Dear Indie 103.1,
I was going to make a request, maybe to play some HorrorPops or
Modest Mouse. But I realized that wasn’t what I really
wanted. Actually, I’d rather request that Indie 103 be truly
independent. After all, we wouldn’t want impressionable
children taking the name too seriously, when the station is in fact
partly owned by mega media company Clear Channel. Now don’t
get me wrong. It’s about time Los Angeles stopped being
yesterday-trendy and started taking some chances on
tomorrow-trendy. In its music and format, Indie 103 is a good step
for radio, but I am worried because it’s owned in part by a
company known for homogenized, biased programming. Homogeneity is a
growing trend in the radio world. KROQ used to rely more on
listener requests for market research. Now a bunch of monkeys in
suits pretend to know what kids want to hear better than the kids
themselves at radio stations all over the country. They
shouldn’t kid themselves. I want to commend Indie 103 for
going out on a limb and listening to its listeners. With no on-air
DJs and commercial-free Mondays, Indie 103 cuts right to the point
““ some good, old-fashioned revolutionary music performed by
bands that would make your parents cringe. That’s where the
irony comes in. I’m listening to the station, bobbing my head
because I can’t dance, and I can’t help but ask myself
““ why is the sky falling? Well, it’s not actually
falling, I guess, but I can only assume pieces of it started
tumbling to earth when conservative radio behemoth Clear Channel
decided to launch Indie 103, which embodies everything unholy to
the company. It must be a hard pill for Clear Channel to swallow.
They play music that isn’t popular. They even play music that
promotes free speech. But Clear Channel seems to have found a niche
in Los Angeles, one with a previously untapped listener base. Indie
103 has no DJ personalities, plays plenty of indie music and
respects the music it airs by playing the entire song and
announcing artists and titles more often. This is a far cry from
most stations Clear Channel has a stake in. But as long as
there’s green to be had in it, Clear Channel won’t
blush to pounce on it. The real question is, then, should we blush?
According to Clear Channel, the company owns over 1,200 radio
stations and is the top “”˜out of home’ media
company.” Clear Channel fired a DJ, Davey D, simply because
of an interview he conducted with Barbara Lee, the lone voter in
Congress against the war in Afghanistan. It would seem Clear
Channel doesn’t like dissenting opinions. Although they claim
a political bias does not affect their programming, Clear Channel
executives have given over $42,000 to President Bush’s
campaign and only $1,750 to Senator John Kerry’s campaign as
of March, according to USA Today. I’m blushing about the
color of a blood orange by now. Ah, hell. This is all wrong. Let me
try again.
Dear Clear Channel,
As the largest owner of radio stations in the nation,
don’t you think you ought to be acting to safeguard free
speech? It is unsettling that your company paid for a large tractor
to destroy a pile of Dixie Chicks merchandise after singer Natalie
Maines spoke out against President Bush’s foreign policies,
according to a New York Times article by Paul Krugman. It is also
unsettling that you paid for similar pro-war rallies around the
country and stifled anti-war music and DJs on your airwaves. I just
want to be clear here. I would not be unsettled if you were a group
of energy-channeling mystics or some grassroots group of political
activists. However, you own the airwaves and have a responsibility
to protect and promote free speech and responsible, unbiased
programming. If all radio stations and billboards continually
spouted politically biased propaganda for any party, it would begin
to drown out any dissenting opinions. This is where the danger
lies. I’m fearful of your possible future. In order to avoid
manipulating innocent Americans who get their views of the world
from the media, the company should be respectful of its influence.
Programming needs to be unbiased and fairly represent all sides of
any issue that comes up. So, Clear Channel, I’d like to
finish with a request. How about some Rage Against the Machine?
Schenck is a first-year pre-communication studies student.
E-mail him at [email protected]. Send general comments to
[email protected].