Greg Golda, a professor in the Department of Media Studies and Digital Culture, discussed the hot political topics of the day with junior Lacey Gilleran during his weekly talk show called "News Junkies" on SHU's radio station WHRT.

Students and members of the Sacred Heart University faculty turn into ‘news junkies’ each Thursday between 1 and 3 P.M. on the WHRT Radio program of the same name. Greg Golda, a clinical instructor with the Department of Media Studies and Digital Culture, hosts the program each week. “It’s a sneaky way to extend the classroom and create an active and engaged learning experience by discussing current issues as they relate to the students. We sit in the booth with students and professors and the conversations bloom.” said Golda.

Now nearing the close of its first month, News Junkies has heard from professors in such areas as religious studies, business and media studies as well as undergraduate and graduate students. Recent topics have included the presidential debates, the economic crisis and the charges of fraud in voter registrations.

As the advisor to WHRT, the student-run radio station, Golda, with a new group of station managers, took a long, hard look at the operation. They oversaw the remodeling of the booth opposite the entrance to the Flik dining room and worked to increase student participation in the effort, enlarging the cohort of on-air personalities from three to well over 30. Golda says that the only thing the DJ’s have in common is their uncommonness. Student shows offer an eclectic variety of music, sports talk and now politics.

Golda, who majored in design and anthropology at Buffalo State College and earned a master’s degree in education at Penn State, admits he has been a news junkie since he was 13 when his parents started getting CNN. Today, he has the web at his fingertips during the show. He and the students scour the web and constantly add new information to the conversation and point listeners to the stories they’re discussing. “There’s so much information out there,” Golda states, “that it can overload us. Rather than helping us make informed decisions, it can work against that process.” In creating News Junkies, he says, he is essentially hoping to design a template for the show so it can be run “by the students for the students.”

The on-air experience, says Golda, is often the same for his guest students and professors alike: they can feel a bit intimidated at first but quickly relax as the conversation develops. Stay tuned.

You can listen by visiting the WHRT website at www.whrtradio.com.