One story we’ve been following very closely here is the controversy surrounding the fate of Georgia State University’s student-run radio station. After negotiating for years in secret, Georgia State University entered into an agreement (let’s not use the word contract, just yet) with Georgia Public Broadcasting to give the latter organization 14 hours of daytime analog signal, depriving WRAS students of an educational opportunity and the community of a 42-year tradition of original music.
For more on the background, see my Huffington Post blog on the topic.
Since I wrote last, a group of WRAS alumni have come together to form the Album 88 Alumni. The group put together a counter-proposal and sent it to GSU President Mark P. Becker and are waiting for a response. But one thing that could be a stumbling block is that it sounds like some Georgia State administrators are under the impression they’re bound to their agreement with Georgia Public Broadcasting.
If that would so, it would represent an astonishing development in the law. I made a little chart to explain precisely why Georgia State should be able to walk away from the GPB partnership and accept the Alumni offer, if it chooses to do so. (Click to open it in a new window.)
So, GSU Administrators, if you’re being motivated by a fear of the big bad public boogeyman, rest assured that principles of judicial economy and basic sanity prevent the State of Georgia from suing itself.