Yale media ignore national radio's caution

This past Tues., Sept. 11, reports surfaced on several Internet music sites that Clear Channel Communications, owner of New Haven's WKCI-FM (KC 101) and other radio stations across the country, had distributed a list of songs containing what they believed to be questionable lyrics in light of the recent terrorist attacks.

NEWSMAKERS Louis Armstrong's 'What a Wonderful World' is among the 'offending' songs.

While Clear Channel initially denied in a press release that the list even existed, later statements made by company spokespeople indicated that one or more program directors at Clear Channel stations drew up the list. The company then apparently distributed the list to all its stations with the understanding that it was not official, simply something for program and music directors to consider when creating music playlists in the aftermath of the attacks.

In a statement, Mark P. Mays, president and chief operating officer of Clear Channel, said that his company "strongly believes in the First Amendment and freedom of speech. We value and support the artist community. And we support our radio station programming staff and management team in their responsibility to respond to their local markets."

Despite the fact that the company had not, in fact, officially banned any of the songs from being played on its stations, local radio professionals were surprised by the list.

"The list is kind of silly," said Randy Borovsky, President of CTUltraRadio.com, an Internet radio station based in New Haven. "They've got stuff on there like [The Bangles'] `Walk Like an Egyptian.'" Some other songs included on the Clear Channel list that generated surprise were The Beatles' "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds," Louis Armstrong's "What A Wonderful World," and James Taylor's "Fire and Rain."

Clear Channel has a dominant presence on the national radio scene, owning about one in 10 of the nation's radio stations. Nevertheless, most radio executives in New Haven did not anticipate that the list would set any kind of trend.

"We haven't really adjusted our music," Borovsky said. "We've done a lot to support the situation on the Internet, though. Our online chat room has been a forum for people to vent their emotion."

At student run WYBC-AM, each DJ was given discretion with programming decisions. Program Director Sam Frank, MC '02, said, "There was definitely no directive from on high about what songs are or are not appropriate." He added, "That's the point of a freeform station. People can always turn us off."

Doc-"P," Urban Music Director at WYBC-FM, agreed. "Immediately after [the attacks], and for the rest of the week, we had a lot more news and community-oriented programming," he said. "There was a lot more slow, inspirational music, but we never censored anything. By Saturday we were back to our normal playlist."

The song list distributed by Clear Channel raises questions about whether arts and media organizations on campus should be wary of what they present or publicize in the wake of Sept. 11.

Jock Reynolds, the Henry J. Heinz II Director of the Yale University Art Gallery, said that while everyone at the museum was in shock and some upcoming exhibits were delayed for logistical reasons, he would not make artistic decisions based on possible responses to the plane crashes. "We have not curtailed any projects at all," he said.

He added that he would have no second thoughts about displaying violent or apocalyptic art in the near future. "One piece that many Europeans are identifying with the attack is Picasso's Guernica," Reynolds said. "It's a canonistic image in modern art. Also, something like Goya's Horrors of War speaks to the terrible truths of what we do as a species. Images like these have become more timeless than the events they described."

As of Thursday evening, the Flash introduction to the YUAG's website prominently displayed Roy Lichtenstein's Blam, which depicts an airplane exploding in mid-flight.

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