About

The History of WJSU

A community resource since June 1, 1976, WJSU began as a 10-watt station broadcasting from the Jackson State campus.  Now a 24,500-watt entity, the station broadcasts 24 hours daily from the Mississippi e-Center at JSU.  WJSU offers an intelligent mix of current in-depth news, and informative talk, in addition to cool jazz.  WJSU is a public radio station licensed to Jackson State University. Our programs create time for thoughtful attention to voices speaking around the world or down the road, inviting listeners to supply something of their own imaginations to the process.  Our commitment is to reach you where you are, while taking you places you've never been - all for the price of one good ear and receiver - preserves the best the medium has to offer and calls on some of the best we have within ourselves.

Being "Cool and Current" means constantly striving to improve ourselves. One way the station has made improvements is by converting our signal to digital.  On December 11, 2006, WJSU became the first radio station, commercial or public, in the state with a complete digital signal. Operating digitally means WJSU can promise our 30,000-member audience a stronger signal, less distortion, less time off the air and more time devoted to timeless music and timely news. Digital conversion is costly to maintain. 

We spent more than a quarter of a million dollars for equipment purchases for this endeavor with support from the community and federal grants. 

WJSU operates reaches Hinds, Simpson, Madison, Rankin, and Copiah counties. WJSU is a Corporation for Public Broadcasting funded station with membership in NPR, Public Radio International and American Public Media. In addition to timely news and timeless music, the station provides practical experience for students majoring in Mass Communications, who will now be able to train on the latest technology.  We are most proud of that fact.

WJSU Statement of Intent:
WJSU is the leading provider of jazz programming in the state of Mississippi to a diverse audience as a service of Jackson State University.

WJSU Programming Philosophy:
The programming goals and philosophy of WJSU are to meet the needs and concerns of the community in the Jackson Metropolitan area through the production and acquisition of high quality and innovative programs. The programming services provided by WJSU have been developed to respect the cultural differences within its community.