Ernest 'Ernie' Floyd
Founder of Unity Radio (97.9 WUTY)
Matthew Tota, Correspondent
We’re in the thick of things as the voice of the people. We can help translate what’s happening downtown — in businesses and city hall — to the community. We can also translate what’s happening in the community to the downtown. No matter how much development is happening, it doesn’t mean anything if residents don’t know about it and aren’t around to experience it. And you don’t just want the people outside of the city to appreciate Worcester: You want the people inside it to appreciate it, too.
Do you have a building in mind?
It would be ideal to get on top of the Mercantile Center. We’d be close to Waldo Street and in the center of the city. We will be able to enhance the quality of our signal and reach more people. It will go a long way toward helping us become more attractive to businesses interested in underwriting what we do. At the same time, it will position us to create programing geared around the morning drive and expand our coverage of news, weather and sports.
Do you have a building in mind?
It would be ideal to get on top of the Mercantile Center. We’d be close to Waldo Street and in the center of the city. We will be able to enhance the quality of our signal and reach more people. It will go a long way toward helping us become more attractive to businesses interested in underwriting what we do. At the same time, it will position us to create programing geared around the morning drive and expand our coverage of news, weather and sports.
How has your new programming reflected the growth of the station?
We have a good mixture of content now. We have the mayor and city manager in for regular interviews. The Worcester Chamber of Commerce has a show. We have the Worcester Railers on, the Mass Pirates and a sports show called "Unsupervised Sports." And the station will start broadcasting Holy Cross sports soon. We also have a cannabis show called "Cannabis 101"; it’s an educational show on the industry, Wednesdays from 1 to 2. And we have a wellness show called "Talking Wellness." We’ve made the station more community based, more local. Our heart has always been with the community — to give a voice to people who don’t have one.
How do you gauge your listeners’ response to the programming?
Our success is based on social media. People react to ours shows, congratulate us, and give us feedback. We know that we’re getting a response out there, because we see it on sites like Facebook and LinkedIn. For example, we covered the dedication of the Betty Price Playground. I knew her and knew her family. Not a lot of other outlets would cover an event like that, but we went out there and covered it and had a huge reaction on social media. The name of the playground has been corrected.
How did you get your start in radio?
I came across a computer in a garage playing music: It was internet radio. I was fascinated. I could only imagine what I could do in the community if I had my own signal; I come to find out, in 2012 when I started pursing a license, the FCC opened up a window for a couple days to allow nonprofits, churches and schools to apply for a low-power license. There was a moratorium on all other licenses. I raised the money, and by 2013, we applied for it and won.
We have a good mixture of content now. We have the mayor and city manager in for regular interviews. The Worcester Chamber of Commerce has a show. We have the Worcester Railers on, the Mass Pirates and a sports show called "Unsupervised Sports." And the station will start broadcasting Holy Cross sports soon. We also have a cannabis show called "Cannabis 101"; it’s an educational show on the industry, Wednesdays from 1 to 2. And we have a wellness show called "Talking Wellness." We’ve made the station more community based, more local. Our heart has always been with the community — to give a voice to people who don’t have one.
How do you gauge your listeners’ response to the programming?
Our success is based on social media. People react to ours shows, congratulate us, and give us feedback. We know that we’re getting a response out there, because we see it on sites like Facebook and LinkedIn. For example, we covered the dedication of the Betty Price Playground. I knew her and knew her family. Not a lot of other outlets would cover an event like that, but we went out there and covered it and had a huge reaction on social media. The name of the playground has been corrected.
How did you get your start in radio?
I came across a computer in a garage playing music: It was internet radio. I was fascinated. I could only imagine what I could do in the community if I had my own signal; I come to find out, in 2012 when I started pursing a license, the FCC opened up a window for a couple days to allow nonprofits, churches and schools to apply for a low-power license. There was a moratorium on all other licenses. I raised the money, and by 2013, we applied for it and won.
We were broadcasting on the internet until 2017, then we had our first on-air broadcast for the elections that year through a partnership with Hank Stolz and Worcester Magazine.
You’ve been working with teens and young adults since the early 90s. How have you continued that work at WUTY?
We have a group called the Alliance Media Group, and we think it will be the heart and soul of the station. It’s made up of high school and college students who work at the station as part of a work-study program. It’s a win-win for everybody involved; we get the talent the eagerness and the excitement of the students, and the schools get the students off campus into a radio station where they can learn a skill.
We have these high school kids who’re articulate, and they’re able to reach their peers through their broadcasts. These kids can do it, trust me. They can be just as articulate and insightful as the adults. They can handle talking to the city manager and mayor. I take pride in that.
Sun Shine: A united front in youth outreach
There is power in numbers.
And the larger the problem, the larger the numbers needed to fight it.
The problem of youth violence in the city of Worcester reached an ugly crescendo this past summer as youth and gun violence overwhelmed the city. Throughout, Worcester groups involved with children did their best to continue to present and reinforce their positive messages.
Ernie Floyd, Ike McBride and Charles Luster had a bigger idea. What if they could bring together all the groups? What if they could create an event around which everyone could rally? What if they could share with the youth of the city all the positive messages being sent?
Floyd, McBride and Luster brought together their three organizations — Floyd runs Pride Productions, a nonprofit that focuses on teaching youth all aspects of media, from radio and video production to storytelling; McBride is director of operations at the Boys & Girls Club of Worcester; and Luster, a leader of the Worcester Youth Center— and got the ball rolling.
And the larger the problem, the larger the numbers needed to fight it.
The problem of youth violence in the city of Worcester reached an ugly crescendo this past summer as youth and gun violence overwhelmed the city. Throughout, Worcester groups involved with children did their best to continue to present and reinforce their positive messages.
Ernie Floyd, Ike McBride and Charles Luster had a bigger idea. What if they could bring together all the groups? What if they could create an event around which everyone could rally? What if they could share with the youth of the city all the positive messages being sent?
Floyd, McBride and Luster brought together their three organizations — Floyd runs Pride Productions, a nonprofit that focuses on teaching youth all aspects of media, from radio and video production to storytelling; McBride is director of operations at the Boys & Girls Club of Worcester; and Luster, a leader of the Worcester Youth Center— and got the ball rolling.
Their idea became Unity in the Community. Their first event, on Sept. 15, was a pep rally that attracted a crowd of about 200. They called it “Increase the Peace” and held it at the Boys & Girls Club. It was a success.
“We wanted to make sure the kids went back to school on a positive note,” said Floyd.
“I’ve known Ernie since I moved here in 1989, and I know Ike,” Luster said. “So having relationships with different guys in the city that you know who are doing things in the community, it’s always great to help because you know you’re only going to get positive things out of it.”
“Ernie and I had worked together many years on different projects,” McBride said. “Charles the same thing, so it really became an easy fit once they approached me. … We’re all part of the Youth Connect umbrella. It made sense to try to put all these pieces together and try to come up with something.”
Youth Connect is an affiliation of organization that provide neighborhood-based activities to Worcester Youth. Member organizations include the Boys & Girls Club, YOU, Inc., the YMCA of Central Mass., Girls, Inc., Friendly House, the Worcester Youth Center and the YWCA.
Walter Jovel is the assistant director of the HOPE Coalition, a partnership of 17 organizations in the city that came together to represent Worcester’s young people. “We try to pride ourselves on being the voice” of those youths, he said. “We often see the media portray youth as troubled or risky or dangerous, and there’s not a lot of positive pieces on youth.”
“We really wanted to strengthen the collaboration of the local youth agencies and the partners, and to recognize the participants and the positive things the youth agencies are doing.” — Walter Jovel, assistant director of the HOPE Coalition
For Jovel, the chance to change the narrative was a driving force in participating in Unity in the Community.
“Everything we do is youth-led, youth-oriented,” he said. “We try to give them as many skills and as much training as possible and let them run the event, do the facilitation and coordination.”
Their idea became Unity in the Community. Their first event, on Sept. 15, was a pep rally that attracted a crowd of about 200. They called it “Increase the Peace” and held it at the Boys & Girls Club. It was a success.
“We wanted to make sure the kids went back to school on a positive note,” said Floyd.
“I’ve known Ernie since I moved here in 1989, and I know Ike,” Luster said. “So having relationships with different guys in the city that you know who are doing things in the community, it’s always great to help because you know you’re only going to get positive things out of it.”
“Ernie and I had worked together many years on different projects,” McBride said. “Charles the same thing, so it really became an easy fit once they approached me. … We’re all part of the Youth Connect umbrella. It made sense to try to put all these pieces together and try to come up with something.”
Youth Connect is an affiliation of organization that provide neighborhood-based activities to Worcester Youth. Member organizations include the Boys & Girls Club, YOU, Inc., the YMCA of Central Mass., Girls, Inc., Friendly House, the Worcester Youth Center and the YWCA.
Walter Jovel is the assistant director of the HOPE Coalition, a partnership of 17 organizations in the city that came together to represent Worcester’s young people. “We try to pride ourselves on being the voice” of those youths, he said. “We often see the media portray youth as troubled or risky or dangerous, and there’s not a lot of positive pieces on youth.”
“We really wanted to strengthen the collaboration of the local youth agencies and the partners, and to recognize the participants and the positive things the youth agencies are doing.” — Walter Jovel, assistant director of the HOPE Coalition
For Jovel, the chance to change the narrative was a driving force in participating in Unity in the Community.
“Everything we do is youth-led, youth-oriented,” he said. “We try to give them as many skills and as much training as possible and let them run the event, do the facilitation and coordination.”