In today’s fast paced world of AOL and DVD and CD-ROM and TV, it’s great to know that something as simple and traditional and absent of high-tech acronyms as radio has survived the electronic onslaught and remained much the same incarnation as it was decades ago. Times have changed, surely, but the foundation of radio as a news and information source has largely remained the same. And that is where WITF-FM’s Jay O’Neal comes in. O’Neal, a longtime veteran of public radio, arrived in the area just a few months ago and has taken over the position of News Director and host of “Morning Edition” at the local station.

While he has spent his fair share of time in the music aspect of the radio world, the format the O’Neal most likes is the news and information side of the industry. “I’ve done that (being a disc jockey) and that was exciting and it was a lot of fun, but I really have come to prefer the serious side of things,” he states, adding, “I keep coming back to journalism and to news because its something that I really enjoy.” In fact, news is where O’Neal first got his start in the business — and although he did go on to graduate from with an undergraduate degree in Television, Radio, and Theater and a master’s degree in Communications, his start was not quite the traditional route most broadcasters take. “I started radio back when I was in high school through a 4-H project … I joined 4-H because it was a big project in my school and since I didn’t have cows and chickens and ducks and things and they had a radio project…” he begins, adding, “That is where I was bitten by the bug, as it were.” And the rest is history.

Before arriving in Central PA, O’Neal worked in various locations across the country, and for the past fifteen years has served the position of those stations’ local host of the National Public Radio program “Morning Edition” — a position that keeps him in touch with the news of the surrounding areas, an aspect of his job on which he thrives upon. “This is probably going to sound unbelievable,” he says, laughing, “but I enjoy doing morning radio, I enjoy getting up at 3:30 in the morning … I enjoy knowing that what I’m saying and what I’m doing potentially has some effect on a number of people who are listening as they plan their day.”

Throughout his years in radio, O’Neal has not only come to appreciate the importance of news in general, but the importance of public radio, in particular — even through the doubts cast by those radio listeners used to the mainstream, commercialized radio industry of hip hop and Top 40 tunes. “Public radio is so different,” he acknowledges, “I think when a lot of people think of public radio they are unfamiliar with what it does, they think of highbrow, nose in the air kinds of approach to things …” And while that misconception may be common, O’Neal stresses that his format is not only about classical music and perceived stuffy news reports, it is about information and entertainment, as well. “Public radio just isn’t news programs,” he emphasizes, “There are a lot of other programs that are strictly entertainment programs, such as “Car Talk”, which is one of our most popular … and a variety of talk shows, such as Rush Limbaugh and G. Gordon Liddy.”

The fact that most radio listeners think first of commercial, and not public radio, is not lost on O’Neal, to be sure, but he takes pride in the niche that his format has carved in the industry, “I wouldn’t be in it if I didn’t think that the NPR does what they do very well, and I think we are doing here what we do very well,” he says. “When you say ‘radio’, most people probably think of the music that they punch through when they’re driving across the country,” he adds, “but to someone really interested in news and information, public radio is the only place to go.” And, in a time when most people are losing themselves in the world of the internet and television, O’Neal feels that radio has maintained such a strong hold on the world because of its mere availability. “It’s free basically, and it’s very portable, so you can take it anywhere,” he explains, “And it’s an immediate source … I think that’s the appeal to radio, that radio does have an affect on your everyday life.”