See A WOBM Newsroom Policy Book From 1976

When I first arrived at WOBM almost 10 years ago, I received a package in the mail from my very first mentor with a fantastic piece of WOBM history.

Michael Collins was the General Manager of Quinnipiac University's WQUN-AM, a station that was conceived in very much the same way that WOBM was - to superserve the local community with news, sports, and local information that nobody else was doing.

Mike took me under his wing when I was just a college kid with dreams of being on the radio. He taught me what community radio was all about and gave me the knowledge, passion, and skills that I would eventually bring with me to WOBM years later.

He was also the historian for both the NY and CT Broadcaster's Associations, and possessed an unrivaled knowledge of radio throughout the Northeast, which is where the package that I received in the mail comes in.

In the envelope was a "WOBM Newsroom Policy Book" from 1976. Attached to it, as Mike always did, was a simple Post-it note that said "Justin - thought you'd be interested. Mike".

Michael Collins passed in 2010, but I'm glad that I have things like the newsroom policy book to not only remember his vitally important role in my career, but also his passion for local radio.

Take a look:

WOBM-FM Newsroom Policy Book - 1976 by Justin Louis on Scribd

I think that the best part of this whole thing is the fact that it's pretty much all applicable to today.

From the qualities that a good reporter must possess, to the things that are important to our community, the only things that make this document stand out as being over 40 years old are the references to "newsmen" instead of "reporters", the fact that it was obviously written on a typewriter, and the numerous references to Dover Township, which 40 years after this was written would be absorbed into Toms River.

We have many more documents like this from WOBM's history and will be sharing them as we continue to look back on 50 years as Ocean County's Hometown Station!

Do you have something that you'd like to include? Just fill out the form below!