photo by Ty Smith
Senior broadcast journalism major, Nathan Keenan, is nominated for three Intercollegiate Broadcasting System College Radio Awards. Currently, he is the General Manager of WPPJ, Point Park’s student-run radio station.
If it was not for The Beatles and a love for music, Nathan Keenan wouldn’t be in the broadcast production and programming field.
“Back in high school…I was reading John Lennon’s biography,” the senior from Mount Pleasant, Pa. said. “[It] talked about how [The Beatles] mixed down all these different music [genres] and how they created a unique sound. I thought that was fascinating. I wanted to know how I could do that and how I could take audio and turn it into something more than just a recording. Because of that, I found [an] interest in broadcast production.”
Keenan’s interest in the broadcast field led him to get involved with WPPJ, Point Park’s student-run radio station. Now in his fourth year with the station, he currently serves as general manager. He was also recently nominated for three Intercollegiate Broadcasting System College Radio Awards with recent graduate Zach Durkin. They will represent WPPJ at the annual IBS conference in New York City in March.
“I found out over break,” Keenan said about his nominations. “I got an email from [David] Fabilli. I was with my friend at the time. I was like ‘You are not going to believe what just happened.’ I was super excited. I called my mom right away.”
His nomination for ‘Best News Feature’ was about Olympic ice hockey and why Pittsburgh sports fans root for other teams when they are American. His ‘Best Documentary’ nomination was a satirical documentary on senioritis. For ‘Best Public Service Announcement,’ he focused on the dangers of drinking and driving.
“His work is being judged against his peers’ work from college radio stations all around the country,” WPPJ advisor David Fabilli said. “That says all you need to know about him. That says a lot.”
Fabilli is also Keenan’s academic advisor. Keenan said Fabilli has been “a great influence” for him.
In the time that they have known each other, Fabilli said Keenan has “found himself in radio” and that his “skills have grown.”
Keenan has not only found himself in radio at Point Park and WPPJ. He currently hosts a weekly overnight show with local radio station WYEP in the South Side.
“Everybody has their own dreams, and that’s mine,” Keenan said. “It is living the dream. As of right now, I want more. I want to achieve as much as possible…try to reach out and try to find greater success. But just from still being in school and being able to have that opportunity, I couldn’t ask for more.”
And when he is not fulfilling his radio duties and attending class, Keenan serves as vice president of the Rugby Club where he has helped transform the team from being players to volunteers.
“We adopted a highway,” Keenan said. “We volunteered at a soup kitchen. We donate money to different charities. Just knowing that I’m helping us do more than just play rugby is really great.”
Because of his continuous involvement on and off campus, Keenan refers to himself as “one of the busiest people he knows” and a “self-diagnosed workaholic.”
“I’ve literally just been in go mode for the past month just making my resume all polished up,” he said. “Honestly, I find that thrilling.”
Although Keenan is constantly busy with school and work, he still finds time to enjoy music. His favorite instrument to play is the ukulele.
“I like the ukulele the most because…it’s just a happy sounding instrument,” he said. “It’s very optimistic. I try to be as optimistic as possible even though I have a lot of stress. It’s something that’s soothing to me.”
Keenan has also developed an interest in traveling. Last year, he got on a plane for the first time to travel to London and Paris with the University’s International Media class.
“I want to do a lot more traveling,” he said. “That International Media class really opened the floodgates for me. I want to see as many cultures and experience them as possible.”
In the meantime, Keenan will work on “creating a positive change” during his time at Point Park.
“I want to be one of those people when people look back, [they say] ‘he worked with what he had and he made something great out of it’ or ‘he worked towards a better future. It might not be the best thing that’s going on right now, but he put down the foundation to make WPPJ grow, thrive [and] succeed into the future,’” Keenan said.
