College - Author 1

College of Liberal Arts

Department - Author 1

Journalism Department

Degree Name - Author 1

BS in Journalism

Date

5-2022

Primary Advisor

Tony Prado, College of Liberal Arts, Journalism Department

Abstract/Summary

wavzine (also called .WAV or colloquially known as “The Zine”) is a music, arts, and culture multimedia website and print periodical founded by Cal Poly students in the summer of 2020. Two years on, it was comprised of roughly 45 regular staff members and even more occasional contributors, all of whom are volunteers. Along with independently publishing articles, videos, podcasts, and art online, wavzine also organizes and hosts concerts for local bands, collaborates with local cultural events such as Shabang Music Festival and the San Luis Obispo Film Festival, and sells its own branded merchandise. To its 2,700 Instagram followers, .WAV is a finger on the pulse of everything interesting happening in and around San Luis Obispo. Since its founding almost two years ago, .WAV is showing no signs of slowing down.

Without taking too much credit, I should mention here that wavzine was my idea. I didn’t build it alone, in fact I’d hesitate to assert that I was even all that important in the grand scheme of things. I acted as .WAV’s inaugural editor-in-chief from June 2020 to July 2021. It was my responsibility to oversee all the content that .WAV produced and to supervise the managers of each different department: those being the editorial content, video, and podcast teams. Occasionally, when there was a lack of content to publish, I’d write my own material. Truthfully, I don’t care for managerial work, I’m mediocre as an editor, and I loathe positions of leadership. But for the purposes of a student-run culture rag, one in which excesses of authority and egoism would be frowned upon and counterproductive, I was probably pretty good at my job.

When we created .WAV, we operated on a completely volunteer-based model. Our reasoning was simple– wavzine would be a platform for people to publish material to add to their respective portfolios, so people would contribute quality content that is reflective of their career ambitions. Since its founding, there have already been alumni from the zine who’ve secured careers in the recording industry, in graphic design, in film & video, and much more.

.WAV was a proof of concept. The concept being that a high quality, grassroots multimedia organization is valid in an era where corporate digital media dominates. That such an organization can not only effectively cover the community it exists in, but also support it.

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