Public radio station KBIA marks 50 years on the air serving Columbia with news, music

KBIA went on the air May 8, 1972, and Roger Gafke was there as the first news director of the public radio station at the University of Missouri.

"It was really exciting because you were doing something brand new," Gafke said. He held the position through most of the 1970s before becoming department chair, he said.

The station celebrated 50 years Monday with a one-day, on-air fundraiser for a new tower, transmitter and antenna.

Students were assigned to cover individual departments at the university and also beats in the community, Gafke said.

"We established a Jefferson City news bureau" at the state Capitol, Gafke said.

There were protests he covered on the steps of Jesse Hall, led by activist Bill Wickersham, Gafke said. He now doesn't remember the topic of the protests, but he said given the time frame, they likely were protests against the Vietnam War.

"We also did some early exit polling on election days," Gafke said. "That was fun, to interview people as they left the polling place."

His time at KBIA defined him, Gafke said.

"To this day, I think of myself as a radio news guy," he said.

More campus news: University of Missouri Ukrainian students plan reunions with loved ones amid war with Russia

KBIA manager Mike Dunn has been in the position for 36 years, which he said is 70% of the life of the station.

"I think it's been a pretty good 50 years," Dunn said. "It's had ups and downs."

A low point was when the Missouri School of Journalism decided to stop covering local stories several years back, with the station broadcasting only newscasts from National Public Radio, Dunn said.

The people who made that decision are gone and the decision was eventually reversed, he said.

"We brought local news back, and this is what differentiates us from other stations," Dunn said.

More campus news: Family of former Mizzou student agrees to five more settlements in Fiji hazing lawsuit

The station has between 60 and 100 student workers every school year, he said.

"Probably a quarter of all the major awards we win are won by University of Missouri students," Dunn said.

Many MU students have gone on to work at NPR and public radio stations, he said.

"We use the Missouri Method," Dunn said. "Students do real journalism. We're into storytelling."

In 2015, MU bought the Stephens College station, with 90.5 FM dedicated to classical music and 91.3 FM going to all news.

It had been a goal of his since he began at the station, Dunn said.

"It took me 30 years," Dunn said.

It's been beneficial, he said.

"One of our fears was when classical people left KBIA, the audience would go down," Dunn said. "Our audience actually went up all around."

More campus news: How MU is developing middle school lesson resources combining science, math and literacy

There are people who like classical music only, people who like news only and others who like both, he said.

The station's offices are in the Columbia Missourian building, but its studios are in McReynolds Hall, he said.

Another senior staffer is morning announcer Darren Hellwege, with nearly 35 years at the station.

Hellwege, 56, was a student of Dunn when they were in Oklahoma City, Dunn said.

"It was like a family I stumbled into here," Hellwege said.

Dunn arrived in 1986 and called Hellwege the next summer to help with the pledge drive, Hellwege said. Hellwege made plans to come to Columbia for two weeks. Before then, he lost his job at the rock station where he was working.

The host of KBIA's jazz show had just left.

"When they asked me if I knew jazz music, I lied and said I did," Hellwege said. He got the job, and it wasn't long before he became the morning announcer.

He's adjusted to the schedule, he said.

"The only thing that's kind of a bummer about it is when I'm on vacation or on my days off, my eyes pop open at 4:30 a.m.," he said.

More campus news: Here's when several University of Missouri buildings are scheduled for demolition this year

Columbia is the ideal location for a public radio station, he said.

"It's the perfect place for a radio station to be successful and supported," he said. "That we're doing it 50 years later is remarkable."

He's been on the air when the Murrah building was bombed in his hometown, when Gov. Mel Carnahan died in a plane crash and during the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001.

He has enjoyed his time at the station, he said.

"It's been a blast," Hellwege said.

When he first started, there were students older than him. Now graduate students are younger than his kids, he said.

"When my kids were little, they would tell me that I'm the guy their parents made them listen to in the morning," Hellwege said.

Both of his parents were professors, and his dad worked 42 years, so that's a possible target, he said.

"I love working with the kids," Hellwege said of the MU students.

Roger McKinney is the Tribune's education reporter. You can reach him at rmckinney@columbiatribune.com or 573-815-1719. He's on Twitter at @rmckinney9.

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: KBIA celebrates 50 years with fundraiser for new transmitter, tower