Access Atlanta > Entertainment > Radio Talk > Archives > 2006 > October > 31 > Entry
10/31: WRAS naughty word problem
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
On radio-info.com, a posting noted that a professional comedian on the Georgia State radio station WRAS-FM last week uttered some naughty words related to Bill Clinton that the FCC would frown upon.
Here’s what DeAnna Hines, the Georgia State PR person had to say Tuesday via email:
“The university is reviewing this matter in accordance with the station’s policies and procedures. Live interviews have been suspended pending the outcome of this review. The university does not make statements regarding a student’s academic status or personnel action.”
In other words, she won’t say whether the students who did the interview are in trouble or not.
Surprisingly, WRAS does not use a delay or offer a “dump” button the way most commercial stations do post Janet Jackson despite the fact student DJs are relatively untrained.
And full disclosure for the commenter below: I am a Georgia State grad student getting my MBA. If Cassie Smith, the general manager, would allow me, I’ll be happy to come on down and check things out. She declined to comment about the situation when I emailed her Monday.
Comments
Commenting is now closed for this entry.
By Raffi
November 1, 2006 9:44 AM | Link to this
I hope it wasn’t Kimberdoo on the Saturday Morning Kids Music Show at 10am that let this happen. The other day I heard she and the Marvinator say “eat every bean and pea on your plate.” Well, I never.
By Beau Johnson
November 1, 2006 1:35 PM | Link to this
relatively untrained my ass. new djs work late night shifts under supervision of the station training directors before graduating to a daytime gig. those daytime hour slots only go to those who understand the FCC and university rules that govern what the station can broadcast.
the dj that flubbed up has only his own inability to reign in the guest to blame and certainly warrants some form of disciplinary action. Prior hosts have had comedians whose routines are quite blue and there was never an issue of those comedians using any of the dreaded seven words on the air.
a delay has been requested in the past but a limited budget has always resulted in the station having to be vigilant and police itself with regards to its musical choices and guest interviews. if you would like to alleviate this “surprising” lack of technology I am sure the staff will be quite happy to accept cash or check for the purchase of delay equipment.
By Andy Hawley
November 1, 2006 1:50 PM | Link to this
Rodney, before you accuse us of being “relatively untrained”, why don’t you come down and go through our training process. I’m sure the APDs would love to run you through the board training, electrical training, technical test, and FCC training.
We may be students, but to basically call us ignorant is a bit much. Especially since we’re nationally known, run at 100,000 watts, and influence some of the “new music” commercial stations around town and across the nation.
Let me know if you want to come down and I’ll get you set up.
-Andy from 88
By Bud
November 1, 2006 2:15 PM | Link to this
Jeez…leave the college stations alone…I remember listening to WUGA years ago in an afternoon broadcast and a guest in the studio yelled out “F&#%” and the host simply said “WUGA apologizes for that outburst.” And none of the other 9 people listening at the time bothered to complain.
By Tom
November 1, 2006 3:45 PM | Link to this
Rodney’s your typical AJC reporter that knows NOTHING about Georgia State except there have been a few people mugged and cars broken into in the past three months (in downtown Atlanta no less). It’s four blocks from the AJC office Rodney, walk down and ask a question. Take a tour of the studio - they’re friendly people. You could even sit in and be a guest if you wanted - if you can walk past all the clutter from the Creative Loafing awards lying all over the place. Go see the work the kids put in instead of throwing out a line about them being “untrained.” Why not just say that they’ll all end up in Iraq while you’re at it?
By BadRadio
November 1, 2006 5:03 PM | Link to this
“Trained” or not, you gotta admit most of the DJs sound like they just wandered into the studio thinking it was the can. Missed button presses, dead air, mispronounced band names, inflectionless delivery (which is not a “style”) and totally wrong information are not just occasional at WRAS, it’s standard operating procedure. It’s all too evident that most of them have no idea (or don’t care) about the music they’re playing.
It’s lucky they play such good music.
By Such a disappointment
November 2, 2006 9:03 AM | Link to this
I was a WRAS’er 10+ years ago (when the station wasn’t such an embarrassment). When we did interviews frequently, we’d pre-tape them just to avoid that sort of situation.
Accidents happen though. I recall a fellow DJ running the ‘unedited’ version of “CREEP” during the afternoon drive. It went by unnoticed by station mgmt and the FCC…
By bud
November 2, 2006 9:03 AM | Link to this
BadRadio…everything you just said is true…but I still like listening to those plucky students grope their way through a broadcast. I went to UGA, I live in Atlanta, and I listen to both Album 88 and WREK. I think WREK has a better mix and a better website, but both stations provide some relief to the stale, pathetic mix of overplayed tunes, mindless DJ chatter and irritating commercials that you hear on the right side of the dial.
By Jason
November 2, 2006 12:56 PM | Link to this
What the heck was a DJ at WRAS doing playing any version of “Creep”?
By hammer
November 2, 2006 2:32 PM | Link to this
Stuff happens. When I was at ‘RAS back in ‘92 Matthew Sweet said ‘Fu**in’ on the air and nobody even noticed. That was pre-superbowl-nipple…and I can’t even mention what Courtney Love did to the couch in the lobby… Those kids do a great job. I had some good times at “Album 88”
By FM Fats
November 8, 2006 4:50 PM | Link to this
Can somebody tell me why so many of the ALBUM 88 jocks identify a song by its track number on the CD? Talk about useless information; just tell me the artist, the song title, and the album it’s from.