It was all a Republican scam.
There was no reason to interpret the hostile response that followed Maines's anti-war comments as a spontaneous reaction of an outraged country audience. In fact it now appears the attack on the Dixie Chicks was a political maneuver no less calculated than the Watergate break-in. At least according to former Reprise Records president Howie Klein. "Phone calls originating from Republican Party headquarters in Washington went out to country stations, urging them to remove the Dixie Chicks from their playlists." Klein says.
"The 'alternative concert' [to the Dixie Chicks' tour opener] was actually the work of the South Carolina Republican Party. And party officials were helping promote the concert. We received a call from 'Gallagher's Army,' urging us to support the alternative concert. Caller ID backtraced the call to South Carolina GOP headquarters."
Chain radio stations were quick to dump the Chicks because their parent companies (Clear Channel, Viacom, et al) have pressing business in the nation's capitol and they want help from the Republican Party. For instance Secretary of State Colin Powell's son is currently chairman of the FCC which is in the midst of deciding whether or not to relax federal regulations which currently stand in the way of a complete Radio Monopoly.
So was this pre-emptive payback for future favors from the Government? Only time will tell.
Original:
http://www.rockrap.com/new/chicks.html
Sources:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20030515/media_nm/media_fcc_powell_dc_1
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/bw/20030520/bs_bw/nf200305208395db028
Comments on this article:
Could this be TRUE?Although DC and SC are only a couple hundred miles a part, I am sure it was the work of the same person even though worker bees do not usually change hives that quickly. Maybe a non "compassionate conservative" slipped into the party. Must have been one of those pesky "liberal".
nice that the word's getting outWhen the poster declined to do so, she was asked questions like, "Well you do support the president, don't you?"
This whole thing was organized from the start, not some sponatenous response from fans.
how absurdyou would have to be pretty unintelligent to think that a genre who's biggest hits over the last 18 months have been pro-military, pro-adminstration ballads would not be offended by statements that fly in the face of those sentiments.
And exactly how did you find out about it?As for the article did you even read it? The boycott was clearly planned and executed by the Republican Party and its friends at Clear Channel Radio, just because you were actually angry does not mean it wasn't a Republican Scam! You were angry after the fact! You probably cant even name the original source of the Dixie Chicks story, the article that was devoted entirely to the Dixie Chicks concert and just happenend to mention the comment she made. Can you name where that story originally came from?
Few people can, because we all learned about the comment through reports that the radio stations had started the boycott. And they only learned about what she said through the Republican party! Before the boycott started her comments were a blurb in the Entertainment section of the Guardian, a European newspaper! Nobody even mentioned the quote until the boycott started. Conservatives don't even read the New york times but we're supposed to believe you read the Guardian? Yeah right!
Fact is the Republican Party found out what she said and needed to respond. Public Relations control is Karl Roves number one job, he cant have Texans badmouthing Bush and expect his approval ratings to stay up! The radio stations pulled the songs in response to the Republican Parties request, not an outraged fan base! We know this because no initial outrage existed until after the boycott began! They created the anger by spreading the news of what she said as an excuse for they're actions! They gave the story legs!
The story wasn't even reported in the U.S. media until the radio stations started the boycott. Nobody knew about what she had said until the radio stations decided to spread the news as an excuse.
There was never any boiling point of fan anger prior to the boycott, it all happened in one day. There was no passage of time where angry fans continued pressuring the Radio Stations until they were forced to remove the chicks or lose valued listeners because nobody knew it had happened until the Radio Stations reported it!
They received they're orders from the Republican Party D.C. HeadQuarters and they followed through. So many celebrities had spoken out against Bush before them everyone was used to it, the only shock factor involved in this story, the only twist, the only thing that suprised anyone was the news that the stations pulled them from the list.
Instead of responding to an outrage that didn't exist, they created an outrage to cover they're ass!
Heres a quick time-line of events.
1) British Newspaper mentions the Dixie Chicks comments in a routine review of they're concert.
2) Republican Party Headquarters in Washington DC gets word of the news and asks the Radio Stations to pull the songs.
3) Radio Stations pull the songs citing her recent comments and "Fan Outrage" as they're excuse for doing so despite the fact nobody even knew about it.
4) The U.S. Media reports on the Radio Stations boycott also citing the Chicks comments as the reason, this is the first anyone in America has heard of her remarks.
5) Country Fans across the nation are mad at Maines but happy the radio stations are boycotting them despite the fact nobody asked them too!
6) Republican Freepers visit Liberal Websites trying to cover they're asses and pretend the boycott was indeed real and justified.
Understand now? ....Thats ok you're a conservative.
More Proof!Cumulus — the nation's second-largest radio broadcaster — took Chicks records off 42 country music stations' airwaves in March.
Arizona Sen. John McCain said it wouldn't have been censorship if each of the 42 stations had separately imposed bans. But he asserted that a single corporation's decision, affecting all those country stations, is a restraint of trade.
Cumulus Chairman and Chief Executive Lewis Dickey said the company was simply trying to provide guidance for its program managers and noted that the company's Top-40 format stations kept playing The Dixie Chicks. Dickey also promised that Cumulus would never again try to impose similar bans.
You heard it here first folks!
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=529&ncid=529&e=11&u=/ap/20030709/ap_en_mu/people_dixie_chicks
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