WKID 96.7 FM

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STORY WRITTEN IN GERMANY:
Floridalaisilla Bakerin perheen pojilla on poikkeuksellinen harrastus, sillä he pyörittävät tiettävästi maailman ainoaa lasten johtamaa radioasemaa. Clearwaterin pikkukaupungissa toimivan WKID-aseman ohjelmia toimittavat 12-vuotias Adam ja 6-vuotias Eric Baker sekä parikymmentä heidän ikätoveriaan. Radioaseman perusti Bakerin poikien isä Rodger, joka on koko elämänsä haaveillut omasta radioasemasta. Radioalan osaamista Rodgerilla piisaa, sillä hän vastaa viestintäyhteyksistä paikallisen sheriffin toimistossa. Isä-Rodger pulitti radioaseman lähetyslaitteistosta 2 500 dollaria. Aseman kuukausittaiset toimintakulut ovat noin 1 400 dollaria, mistä suuri osa menee toimittajakunnan syömiin pizzoihin. Iltaisin, viikonloppuisin ja loma-aikoina toimiva radioaseman journalistinen linja painottaa myönteisiä uutisia. Sodista, rikoksista tai politiikasta ei kanavan uutisissa kerrota. Aseman musiikillinen linja ulottuu hiphopista kantriin ja klassiseen musiikkiin. Radioasema ei joudu maksamaan tekijänoikeuskorvauksia soittamastaan musiikista, sillä asema on epäkaupallinen ja maantieteelliseltä kattavuudeltaan pienehkö - aseman ohjelmat kuuluvat vain noin 800 metrin säteellä radiolähettimestä. Uutislähde: STT
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TAMPA BAY NEWSPAPER:
Kids start their own neighborhood station BY TAMPA BAY NEWSPAPERS By JIM HARRINGTON CLEARWATER - Clear Channel and Citadel Broadcasting Corporation may rule the radio waves and hire big game talent with their treasure chest of millions. But even Nancy Alexander had to start somewhere local. With that in mind 10 kids in an area not far from East Bay Drive and Highland Avenue have formed their own neighborhood radio station. The idea to go live on radio came just before Christmas when Roger Baker got his son a stereo kit. He had fun listening to his CDs, but with some inspiration from his dad, Roger, Tony realized he could take music to the next level and one-way broadcast to his friends. His dad should know a thing about radio equipment. He works in the radio shop at the Pinellas Sheriff's Office. "My supervisor told me to make sure everything" was above board and legal, Baker said. With about $2,500 in equipment, including a 25-milliwatt transmitter, a mixer and an amp, the boy and his friends, who attend Largo and Oak Grove Middle Schools, and Belleair Elementary School, began their operation once school let out for the summer. Tony Baker, Michael, Tony, Adam, and Matthew, all 11 and Jack, 10, work the board everyday from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. airing a mix of sports news, weather, rap and disco music and newspaper articles of interest to youths. Broadcasting on 96.7 they also got the scoop on other media outlets when they announced sheriff's deputies would start using a new patrol car-mounted camera to scan license plates from patrol cars. Listeners at businesses like Frank's Barbershop, a local BP gas station and a real estate company tune into the low power station which covers only about a 1-mile radius from the antenna outside Baker's house. With matching T-shirts, the youths plan to start a 9 p.m. newscast. The boys use similar equipment to that used by ham radio operators. Unlike ham radio operators, who typically work their equipment as a hobby as well as during emergencies to help the general public, the youths use one-way communication. Hammers usually work on a two-way communication system, where one operator will talk with another through a hand microphone, said Dee Turner, a member of the St. Petersburg Amateur Radio Club who also coordinates communications with the parent organization, the American Radio Relay League. Operators of ham radio, as well as the youths use modern equipment in an "old school" form of social networking. The term social networking, according to TechWeb's "TechEncyclopedia" was first created by J.A. Barnes, a professor who used the word to define a group of about 100 to 150 people whose common denominator is work or family. It's now applied to the Internet. Web sites like MySpace.com and Classmates.com, among others, comprise some of the more commonly known domains on the net. But e-mail, cell phones, instant messaging software and text messaging are all part of social networking. Speaking of the Internet, the youths are thinking of taking their act onto the Web. "We're thinking of starting our own Web site," said Baker. In the meantime, they can communicate with their fans by e-mail. Send a message to wkid967@yahoo.com. Or go postal at Roger Baker, P.O. Box 17481, Clearwater, FL 33762. Article published on Thursday, Aug. 3, 2006 Article last modified on Saturday, Feb. 3, 2007 Copyright © Tampa Bay Newspapers: All rights reserved.
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12-year-old DJs take to airwaves At night and on the weekend, their station broadcasts an eclectic mix. By JONATHAN ABEL Published May 27, 2007 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lots of people have a radio in the bedroom, but one Clearwater boy has his own radio station. On a recent weekend afternoon, a dozen boys and girls, all around 12, gathered in Adam Baker's stuffy bedroom, a single ceiling fan whirring above them. Two kids swiveled on chairs. The others talked into the microphone. All the radio gear -- a mixer, a microphone, a few radios and other electronics -- was balanced on a desk underneath Adam Baker's bunk bed. Outside, there was a 30-foot metal antenna. Most of the kids attend Largo Middle School, but despite their age, they have an uncanny appreciation for the cadence of radio. They simulate the small talk of on-air personalities, albeit with more sincerity and less profanity. Even the weather is read with vigor. "We're probably the only kid radio station," Kade Ballogg said with pride. For this distinction, the kids can thank Adam's dad, 40-year-old Rodger Baker. Three decades ago, Baker wanted his own station, but the best he could do was an AM radio kit that barely broadcast beyond the living room. Two Christmases ago, Baker, a communications maintenance technician for the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office, decided to surprise his two sons by assembling a low-power station in the house. The overall start-up cost was $2,500. Unofficially dubbed 96.7 WKIDS, the station's signal has a mile radius, carrying along S Highland Avenue as far north as Gulf-to-Bay Boulevard in Clearwater and as far south as Rosery Road in Largo. The station broadcasts an eclectic mix from classical and hip-hop to country western and "Weird Al" Yankovic. During the school day it's silent. But weeknights and all through the weekend, as many as a dozen kids from the neighborhood take turns as disc jockeys. The scene at the Baker house is both cutting-edge and quaint. Baker's radio station is part of the vaunted democratization of the airwaves, but it is also a throwback to an era before iTunes, myspace.com and the blogosphere -- a time when radio was king of entertainment. The programming is sometimes a work in progress. Minneapolis becomes "monopoly" in one news story. Shouting and giggles break out in the room. A cell phone goes off. "Oh. Hi, mom." One kid slaps another. Still, the overall scene is impressive. "It inspires other kids that they can take action and do whatever they want," said Summer West. Many of the kids come over just to hang out with friends, but others say they want to go into radio as a profession. Adam badly wants a license from the Federal Communications Commission so that the station can turn up the juice on its broadcasts. But that will have to wait. The power level is a source of constant concern for Rodger Baker. His nightmare, he said, is accidentally going over the legal limit and getting busted. But if he wanted to -- and this would involve breaking the law -- he could turn up the power on his 30-foot antenna and broadcast throughout Pinellas County. Baker has buzz-cut brown hair and a slight sunburn. He used to run a DJ company that played birthdays, graduations and school dances, but he was always too shy to do the actual disc jockeying, so he just handled the technical side of the show. He hopes the station will teach the kids to overcome their shyness and, in the process, improve their reading. Reading into the ether is scarier than reading in front of a classroom: Anyone could be listening, everyone could be listening -- unless, of course, no one is listening, which is always a possibility with this small station. Even as the kids depend on Rodger Baker's guidance, they are already pushing him to learn more. The pint-sized DJs want to stream online. They want their show to go worldwide. "That would be something I'd love to do," Baker said. "I just can't find anybody who knows how to do it and teach the kids." Jonathan Abel can be reached at jabel@sptimes.com or (727) 445-4157. By the numbers 30 feet Height of the antenna the kids use to broadcast 1 mile Radius the station reaches from the south Clearwater home. 96.7-FM Where you can tune in if you're in the neighborhood © 2007 - All Rights Reserved - St. Petersburg Times 490 First Avenue South - St. Petersburg, FL 33701 - 727-893-8111
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A radio station that kids around Thursday, October 11, 2007 Post a comment | E-mail this story | Print -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Adam Baker is among the kids who run WKID 96.7 FM in Clearwater. CLEARWATER (Bay News 9) -- A Clearwater radio station that features everything listeners would expect - music, news, sports and weather also features one thing other don't - it's manned entirely by kids. At station WKID 96.7 FM, run inside a the Clearwater home of Adam Baker, children act as disc jockeys, meteorologists, reporters and even staff management. The station broadcasts live from 5 to 10 p.m. on weekdays. And on the weekends from noon to 10 p.m. Music is played during all other hours. All the live broadcasts are streamed on the internet. More Information Radio Kids WKID 96.7 FM About two dozens kids, ranging from eight to 15, work at the station, including 12-year-old Adam Baker. In describing his duties as a station manager, Baker said his job includes "keeping track of everybody, because they'll be sometimes playing and I'm like, 'come on, we got to get the news done." The kids like being involved at the non-profit radio station for various reasons. Joseph Watson said he likes meeting new people and getting out of the house. Summer West, meanwhile, said working at the station helps her in school and expand her vocabulary. Producer Skyler Bronson said being involved at the station isn't always easy but it's usually a good time. "Sometimes it's hard,' Bronson said. "And sometimes it's easy." By: Bays News 9
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This is the some textWashington - Kids in a small town in Florida intend to write media history with what they claim to be the first radio station run only by children. "The only radio station in the world that is owned, operated and managed by children," the website for WKID 96.7 FM confidently proclaims. Adam Baker, age 12, and 24 cohorts ranging in age from six to 12 - plus the mascot, American dingo - have been running the station in Clearwater, Florida, for 20 months. The project is the brainchild of Adam's 40-year-old dad Rodger, who always wanted to run his own radio station but never worked it into his busy life as a communications maintenance technician for the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office. The young journalists are well versed in handling microphones, amps and mixers and insist that adults stay outside. Only Adam's father who donated the 2,500-dollar equipment - and continues to fund the operation to the tune of about 1,400 dollars a month - is allowed into the inner sanctum. "My dad won't let me put up the antenna if it's storming because of lighting," Adam said in a telephone interview. WKID transmits mainly at the weekends, evenings and the holidays, and the kids are proud that they produce the programmes all on their own. "My dad is always listening us to make sure we have fun but yet keep it professional," Adam said. The editorial meetings take place at the headquarters of the young radio station - Adam's bedroom. The team is determined to produce a complete radio station. The music they choose has amazing diversity: Not only Pop and Hip Hop but also classical and country music are played. The kids don't sweat the music copyrights, since they are not commercial - and furthermore, are very smallish. Their driving principle when it comes to news is this: "Only Clean News." This means no dispatches about crime rates, war or politics. The main news session is transmitted every evening at 8 pm. The weather forecast is presented by the youngest member, Eric Baker, age six, and the younger brother of Adam. Frequently the young journalists make reportage-trips in the neighbourhood. They recently interviewed Pinellas County Sheriff Jim Coats, for example. Apart from music and news, it is important for the team to have contact with their listeners. At the weekends they have a flea market on the programme, where listeners offer all kinds of furniture and other small items. The young broadcasters used to allow listeners to call directly into the studio, but they have stopped that because of the interruptions to their programmes. One time, the studio telephone rang while they were on air, and another two cell phones also started to sound. "One of the funniest times while we were live on the air is when our cordless home phone started ringing and we couldn't find it," Adam recalled. "During our search for that phone while one of the kids were trying to read the news, another one of the kids' cell phone started ringing, and then another. So we had three phones ringing and everyone racing to find them and answer them." "We learned from that day. No phones in the room! We finally found the other phone under the bed, how it got there no one knows." Rodger Baker's monthly 1,400-dollar outlay covers the costs of music, internet cable, printer ink and paper, equipment breakage, and trips to the zoo, museums, baseball and football games and other outings for reporting - a considerable cost for one individual, but a real bargain when measured by the costs of professional radio. In addition, it pays for the cases of water, gallons of juice and 20 pizzas or so every weekend. "They can eat and drink a lot," Baker said in an e-mailed response. In future, the fledgling radio journalists hope for new sponsors: With a cooperation of a local company, the kids plan to post their programme on the internet. Then they hope for young listeners from all over the United States - and perhaps even advertising revenue. Meanwhile, 96.7 FM continues to transmit in the 0.8 kilometre radius around the Baker's neighbourhood. By: The Earth Times
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Rodger Baker (center) created the radio station four years ago in an effort to keep his son and other local kids off the streets and out of trouble.

Young broadcasters gain global audience

TAMPA - WKID is a radio station run and operated by kids. It's not kids play here either. Thanks to the internet, WKID's audience is global and stronger than ever.

"Europe and Australia. We've had people call in from Australia," says radio host Adam Baker.

Adam "A-Dog" Baker and his staff of 25 broadcast seven days a week. They run the show from Baker's parents' Clearwater home. The location hasn't stopped them from getting some pretty cool guests either.

"We did a show with the Arena Football League in its revamp inaugural year, and we were recognized as one of the top podcasts in the country," says mentor and radio host Adam Wojcieszak.

"We've had players come in studio Brett Dietz, TY Timmons, Coach Tony Jones have been in here," adds Wojcieszak.

Wojcieszak helps the kids hone their craft. Most of them do want a career in broadcasting in the future.

"These kids are going to be somewhere professionally," he says.

Remember 96.7 on the dial. The only radio station owned and operated by kids. If you don't live in Clearwater you can check them out on the web at www.wkid967fm.com .

"We've had kids elementary middle school call in before of course talking to Bubba the monkey and then we've had adults call in you know for song requests to go on air with us and just talk about what we're talking about," says Baker.

Radio Station Hero

If you tune in to WKID 96.7, you'll hear the typical radio chatter; the latest news being debated and discussed, mixed in with the latest music. 

But the DJs doing the dishing are at most 16 years old.  Rodger Baker created the radio station four years ago in an effort to keep his son and other local kids off the streets and out of trouble. Since then, it's become a big operation that runs 24/7.

Baker hosts anywhere from six to more than 20 kids at his home studio every day of the week as they do their various radio shows.

The young DJ's say their time on air has really increased their confidence and self esteem and in many cases, improved their school grades.  Bakers says he also makes it a rule that they have to find and talk about at least one positive story a day and they have to be courteous to each other and give back to their community by volunteering.

Baker also feeds the kids every day.  He either whips up a homemade meal himself or relies on a generous sponsor to provide a free pizza a couple of nights a week. 

The investment costs Baker almost all his money and time each month to keep the station going.  He says it's more than worth it because he feels he's investing in the kids' bright futures and their future success.

If you'd like to tune in, the stream live on the web around the world at www.wkid967.com


Kid?s radio station hits the air

Clearwater kids put on radio news from a bedroom station and if cruizin' in the neighborhood of Belleair road and Missouri avenue in you can tune them in at 96.7 F.M.


 Clearwater, Florida - With 9 kids preparing for the 8 p.m. newscast it gets packed in 12-year-old Adam Baker's room, His bed sits high to make room for a radio console and microphone. For the last year kids from the neighborhood have helped to run 96.7 F.M. The group calls the station WKID.

The signal travels about one mile from the Clearwater bedroom.

The radio station has been up and running for two years. Roger Baker built the low power station for his son, but says WKID has taken off in the last year.

 

Wheelchair man rolls into controversy on WKID 96.7 Radio


New Port Richey, Florida - Born with spina bifida and in a wheelchair his whole life, for Tommy Lynch, wheelies are a snap.  But rolling away from his past hasn't been so easy.

In 1977 Lynch was convicted in New York State of sexually abusing a teenage boy. Lynch says he was wrongly accused and took a plea deal to avoid a long prison sentence.

"I'm not hiding from my past," Lynch says from his New Port Richey home. "If you want to ask me a question - ask. I'm open, I'm honest. I don't have a problem with it."

But Lynch's past is causing some problems with an event he planned for this Saturday at the Safety Harbor Community Center. That's when Lynch attempts to break the Guinness World Record for wheelchair wheelies. He intends to make 525 laps around the gym there. And while the event isn't geared toward kids, some had planned to be involved.

Lynch tied the record attempt with fundraising for Brock Cardullo. Cardullo's a 15-year-old Clearwater boy with cystic fibrosis and his family has mounting medical bills.

"I figured why not help somebody at the same time if I can," says Lynch.

And a kid-run radio station had also planned to broadcast from the event and help with the fundraising for Cardullo. WKID Radio staff members hate to bail on Brock, but once they learned of Lynch's sex offender status, the station decided to stay away.

"I didn't know about his criminal background until yesterday and I was really disappointed," says 15-year-old Adam Baker, whose dad oversees the radio operation.

As for Lynch, he says he meant to help-not harm kids. "I'm not looking for negativity."

Brock Cardullo's mother Donna tells 10 News, that she believes Lynch truly wanted to help them raise money for the family medical bills. But she does not want her son associated with the controversy and he too will stay away from Saturday's event.

Despite all the negative publicity, Lynch says on Saturday he still intends to live up to his nickname "The Wheelie King." He says, tilting up on two wheels, "All I want to do is set the world record."
Past arrest on molestation trips up 'Wheelie King' in Safety Harbor


SAFETY HARBOR — Thomas Edward Lynch, a registered sex offender and former star wheelchair athlete who didn't disclose his past with supporters of an upcoming world record-setting feat in Safety Harbor, swore on Wednesday that he was innocent.

He said his accuser was a marijuana dealer and extortionist who preyed on him. He said he couldn't afford an attorney and was left with no other choice but to take a plea deal that sent him to a New York state prison in 1997 for seven years.

On Thursday, Lynch's past was exposed. There wasn't just one victim, the Suffolk County, N.Y., police told Newsday and The Buffalo News in 1997. There were four and possibly more, police said.

Lynch, who has spina bifida and hopes to shatter the Guinness World Record for longest wheelchair wheelie on Saturday, sexually molested two boys, 5 and 13 years old, in 1992.

He was sentenced to five years' probation, but in March 1997, Suffolk County police arrested him for allegedly sodomizing at least one other boy and exposing another to pornography and giving him wine.

In that case, police said, Lynch performed oral sex on one of the boys. He gave wine and possibly marijuana to another and allowed him to watch pornographic movies at his apartment. Both were younger than 16 years old.

Reached Thursday, Lynch said: "I'm not responding to anything. I have no comment."

• • •

The latest revelations prompted everyone but Safety Harbor to yank support from Lynch's event, which will be held at the city's Community Center.

The mother of the event's teenage beneficiary disassociated herself. So did WKID-FM 96.7, a Clearwater radio station owned and operated by children, and Bet Me I'm Lying, a Largo band with members as young as 12.

WKID was scheduled to broadcast live from the Community Center. Bet Me I'm Lying was slated to perform.

"Circumstances have changed," said Donna Cardullo, the mother of Brock Cardullo.

Fliers for Lynch's event asked for donations for Brock, who has cystic fibrosis.

"We're not involved in that in any shape or form," Donna Cardullo said.

"She wants absolutely nothing to do with this and we feel exactly the same," said Rodger Baker, who started WKID to keep children off the street and safe. "We were going there to do this benefit for Brock and now that we found out that Brock will not be benefitting, we have backed out ourselves. We will not be supporting any sexual offenders."

Lynch was scheduled to come to the station Thursday night to explain his side of the story to staffers, who range from 8 to 15 years old.

"I can tell you right now he will not be coming over," Baker said. "I will not allow that. I am extremely upset. I am so mad."

Officials in Safety Harbor, who gave Lynch a discount to rent the Community Center, shared contact numbers with him and helped him organize the event, said they have no legal reason to cancel the event.

"To our knowledge, Mr. Lynch has complied with every requirement of his release," City Manager Matt Spoor said in an e-mail. "Further, I have been told that Mr. Lynch has no plans to cancel his rental."

Lynch, who lives in New Port Richey and calls himself the "Wheelie King," said he rescinded the invitation to Donna Cardullo.

"I asked her to stay away," he said. "This is a Guinness World Record event and that's all."

He then hung up on a St. Petersburg Times reporter.

• • •

The New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services lists Lynch as a "risk level 3," the worst possible designation for sexual offenders.

Bob Clifford, the spokesman for the Suffolk district attorney, said it means "a threat to public safety exists" and the person has a "high risk of repeat offense."

In Florida, state law requires that certain offenders stay 1,000 feet away from playgrounds, parks and schools. But it only applies to those who were convicted after Oct. 1, 2004.

"This guy was convicted in '97 so he does not fall in that group," said Sgt. Thomas Nestor, a spokesman with the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office. "So technically, yes, he can be within 1,000 feet of kids."


           
          No Kidding: Sex Offender Scheduled For Live Broadcast On WKID

WKID 96.7 Fm Hits With Conor and the crossworlds 


Hello from The only radio station in the world owned and operated by kids, WKID 96.7 FM, located in Clearwater, Florida. For years we were looking for an exciting book to read live on air to our listeners. All the books that we thought would be interesting to read on air

turned out to be very confusing to our listening audience, but three years ago we received our first book from Kevin Gerard titled Conor and the Crossworlds. After receiving the book we thought it was just going to be another boring book, BUT NO! JUST THE OPPOSITE! This book was awesome!! Not only did we love it and were able to relate to Conor because he was our age, but our listeners really loved to hear us reading the story on air every night. They begged us not to stop reading it due to the great suspense of the story.

Every night when we would stop reading for the night the phone would start ringing with listeners very upset and wanting to know what happens next, of course our response was "you will have to tune in tomorrow night." If we ever had a night that we were unable to broadcast we would receive hundreds of e-mails and phone calls. We just wanted to say thanks again for writing such a great, exciting story and we look forward for the next book.” – Adam and Eric – WKID 96.7, Clearwater, Florida
                                 
                  Kids Rule The World
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