Before I found out about DZUP, I used to associate the AM band frequency with radio talk shows fondly listened to by grandfather every morning, with its serious news, husky voiced hosts, and its old music. So it came to me as a surprise that when I visited the DZUP radio station, I was greeted with young welcoming faces, all engaged in their specific tasks at hand, making sure that the show that was currently on air will run smoothly. With a newfound sense of curiosity, I decided to tune in to DZUP the next day. As I listened to the hosts discuss the issue of education being the right of each child, I found myself getting more and more engrossed into what they were talking about. Up to that moment, I have never really listened to any AM radio station for more than two minutes without turning the radio off or (if the radio isn’t mine) simply mentally tuning out. Then and there, my conception of what AM radio should be was changing. My grandfather’s generation does not have a monopoly of AM radio after all.
DZUP was introduced to the UP Diliman community in 2010. However, DZUP 1602 is actually not new at all. It has been around, albeit inconsistently, for the past half of UP’s 104 years. It began as an experiment of the College of Engineering back in 1957. During martial law, it earned a reputation for being an avenue for the expression of strong sentiments against the government. It achieved infamy for playing tapes of former President Marcos’ passionate liaisons with Hollywood actress Dovie Beams. The recordings infuriated him so much that DZUP equipment and facilities ended up being torn apart and destroyed by the military. Nowadays, it is housed in the College of Mass Communications complex, serving as a laboratory school for Broadcast Communications students, enabling them to learn the intricacies of broadcasting on the job. “DZUP is important because it gives students from Mass Com the chance to apply the theories they learn in the classroom to the real world”, said Goño, a Journalism graduate.
Recently, DZUP has been reborn to serve a different but equally important purpose. With a revamped line-up of shows that reflect the concerns of students, it has carved a new niche in the consciousness of the community it serves. “On an academic level, it pushes teachers and students alike to be critical because everything changes when we know that more people are listening to our conversations. For those who are not students or teachers of UP, DZUP's programming is still very helpful. There are programs about pets, about health, about the law, environment, music, etc. so there is something to learn for everybody”, said Intal, a Broadcast Communications graduate and former co-host of the show Tropang Rad’Yo. DZUP also serves as a place of convergence where not only students and professors are able to work closely together, but also the different colleges of Diliman to produce radio shows that are relevant to its listeners.
However, a lot still needs to be done for DZUP. Despite strong efforts to promote DZUP, many students still unaware of what it is all about, or worse, even the basic thing of how to access its frequency. However, all is not lost. With a roster of shows like “Go Teacher Go”, “Tropang Rad’Yo”, and many others, it continues to build a reputation of being a formidable upholder of academic freedom as well as a venue for discussion relevant to the UP Community. “If we look at DZUP’s programming, it's really aimed at the people who are in UP. However, this does not necessarily exclude others, that’s why the station’s transmitter signal was improved”, explains Intal. The vision for DZUP is for it to continue producing substantial radio shows that will cater to both the UP Community and the public as well. Speaking of which, the addition of a new 5000 watt transmitter that can now send radio frequencies up to the Philcoa area, DZUP’s as the voice of the community continues to grow stronger.
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