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General Category => General Radio Discussion => Topic started by: osiris on July 03, 2015, 1305 UTC
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Geez. If you don't like what's being played, turn the freaking dial.
http://www.local12.com/news/features/top-stories/stories/Pirate-radio-station-prompts-residents-to-call-the-feds-157248.shtml
Updated: WEST PRICE HILL, Ohio (Angenette Levy) -- There's a new radio station on the west side but it's not licensed and the vulgar language in the rap music has residents calling the feds.
No one knows who is operating the pirate radio station but it can be heard in West Price Hill, North Fairmount and Westwood. Tuesday night, June 30, and Wednesday afternoon, July 1, rap music from the group The Geto Boys played continuously. The hijacked frequency is 87.9 FM.
"If it was going down like that I didn't give a F#@k." one of the lyrics blared Wednesday.
Pete Witte said someone hijacked the frequency a couple of months ago and it's been playing rap music with illicit lyrics. Witte said it’s not the rap that bothers him – it’s the vulgar language in the lyrics. Witte has filed a complaint with the FCC.
"It's very challenging as a parent to listen to this channel and to think that my kids on a whim or by being influenced by friends could tune this in," Witte said.
Dave Schram is the operations specialist at WMKV-FM. He said hijacking a frequency is not difficult to do.
"Not many people realize you can go on the Internet and buy an exciter and an antennae and the cabling to go with it. You do not need an FCC license to do this," Schram said.
Schram said hijacking a radio station is a bad idea. The FCC takes pirate radio seriously and the signal could interfere with licensed radio stations.
"If it ends up being one of the larger radio groups in town that you end up stepping on with your frequency, you're going to find out they're not going to be very happy with you," Schram said.
Local hip-hop artist Ilyas Nashid said the Geto Boys are an important part of rap music history. But Nashid thinks what's happening on 87.9 FM is odd.
"I don't see the motivation for it. Because like when I used to hear about pirated radio it would be somebody playing music that wasn't in the mainstream or they would be doing something that was very politically motivated," Nashid said.
The Geto Boys play Cincinnati the weekend of July 3. By then, Pete Witte hopes their music will be off the air.
"We need the FCC to address this. And I'm kind of curious to know how they will do this."
Local 12 News contacted the FCC for a comment. The agency declined.
Schram said the FCC can locate the signal and will typically give a high school student who might be doing this a warning. The agency may even give a warning to an adult. But if the piracy continues, Schram said a $10,000 fine could be issued for each violation.
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They really couldn't just....change the dial? It's not hard, but maybe pressing a button or turning a knob is too much.
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A sign of the times nowadays - it seems an increasing number of Americans love using that strong central Federal government to bash the heads of people they don't agree with. I take issue with the article's repeated use of the term "hijacking" of the frequency. Hijacking infers that there was a legitimately licensed local user of that frequency whose rights or property was being usurped by the interloper. Since it was on 87.9 - I rather doubt that was true. The RF spectrum is a part of nature like the air that we breathe. Its all well and good that the government hands out licenses to use this part and that part but if no licensee for 87.9 exists in that area then nothing was "hijacked". Words are powerful things and distortions like these work to vilify radio pirates in the public consciousness...
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That pretty much sums up my feeling about it. I also took issue with the word "hijacking".
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Indeed, this sucked. Look back at tee-vee news coverage of local pirates and it often skews in that direction — stations run by gangs, etc. Part of me wonders if we won't see more of this, now with the NAB revving up the FCC...propaganda to push policy along.
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Had a little Twitter-tussle with Local 12 over their piece, which I storified here: https://storify.com/diymediadotnet/how-tropes-work-pirate-radio
(Trees, meet forest!)
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Well John - you tried. Of course TV 12 won't give in to this. Circle the wagons! God might have created the RF spectrum but THEY are endowed with a magical FCC license to utilize a piece of it. Interlopers are competition - unlicensed competition, and deserve no respect - OR - unbiased reporting...
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Would this have even been an issue if they were playing bluegrass music instead of obscene rap?
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Broadcast media has an interest in keeping the status quo, and it's one of the reason online media is a big threat to them because of their biased view of the world. To make matters worse, sensationalism sells, and I think that is what we're dealing with here.
The numbers seem pretty cruel... http://www.stateofthemedia.org/2011/network-essay/data-page-5/ (http://www.stateofthemedia.org/2011/network-essay/data-page-5/)
Being provocative does attract more attention, sometimes the wrong kind. I know pirates that have been on the air for years, mainly because they don't play alot of the smut that gets you into trouble. But in a world were lesbians can sue a baker of their refusal to make a wedding cake, and then have the state do the dirty work for them, I wonder about the future of this place.
+-RH
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Channel 12 can't find an appropriate word to replace "hijack" ? How about "broadcast" or "operate" ? Is it really that difficult to use the correct word?
Also, they said in paragraph 7 "hijacking a radio station." I guess hijacking a radio station *is* a bad idea! Are they kidnapping the staff, too?
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I guess someone should go in there and show them exactly what it means to "hijack" a broadcasting station.... ;-)
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(http://i.imgur.com/a6LGw85.png)
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That's exactly the movie I was thinking of while responding . . .
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Great minds, eh?
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A Dangerous Minds write up about this. Meet the man behind the complaint... :D
http://dangerousminds.net/comments/pirate_radio_station_plays_geto_boys_for_months_middle_aged_white_guy
Here’s the thing, middle-aged white guy: it’s 2015 and I promise your kids are not listening to FM radio.
This guy’s gonna shit when someone tells him about the INTERNET.
A staticky broadcast of “Read These Nikes” ain’t got dick on “two girls, one cup.” It’s Goaste O’clock—do you know where your children are?
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Waaaa my poor virgin ears!!!! Grow a pair, folks.
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It was also 'a news item!'
Came by the following clip @ Youtube!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbDWpyu4SOs (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbDWpyu4SOs)
André
CoolAM Radio