Radio Joe

For KFSR station manager Joe Moore, radio is more than a hobby, it's a lifestyle

By Ravneet Padda

All work and no play makes Joe a dull boy.

Joe Moore, station manager of Fresno State’s radio station, KFSR, disagreed.

Moore, who works almost 70 hours a week and has worked for at least one radio station every day for the past 12 months, said his job never gets boring.

“ What I like about radio is that every day there is something new,” Moore said. “There is never a day when the same thing happens.”

Moore, who is one of the four employees at the campus radio station, is responsible for staff supervision, fundraising, radio station memberships, legal aspects, technical support and equipment maintenance among many other things. He also hosts many shows, conducts interviews, records and edits to shape up the final product.

“ We are understaffed,” Moore said explaining the work overload. For a station of KFSR it needs at least three full-time employees as opposed to the four part-time ones it currently has, he said.

Moore, who also works at radio station KVPR on weekends, puts in almost 50 hours a week at the campus station, yet only gets paid for 20, as he holds the designation of a part-time student employee.

“ There is no money,” said Moore explaining the inadequacy in the employee and pay structure of the station. The station has to generate it’s own funds to sustain itself, he said.

“ I work at (KFSR) to pay the bills for KFSR and I work at KVPR, to pay my own bills,” he said.

Moore, 25, attributed his decision to continue working at the station to a love for the field and to the invaluable experience he gains

“ It is a great opportunity to run a station like (KFSR),” Moore said. “I am getting experience in absolutely every single aspect.”

Jim Wilson, a professor in the mass communication and journalism department and also the general manger for the station commended Moore on his efforts, but at the same time said, “I think (Moore) is crazy.”

“ He is here day and night, and even when he is at home he is accessing the Internet for radio programs,” Wilson said.

Moore’s association with KFSR started in 1998, when he joined as a jazz disc jockey, while pursuing his bachelor’s in history.

His passion for jazz stemmed in high school when Jimmy Emerzian, his friend and classmate for 13 years, introduced him to the genre.

According to Emerzian, one day at school, Moore asked him for a compact disc of Charlie Parker, a prominent Saxophonist of the 1940s and ‘50s, a day after watching the movie “Bird.” Emerzian instead gave him a compact disc of famous jazz artist Gordon Dexter.

Moore did not like the music, but Emerzian prompted him to listen again.

“ Moore was so impressed that from that point on he took off reading jazz publications, downloading jazz music and collecting more and more music than I could ever imagine,” Emerzian said.

Moore often goes for jazz concerts with Emerzian.

“ (Jazz) is different than any other music. It straddles the middle ground between fun music like pop music and art music,” Moore said. “It’s stood the test of time, and even though it is not insanely popular it is certainly a very important style of music.”

Moore, who hosts a jazz program on KFSR from 9 a.m. until noon usually every day of the week, said he feels he is not a good enough disc jockey.

“I am not very polished before the mike,” he said. “I often don’ have something very clever to say and I often make mistakes.”

Wilson had a different opinion.

“ (Moore) does a good job,” he said. “The big booming voice of the past is not important anymore. It is all about personality and knowledge and Joe has that.”

Emerzian had some thoughts on Moore’s personality too.

“ (Moore) was really shy in school and when he told me he was doing radio show, I was really surprised,” he said.

“ It’s very ironic, how many radio people are quiet, shy and reserved when they get away from the microphone,” Moore said, including himself in that category.

“ I would rather stay at home and watch television than go out to a party,” he added.

Apart from working, listening to jazz music, attending concerts and relaxing at home, Moore likes to read history books.

But how much time does he get for doing the things he enjoys?

“ In the past year, especially, I haven’t had much time for anything else,” said Moore, who hasn’t taken a vacation since August.

Moore, who stays with his parents and grandmother, has three stepsisters whom he hasn’t been able to spend much time with in the past couple of years.

“ I don’t see them much. I don’t have time,” he said.

He spends almost all his time sustaining KFSR. According to Wilson, the station has come a long way since Moore became station manager in 1999.

“ He has organized everything to where the station is functioning as it should be,” he said.

When Moore first started, 50 percent of the shifts were empty because the employees did not show up for work, there was no program on air for hours at a stretch, sometimes one compact disc would play over and over again for 24 to 36 hours, no media rules were being followed and the quality of shows was very poor.

“ When I joined, there was nothing, I mean there was nothing,” Moore said.

Moore said he has set a vision for the station and has established a continuity and direction. He has managed to raise $40,000 in the past couple of months from various fundraising campaigns.

“ Joe has brought the station to a much more technologically current position,” said Andrew Bunnell, music director for KFSR.

Moore attributed the achievement in part to his tendency to seek perfection.

“ Once I start something, I like to get it done,” he said.

Surprisingly, Moore might not be a part of the station by summer next year if the advisory board for the radio does not approve funding that will support a full-time position for him.

“ I don’t know what’s going to happen beyond the spring semester,” said Moore, who wants to stay at the station if he is offered a position with a decent pay package.

Wilson said if the board did not approve the funding, a new part-time manager would be employed for the station and everything Moore has done would go down the drain.

Despite the workload and the accompanying worries, Moore said he feels fortunate to have the opportunity to work at the station.

And even though he enjoys the all work and no play part of his life, he wishes for some dull moments.

“ I just want to take some time off and do nothing for a while,” he said.