Joe Rinehart fell in love with radio while living as a teenager in South America, where his parents were Christian missionaries.
“Short-wave radio was my lifeline to the Super Bowl, NBA finals, news,” Rinehart told the Mount Vernon News.
Rinehart went on to a career in commercial radio and television and is now an assistant professor and director of broadcasting at Mount Vernon Nazarene University. His wife, Marcy Rinehart, is manager of the campus radio station, WNZR, where she worked as an undergraduate.
“I am (a) self-professed sort of media nerd,” Joe Rinehart said. “When I was in college, I did radio, student newspaper, station, the whole nine yards. I got involved because for me, broadcasting was such a positive part of my life.”
Now the Rineharts are helping to train a new generation of broadcasters who work at WNZR, either in paid jobs or for academic credit.
“I love to see sort of a light bulb go on for students when they realize there’s a real person out there listening to them,” Joe said.
Some go on to careers in broadcasting after graduation.
“What we’ve found is that if students are willing to look at not just central Ohio, there are lots of positions out there,” Joe said. “We had a couple of recent grads, one of whom ended up in a radio job in Florida. Another took a television job in Texas.”
WNZR, at 90.9 FM, has been on the air since 1986. It is on the air 24 hours a day, every day and is also streamed on the website, wnzr.fm.
The university also has WNZR.tv, a live-streaming platform for university athletics.
Students can take a course called “Introduction to Radio Performance,” a gateway course that can prepare them to work at WNZR as part of the station’s on-air staff for academic credit.
“Then, every year, we hire from five to seven students to be part of our leadership team,” Joe said. “There’s a graphic designer, and we have co-hosts on our morning and afternoon shows. Students are involved in every aspect of the program. They can get involved as early as their freshman year.”
