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sisyphusshruggedNatalie Maines' controversial comments about President Bush are echoing ever louder in Congress and starting to rattle windows in the radio industry.
Cumulus Broadcasting -- which banned Maines' group, the Dixie Chicks, from all 50 of its country stations after her remarks at a London concert in March -- was the latest to feel the sting of a mounting backlash against media consolidation.
In congressional hearings held July 8, Dixie Chicks manager Simon Renshaw led the charge against Cumulus and the radio business. He revealed his office had had death threats during the ban and he had uncovered evidence that the effort was "orchestrated" in part by "right-wing political" groups.
"What happened to my clients is perhaps the most compelling evidence that radio ownership consolidation has a direct negative impact on diversity of programming and political discourse over the public airwaves," he charged.
Executives in the corporate offices of Cumulus decided to take the group off the air following a well-publicized remark Maines made that the band was "ashamed that the president of the United States is from Texas."
"It's an incredible, incredible act," said John McCain, R-Ariz., chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, at the volatile oversight hearing.
Lewis W. Dickey Jr., chairman/CEO of Atlanta-based Cumulus -- which owns about 275 stations -- took all of the heat regarding the Chicks episode. The company lifted the ban in May, but not before disciplining DJs at two stations for defying the edict.
McCain repeatedly grilled Dickey: "Did you not order those stations to take the Dixie Chicks off the air?"
Dickey finally said yes.
McCain then asked: "Would you do that to me?"
Dickey replied, "No."
"Then why do it to a group of entertainers?" McCain asked.
Dickey replied that the ban was a "business decision. Our stations turned to us for guidance. There was a groundswell, a hue and cry from listeners."
Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., countered: "I keep hearing you say 'a hue and cry.' Well, that happens all the time in this country. There's a hue and cry every time I speak out about women's choice. That's what happens when you have a diversity of views, discourse. A hue and cry is a beautiful sound. It's the sound of freedom."
Dickey acknowledged that his local station managers "fell in line" with the corporate decision.
"I don't think you know what you've done," Boxer told Dickey. "You've motivated us to look closely at consolidation. When you said earlier that your local staff 'fell in line,' that was a dead giveaway."
McCain said he was not concerned about free-speech violations at local stations that had initiated their own boycotts. "But this came from corporate headquarters. That's a strong argument that First Amendment erosion is in progress."
Sen. John E. Sununu, R-N.H., said, "Radio programrs should not be in the business of political censorship. They should be in the business of promoting political discourse."
in the mean time,
I went to a Dixie Chicks concert in Salt Lake City and a civics lesson broke out. Imagine that.
On the plaza of the Delta Center before the concert on Wednesday, local news live trucks were positioned. Their camera crews roamed the crowd. If they were looking for protesters, there were none.
Natalie Maines, lead singer of the Chicks, made a statement last March on tour in England that was critical of President Bush and the then-impending war. It sparked loud protests in this country. Clear Channel, which owns thousands of radio stations, stopped its country music stations from playing the Chicks' songs. At least one Clear Channel station organized a steamroller protest to crush Chicks CDs in a very public media event.
But there on the Delta Center plaza were the local Clear Channel radio personalities with their brightly painted trailer. They were only too eager to promote their Salt Lake radio stations to the thousands of fans attending...
How many friends you figure Bush has when he starts costing them real money?
Cumulus Broadcasting -- which banned Maines' group, the Dixie Chicks, from all 50 of its country stations after her remarks at a London concert in March -- was the latest to feel the sting of a mounting backlash against media consolidation.
In congressional hearings held July 8, Dixie Chicks manager Simon Renshaw led the charge against Cumulus and the radio business. He revealed his office had had death threats during the ban and he had uncovered evidence that the effort was "orchestrated" in part by "right-wing political" groups.
"What happened to my clients is perhaps the most compelling evidence that radio ownership consolidation has a direct negative impact on diversity of programming and political discourse over the public airwaves," he charged.
Executives in the corporate offices of Cumulus decided to take the group off the air following a well-publicized remark Maines made that the band was "ashamed that the president of the United States is from Texas."
"It's an incredible, incredible act," said John McCain, R-Ariz., chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, at the volatile oversight hearing.
Lewis W. Dickey Jr., chairman/CEO of Atlanta-based Cumulus -- which owns about 275 stations -- took all of the heat regarding the Chicks episode. The company lifted the ban in May, but not before disciplining DJs at two stations for defying the edict.
McCain repeatedly grilled Dickey: "Did you not order those stations to take the Dixie Chicks off the air?"
Dickey finally said yes.
McCain then asked: "Would you do that to me?"
Dickey replied, "No."
"Then why do it to a group of entertainers?" McCain asked.
Dickey replied that the ban was a "business decision. Our stations turned to us for guidance. There was a groundswell, a hue and cry from listeners."
Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., countered: "I keep hearing you say 'a hue and cry.' Well, that happens all the time in this country. There's a hue and cry every time I speak out about women's choice. That's what happens when you have a diversity of views, discourse. A hue and cry is a beautiful sound. It's the sound of freedom."
Dickey acknowledged that his local station managers "fell in line" with the corporate decision.
"I don't think you know what you've done," Boxer told Dickey. "You've motivated us to look closely at consolidation. When you said earlier that your local staff 'fell in line,' that was a dead giveaway."
McCain said he was not concerned about free-speech violations at local stations that had initiated their own boycotts. "But this came from corporate headquarters. That's a strong argument that First Amendment erosion is in progress."
Sen. John E. Sununu, R-N.H., said, "Radio programrs should not be in the business of political censorship. They should be in the business of promoting political discourse."
in the mean time,
I went to a Dixie Chicks concert in Salt Lake City and a civics lesson broke out. Imagine that.
On the plaza of the Delta Center before the concert on Wednesday, local news live trucks were positioned. Their camera crews roamed the crowd. If they were looking for protesters, there were none.
Natalie Maines, lead singer of the Chicks, made a statement last March on tour in England that was critical of President Bush and the then-impending war. It sparked loud protests in this country. Clear Channel, which owns thousands of radio stations, stopped its country music stations from playing the Chicks' songs. At least one Clear Channel station organized a steamroller protest to crush Chicks CDs in a very public media event.
But there on the Delta Center plaza were the local Clear Channel radio personalities with their brightly painted trailer. They were only too eager to promote their Salt Lake radio stations to the thousands of fans attending...
How many friends you figure Bush has when he starts costing them real money?
