The announcement was as glowing as expected.
“We, the volunteer community staff of XCSB Alternative Media,” the page reads, “are beyond excited to tell you that WE ARE BACK!”
This week, XCSB, the guerilla rebirth of Cleveland State’s ex-radio station, began streaming a webcasted version of the college student-run programming that abruptly ended last October.
And at one hell of a time to do so. Since January, Friends of XCSB, a coalition of WCSB DJs, has been embroiled in a lawsuit with CSU and school president Laura Bloomberg, alleging that the university had “secret” discussions about shutting down the station leading up to its fall axing. On February 19, CSU filed a motion to dismiss the suit entirely.
But nonetheless, XCSB is having its hurrah moment: despite a missing analog radio signal, stacks of vinyl, and a roomy studio from which to broadcast folk or, say, unfiltered takes on university politics.
“It was, like, something ingrained in my soul, to move forward,” Keith Newman, a former WCSB DJ and director of XCSB’s five-person steering committee, told Scene on Wednesday.
“It’s just natural that once we have our signal ripped away from us,” he explained. “I couldn’t let it go. And neither could a lot of our other people that were involved. So, streaming is a realistic alternative—it’s really the only alternative for us.”
An alternative that, it turns out, still requires a bit of cash. Newman and crew have been running a donation drive since a fundraiser show in January, under the hopes that XCSB can raise $30,000 by May 10 and open up new studio space at Cleveland Rocks in the Waterloo District.
As XCSB puts it, “to rebuild everything” from scratch. “Which,” its site explains, “is gonna take some scratch.”
Although it’s a steep ask, the progress has been heartening thus far. Newman said that “more than half” of their goal has been met. And they have hundreds of donors as of Monday.
“I think it’s doable,” he said.
The October 3 shutdown, which gave Ideastream a brand new signal from which to broadcast jazz, left hundreds of volunteers and longtime DJs riled up and wondering how exactly to maintain a community radio tradition without its physical host. Some took to live Friday shows at the Happy Dog. Others started dance event sites. And others looked to the county court system.
But XCSB’s webcast is the first true iteration of what used to transmit, practically 24/7, since the 1970s. Listeners can once again follow along with some 50 volunteer DJs, to the Hungarian Hour, to the German Radio Show, to ska rarities, `60s classics, and hot takes on public affairs.
Not live, but sort of live, for now. All content being webcasted is sent to producers, Newman said, pre-recorded.
At least until mid-May, when XSCB plans to set up shop in Waterloo and air its webcast in a live format reminiscent of WCSB. Which, in backers’ minds, is worthwhile despite the draws of Spotify, YouTube and Apple Music.
“We need alternative press voices, now more than ever, without being beholden to big business,” L.S. Quinn, the executive director of Reading Room CLE, told Scene. Quinn is helping XCSB with nonprofit duties before its 501(c)(3) status is made official.
“We need the press so that we have a democracy,” she added. “I mean, to lose a radio outlet and be replaced with a jazz playlist? I don’t have anything against jazz—but we just need diverse voices on the radio.”
As far as the legal playing field, Cleveland State, through their council at Attorney General Dave Yost’s office, argued last week that Friends of XCSB did not have jurisdiction to properly sue them for constitutional rights violations and keeping public records close to the chest.
Friends of XCSB did “not have standing” to sue because the coalition wasn’t around prior to October 3, court documents read. They “have not alleged a concrete injury” tied to WCSB’s shutdown. And CSU denied that its board “met in secret”—and any records tied to that are not, it argued, privy to public eyes.
But for now, XCSB is back. It’s not the same, but it’s back.
And so is its 50th Anniversay Celebration show—sans invite to Cleveland State, of course.
“I just feel it was an incredibly hurtful, shortsighted decision on CSU’s part,” Newman said. “We’re opening up in just under five months, involving students like we always have.”
“Put it this way: CSU attacked our family, and we’re not going to stand by and watch it fall apart,” he added.
Donations to the new station can be made here.
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