STATION EDITORIAL

Posted January 17, 2022

This is a station editorial, I’m Randal J. Miller, station president.

On August 8th, 1950, a broadcast entrepreneur named Keith Moyer envisioned a local radio station for Taylorville.   He had been involved in building other radio stations in small towns across Illinois, and applied to the Federal Communications Commission for a new AM radio station for the Christian County seat.

The FCC granted his company a construction permit on August First, 1951.  The station was granted call letters WTIM, and after construction of the station was completed with studios and towers at the south end of Cherokee Street in Taylorville, it signed on January 20th, 1952.

Its first broadcast that day was at 4 in the afternoon from the Taylorville High School gym.  The high school band played the National Anthem signaling that Taylorville now had its own radio station.

In those 70 years, WTIM has had 7 different owners, has moved from an AM signal to an FM signal, then back to an AM signal, then adding 3 FM signals to its AM service, which is how you hear us today.

Plus, WTIM is streamed on the internet 24/7, plus on the WTIM mobile app, plus Amazon Alexa.

Those 70 years represent countless hours of local news, local play by play sports coverage, and agriculture information.

While the delivery methods changed over those 70 years, the one thing that has never changed, is WTIM’s commitment of service to Taylorville and Central Illinois.

Over the coming 12 months, you’ll be hearing features and interviews with many of those who were part of that commitment of service.  We hope you’ll help us celebrate WTIM’s 70 years of service, and feel free to e-mail us YOUR memories of WTIM over its 70 years of broadcasting.

Our e-mail address is editorial@randyradio.com.

STATION EDITORIAL

Posted January 6, 2022

This is a station editorial, I'm Randal J. Miller, station president.

These days, we're hearing a lot about what's called the "Cancel Culture."  After doing some reading on this phenonomeon, I learned that its basic belief is when
we attribute goodness and permissible behavior to ourselves, while at the same time attributing badness and poor behavior to someone else.

An on-line article from the Denver Catholic web site says those being cancelled fall into one of three categories: 

First, there are the people who behave in a bad way or hold a reprehensible belief, but these things are generally unknown; when they become known, the person is cancelled. 

Second, you have people who have something from their past that surface which reflects poorly upon them. The difference between them and the first group is that the thing from their past is no longer who they are; nevertheless, they get cancelled. 

Finally, there are people who live out traditional values and/or hold opinions which have become unacceptable by a segment of the population. These people have not been exposed nor are they living differently than in the past, they have just wandered into a part of our society where they are not welcome.

According to this Denver Catholic article, the principal error of "Cancel Culture" is that it lacks mercy.  No apology is good enough for those who are "offended."

So, how are we to react to those who are applying the "Cancel Culture" to their relationship with us?   By holding firm to our beliefs, not to be belligerent or intolerant, leading our lives in a way that our life and faith is compelling, not obnoxious.

And, while none of us, myself included, should ever be judgemental, we must show love and understanding to respect others.  One of the first verses I ever learned in Sunday School was to "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."   

That's our opinion, we welcome yours.  Our e-mail address is editorial@randyradio.com.