December 2, 1999
Contact: Gary Hawke, School of Journalism, (785) 864-0603, or Todd Cohen, University Relations, (785) 864-8858.
LAWRENCE -- On Dec. 3, 1994, students working at the University of Kansas' student radio station, KJHK, became the first radio station in the world to provide a live, continuous programming signal on the Internet.
Five years later, thousands of radio stations and even individuals at home are using the Web to stream their audio.
KJHK, a student laboratory in KU's William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications, has provided a live signal to the Internet for five years and was instrumental in developing streamed video to the Web.
KU's student-run television station followed KJHK's lead on Jan. 2, 1996, by becoming the first TV station to "broadcast" a live sporting event via the Internet. These twin accomplishments made KU a pioneering institution in Internet audio and video transmission. KU's journalism school takes pride in its position as a national leader in "converged media," a growing trend in all forms of media. Convergence combines print, broadcast and Internet newsrooms into one news and information operation. Under this model, journalists are increasingly reporting for print, Internet and broadcast media simultaneously.
The school recently unveiled the Digital Jayhawk, a student-run Internet news and information service at www.digitaljayhawk.org, and is announcing a new curriculum designed to capitalize on technological advances in media.
"(Digital Jayhawk) is the next logical progression in the school's quest for Internet research. It gives our school a leadership position in rich media development and offers students a chance to display the best of journalism fundamentals to a worldwide audience," KJHK general manager Gary Hawke said.
In 1994, John Katich, associate professor of journalism, had challenged students to create a worldwide radio presence for KJHK. Under Hawke's direction, the station began to explore bandwidth considerations, hardware and software needs, legal and financial considerations and personnel requirements.
KJHK's student station manager in 1994, Jay Berberick, created a team of computer programmers from KU's renowned Special Education department, and they proceeded to research the project. They successfully streamed their programming, coverage of a KU women's basketball game, to the Internet on Dec. 3, 1994.
The programming team members were Rob Birchum, Matt Abrams, Coby Cedarholm and Matt Angell. "This accomplishment was truly a milestone in Internet and broadcasting history," Hawke said. "It has spawned an entire new industry. These students had vision, drive and determination and they developed this process as a challenge from those who said it couldn't be done." A permanent plaque, placed in the journalism school's Radio-TV offices in the Dole Human Development Center, commemorates the achievement.