Documentary Highlights WJPZ-FM History

Tuesday, February 25, 2014, By Keith Kobland

A new documentary highlighting the history of Syracuse University student-run WJPZ-FM will be shown on Saturday, March 1, at 2 p.m. at the Sheraton Syracuse University Hotel & Conference Center.

The documentary, “Greatest Media Classroom,” was commissioned by the WJPZ Alumni Association. It chronicles the accomplishments of the radio station, which Scott MacFarlane ’98 says has been “long considered one of the most storied and accomplished college media organizations in America.”

MacFarlane currently works as a news anchor in Washington, D.C., but his training ground was Z89. He produced the documentary along with Oklahoma-based film specialist SVP Media. MacFarlane says the film “will include never-before-heard details of the station’s origins, development and accomplishments.”

Alumni from several generations of WJPZ history are featured in the film, recounting stories of how WJPZ launched hundreds of professional broadcast careers, including “some of the titans of radio, television, music and the communications industry,” says MacFarlane.