KWMU Booster Group Organizes Under Name Ripped from RFT Headline

By Chad Garrison on Thu, Feb 26, 2009 at 11:49 am

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Young Friends of KWMU

I thought I was dreaming this morning when the alarm clock woke me to KWMU (90.7 FM) and the first thing I heard was a promo for a new friends group for the station called "Radio Active."

Could that be "Radio Active" as in the headline of a May 2008 RFT investigation into KWMU that ultimately led to the firing of the station's general manager Patty Wente?

The answer, apparently, is yes. Radio Active is the nickname of the new Young Friends of KWMU organization.

May 2008 RFT cover

The group is hosting a launch party next month at White Flag Projects that will include a round table of some of the station's younger on-air talent. Money raised through Young Friends of KWMU will support programming at the public radio station and NPR affiliate.

I tried calling Young Friends but couldn't get anyone on the phone. My question is this: Is it just coincidence that the group shares the same name of the RFT story, or did Young Friends so despise Wente that they named their group in honor of her fall?