Jake Longwell

Based in the scenic Finger Lakes region of Upper State New York in the USA, Jason ‘Jake’ Longwell is a life-long advocate of college and university campus, community and public radio services and has over 30 years of professional radio experience under his belt.

Jake is committed to offering listeners the best possible radio service with only the highest quality music and spoken word programmes. Being visually impaired due to optic atrophy, Jake uses special screen magnification sofware that enables him to prepare his programmes on three separate desktop computers. Jake is only able to see very slightly out of one eye – and then very little at that. Because of his disability, the equipment needed to compile his broadcasts is set up in his apartment and putting shows together is painstaking but very satisfying work for him. For example, just locating songs from a CD takes considerable concentration, since reading the liner notes and packaging calls for drawing them literally to within an inch or two of his face.

Jake has always had a passion for radio, obtaining an Associate’s Degree in Radio Studies and he’s worked at several stations in Geneva, New York State as a volunteer DJ. For his own company Quality Radio Productions, set up in 2008, Jake currently produces up to seven programmes a week, some concentrating on jazz or jazz-influenced music including traditional, acoustic, new age, or modern jazz, along with programmes featuring relaxed easy listening, world music and classic vintage radio shows.

Jake’s prigrammes are distributed to many Public Broadcasting and Community radio stations in the USA and beyond, and South Norfolk Radio is proud to be one of the first Community Radio Stations selected to broadcast Jake’s high quality shows here in the UK. Jake Longwell is a classic example that money is not the measure of a man’s success nor can a disability deter someone from working towards an important goal.

DJ