org/student-stories
Interviewed Students' features:
Charlie Burton - What Creativity Entails: Told Through the Starving Artists Club at UCR
Jordan Storm - Carson Storm and Zonked: Independent Punk Music in the Inland Empire
Emily Wen - A Voluntary Pediatric Cancer Club at UCR; A Friend In Me
Lurdes Ortiz - Urban Oasis: UCR’s R’Garden
Zachary Hanson - [Work In Progress]
Chloe Kim - [Work In Progress]