Metro Pulse/Music/Eye on the Scene

Training Students to Push Buttons

When we last heard from the student managers at WUTK, they said they were moving toward a rigidly formatted commercial approach because their main purpose is to train students for the commercial radio. With that excuse, they've been canning a number of so-called specialty shows from the air, including "Knoxville Progressive Radio" and "It's Just Knoxville." (Funny, we thought universities are supposed to encourage free thinking, not train students to be button pushers. Things sure have gone to hell since Emma's days in the halls of higher learning.)

Thing is, when the University of Tennessee applied for a license to broadcast at 90.3 FM back in 1978, it promised the Federal Communications Commission it would provide the community a range of alternative and educational news programming not heard elsewhere.

"A good many programs should accommodate both the letter and the spirit of these labels: education, information, instruction, news, and public affairs," the university wrote in its application. "Moreover, they should range beyond the local issues identified by community leaders and the general public in the University Community. Rather, they should address a number of topics which affect the physical and mental welfare of the station's audiences."

And if you look inside New Rock 90's Handbook, you'll find that the station considers itself a "noncommercial educational" station, as classified by the FCC. "The FCC set up this classification of stations to encourage alternative programming to serve the public and reach audiences who were not served by commercial radio stations in the market," the handbook reads.

So, it was with great consternation that the volunteers who put on Knoxville Progressive Radio from 9 a.m. to noon every Sunday on WUTK learned in May (without advance notice) that their show was canceled. They thought they were meeting the station's goals, ideals and raison d'ï¿½tre.

Knoxville Progressive Radio aired a variety of leftist news commentary. About 70 percent of the programming was syndicated national shows such as "Radio Nation" (the radio program of The Nation magazine) and "Counterspin" (a critique of national media). But there were also a number of local programs, including "Thoughts On Philosophy & the Environment" by UT professor John Nolt, a show produced by the Sincere Seven, a Knoxville worker-rights advocacy group, "Second Look," an interview show by Jacqueline Jones Ford, and tapes of local lectures. The programming was provided by Knoxville Progressive Radio (KPR) free of charge.

"It has been replaced by nothing," says Michael Kaplan, UT professor emeritus and a member of KPR. "They shuffle CDs on the air. They don't even have a human being in the studio."

Chad Harriss, operations manager of WUTK, wrote to KPR that the show was canceled for security reasons (even though KPR offered to provide the whole show on CD—in fact, they'd love to have their programs shuffled among the station's play list) and because the station wants to have only music programming. Harriss told Metro Pulse the main reason the show was canceled was because the group didn't apply for a show, as required.

Harriss also says that WUTK doesn't consider KPR a student group, since only three of its nine members are students. WUTK might air "Radio Nation" or "Counterspin," but would rather deal with those groups directly, instead of working through a middle-man community organization, he says. The fear is that if they offer one community group a forum, they'd have to offer it to all of them.

"What would we have done if an ultra-right wing group had come and wanted to air their content?" Harriss says. "What argument could we make to other community groups that wanted to come in and air their views?"

But Kaplan says the station has promised to offer educational programming in its application for the station. He says KPR content cannot be found anywhere else on the radio, and much of it deals with issues important to African Americans, among others. "We consider this a free speech issue," Kaplan says. "I think it was politically, and perhaps even racially, motivated."

Harriss says WUTK does offer non-entertainment fare, including news, interviews and sports programming—just not during its 10 specialty shows. "We're just trying to manage the place is all we're trying to do," Harriss says.

Kaplan says KPR will appeal the decision, starting with the College of Communications and moving up to the Board of Trustees, the state Legislature and governor, if need be.

What infuriates Kaplan the most is the attitude of those who run WUTK. Barbara Moore, head of UT's broadcasting department, wrote in an email to KPR: "...your use of our airwaves was a privilege, not a right." The airwaves don't belong to WUTK, they're public domain, Kaplan points out. You'd think the head of the broadcasting department would know that. (Read about efforts to start a true community radio station in Knoxville in Citybeat, page 7.)

"UT is completely unaccountable," Kaplan says. "We can destroy every one of their arguments, but what good does it do if no one there is listening? The problem with UT is they never back down. They'll never admit they're wrong."

Go.

Thursday: Family Bluegrass Night at Palace Theatre.

Friday: Sharon Mosby and Wendel Werner at the Platinum Lounge.

Saturday: The Brain Surgeons at Patrick Sullivan's.

Sunday: Thomas Sokolowski, director of the Andy Warhol Museum, giving a lecture about same at KMA.

Monday: Find a hammock. Nap.

Tuesday: 319 Open Mic Poetry Reading at, natch, 319 Gay Street.

Wednesday: The James King Band at Barley's.

—Emma "I can admit when I'm wrong" Poptart