MPR's only Black classical host Garrett McQueen fired after being taken off air

MPR ^ | 9-10-2020 | Marianne Combs

[raccoonradio]

In some areas public radio stations
may have one station for news and talk
(liberal of course) and another for classical music (or other music).
Boston’s WGBH is news talk (with competitor WBUR of Car Talk fame doing same thing) but sister station WCRB
is classical.

Vermont Public Radio has one network
of news, talk and some various music
and another network, VPR Classical.

[OKSooner]

:)

[Vision]

"American Public Media Group has fired Minnesota Public Radio’s only Black classical music host"

To propagandist media inflaming racial tensions: he's not special because of the color of his skin. And he apparently is a jerk and needed to be fired.

[EBH]

Cleveland has WCLV classical music.

WTAM Conservative talk 95% of the time or sports

[raccoonradio]

Yes.Big radio companies mandate what gets played. Some give a bit of freedom to
DJs...smaller companies.Not much though.

I have been part of a college radio
station in MA for almost 40 years.We can
play what we want as long as it keeps to
a show’s format and no swears etc. But
we are all of 130 watts (though online
too) and don’t have to please advertisers,
being non commercial.

Public radio like Minn Public Radio is
more powerful and more strict.They must
appeal to listeners/”members” AND to the
various companies/corporations who give
them tax-writeoff donations. “Sponsor”
messages (this program paid for in part
by a donation from Land’s End) are made.
Not a commercial but still a plug
for big money donors.

And those donors may not want to
rock the boat...even if politically
correct, perhaps.

[Mariner]

“I wonder if there is more to the story”

Not really.

Most Classical stations depend on listeners to fund over 50% of their budgets.

Start force feeding them shit they don’t want to hear, and you’re out.

Additionally, politics of all flavors are out. The limited pool of contributors is a very politically diverse crowd.

Simple.

[subterfuge]

Interesting. Don’t recall that.

[Sans-Culotte]

I subscribed to SiriusXM basically because I did not want to hear one more political ad from ANYBODY.

I subscribe to Sirius XM primarily to hear classical music. Lately, they have been pushing black composers, so I have not been listening as much. Some of them are "ok", but they are not Mozart or Beethoven level, and I get tired of hearing it. This guy was probably fired for playing music no one wanted to hear.

[catnipman]

“Although I’m curious what “classical” music he played instead to “speak to the looting””

“1812 Overture”?

“Ride of the Valkyries”?

[Sans-Culotte]

Although I’m curious what “classical” music he played instead to “speak to the looting” Mars, bringer of war?

He probably played music by over-rated black composers like William Grant Still and Florence Price. He may have even thrown in some Scott Joplin. The music by those composers is not bad (I quite like Joplin's rags), but it is not all that "great". Some public classical stations publish a list of what they are playing and people probably did not want this bozo changing the list because of George Floyd.

[Buckeye McFrog]

Rush Limbaugh was once fired for playing The Rolling Stones' Under My Thumb out of rotation. Was that the one he played 50 times in a row?

Not the way he told it. Any jock who plays a record 50 times in a row is stunting on orders from the Program Director to initiate a format change.