Posted on 06/16/2008 6:48:18 AM PDT by raccoonradio
AUGUSTA, Ga -- It's a new radio station that's doing a lot of explicit talking, illegally. Now the community is talking about 99.9 FM.
For the second day in a row, 99.9's owner said he would meet with News 12 to explain himself and for the second day in a row he backed out, and that has some in the community are crying foul.
It's renegade radio right in the middle of your FM dial, and on 99.9 is where you will find DJ Shortdog, "Yeah it's official, we're underground. We don't have a license. Slap me on the wrist."
He's operating without a license, he's airing explicit content and that has some people in the community like Margo McNair, unhappy. "No, I don't think it's right, do you?"
For Margo, the license is the tip of the iceberg. More frustrating is the station's heavy use of the 'N-word'. "You say the 'n-word' over your newscast and see if Al Sharpton's not down here yelling, 'get them off!' What do you think? Try it and see!"
But 99.9 doesn't stop there, in fact every word in the book is heard in the songs and from the DJ's.
"I think it's degrading I think it's degrading to everybody and I don't want my grandkids to listen to it." says Grandmother Cathy Potter.
But some listeners, like John Cook, don't see the problem. "I think they should be able to talk how they want to talk."
"It's hip hop for what it is. It's not stripped down for radio sales," Ian Houston also doesn't mind that 99.9 is a pirate station. "I don't really have a problem with it. No one else is using it, why not let them?"
But people trying to stop them are speaking up loud and clear.
"Let's show some accountability. Let's show some backbone and do what's right for our kids." adds Potter.
As for McNair, "I think the FCC is wrong and they're in the wrong. I think the day they came on and knew it was illegal, shut them down. Why do they have to investigate? What are they investigating?"
The FCC told the sheriff's office they'd be down to investigate, that was three weeks ago.
The station also says they contribute to the Golden Harvest Food Bank, but when News 12 contacted them, the organization had never heard of 99.9.
"You say the 'n-word' over your newscast and see if Al Sharpton's not down here yelling, 'get them off!' What do you think? Try it and see!"
Pirate station admits it’s not legit:
http://www.wrdw.com/crimeteam12/headlines/19857439.html
From the comments: “I FEEL IF U DONT LIKE THE STATION TURN THE DIAL LIKE DJ SHORTDOGG SAID..OKAY MAYBE HE WAS WRONG FOR NOT HAVING LICENSE,HE’S PLAYING WHAT “THE” PEOPLE WANT TO HEAR..(”THE PEOPLE MEANING THE YOUNG/OLD PEOPLE WHO ARE TARGETED BY AMERICA TODAY..I SAY DJ SHORTDOGG JUST GO AHEAD AND PAY THE FINES THEN GET A LICENSE....AND PLAY WHAT YOU ARE PLAYING NOW...GOOOD LUCK 99.9”
Pirate stations like this are popping up all over the
country. Sometimes they are fined by the FCC or there is a raid to shut them down. What part of the word “illegal”
do they not understand?
In one case near Boston, a pirate station was shut down
because it was interfering with aircraft frequencies.
Another Boston station (Choice 106.1) faces $17,000 in
FCC fines. They act like they are a legit station,
boasting (falsely) of the call letters “WTCH” and they
try to help their community...but are still illegal.
Sometimes they interfere with legit stations. Or they
make it tough for those who use FM mini-transmitters
(LEGAL ways of re-broadcasting mp3 players and satellite
radio in your own car) to find an open spot to use.
don’t need NO stinkin’ license, that should say.
There are places on satellite radio where one can hear
foul-mouthed rap if one wishes, but that’s a subscription
service—not the general broadcast band where anyone could
tune in.
It would help, for one thing, if they were legal. Legal
radio stations have to pay FCC fees, follow rules, and
keep from interfering with each other. Stealing the airwaves,
for me, is no different from stealing a car.
As for not having the right to decency on the airwaves,
the framers of the Constitution did not anticipate TV,
radio, etc., and it is a slippery slope: who is the government to regulate speech?
But there is certainly the “crying fire in a crowded theatre”
argument (such as airing a deliberately false news report
to create havoc). And most people agree that there should be decency on the airwaves if possible. Fox shows like Family
Guy—which I watch and enjoy—do have content warnings etc.
And there are FCC rules on regular broadcast TV or radio
which confine cussin’ to late night, if at all, when
young people might not be watching or listening.
Yes, the idea of a “censor” does come into mind. I’m reminded of the Stan Freberg sketch on his radio show
where the “CBS Censor”, voiced by Daws “Yogi Bear” Butler,
cautioned him “we must think of the tiny tots” and forced
Stan to sing “Elderly Man River” so as not to offend
old people, and to make it grammatical, but that’s a
network censor not the FCC.
There may be a happy medium here somewhere, but I’m
more concerned with the fact that pirate stations are
on the air illegally...what if you have a legit station
and someone goes on the air down the street right next to
your frequency. Here you are, being legal, but now being
infringed upon by an IL-legal...
I thought our children were already completely destroyed by the human breast that appeared during the superbowl a couple years back.
The airwaves don’t need to be regulated. Yes, they need a license, that has very little to do with my point. The free market could take care of all of this on its own.
You’ve got it all wrong, they are being destroyed by artistic nudes in Washington. Luckily, some bumpkin congresscritter from TX is here to save us from boobs: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2031726/posts?page=10#10
I’ve got a bit of a libertarian streak in me too but I do
kind of think that stations should try to confine the
cussin’ and other explicit material to when kids are probably not listening. The famed example of this is when a father
and his son were in a car listening to WBAI and George
Carlin’s routine about “seven words you can’t say on television” came up.
Is it up to the FCC, or the broadcasters, to regulate
this kind of thing? Or the viewers/listeners (tune out
when you find objectionable material). To use a familiar
talk radio term, it is “a slippery slope”...
‘Curtailing speech and expression in the name of decency. “This is how it always begins. When will people wake up and realize that they have no right to decency on the airwaves? “
You don’t have a RIGHT to broadcast using public airwaves. Applying a level of decency to the public airwaves is not curtailing free speech.
I suppose you also support the Fairness Doctrine?
news flash - profanity and explicit material isn’t good for adults either.
“To use a familiar
talk radio term, it is “a slippery slope”...’
Enforcing standards or decency is not a slippery slope. What is slippery is allowing anyone to do anything they want at anytime without regard for anyone else.
I find the line breaks in your post interesting. Almost as if you cut-n-pasted it from another blog somewhere.
Umm, no, I support anyone saying anything they please over the airwaves, which is the polar opposite of the so-called fairness doctrine. And the airwaves aren’t “public”.
A couple of years ago, I had forgotten to take my sirius satellite radio on a trip. I was following a friend, who had brought his, and while running through the stations on my radio, ran into one of the comedy channels playing on his. I was about fifty yards behind, but the sound was clear, so I spent the rest of the trip listening to his radio, on mine.
If the Fairness Doctrine is enforced, it may be that the ONLY way we’ll hear Conservative radio of ANY kind might be through pirate stations.
The way things are going....
“Umm, no, I support anyone saying anything they please over the airwaves, which is the polar opposite of the so-called fairness doctrine.”
No its not. People already have the right to say whatever they want. As long as they don’t use explicit or profane language. If they can’t say it without being profane then let them go to cable or satellite.
“And the airwaves aren’t “public”.”
Uh yeah they are, owned by the public, regulated by the FCC, leased by private industry in most cases.
‘The fact that the airwaves are supposedly “publicly owned” has no bearing on reality.”
perhaps in your reality. in the rest of the world its acknowledged that the FCC regulates the airwaves. this means they can say who broadcasts on which frequencies. this control is necessary for all of the services using the airwaves to function properly.
pirated radio isn’t cool, its a crime. it hurts other people by interfering with their business or service.
if you want profane or explicit material there are plenty of sources for you to use. leave the rest of us alone who find that garbage offensive.
from Tom Taylor: http://www.radio-info.com
“That FM pirate in Augusta, GA has been shut down – by county officials. Don’t know yet what grounds Richmond County officials used, but WRDW-TV reports that the FCC “was brought in to pinpoint where the signal was coming from” and then county authorities swooped in and closed down the pirate at 99.9 MHz. Normally this takes much, much longer – and perhaps the most important lesson about controlling the pirate radio scene is to act quickly, before a new operation picks up community support and recognition (like “Touch” in Boston). “
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.