[JonInMiddleGA]

Note: this link appears to be dynamic & could change at some point. If the story doesn't appear, just go to radioandrecords.com and then go thru the "Today's News" tab to find the 1/25/05 archive.
http://www.radioandrecords.com/Newsr...5/topstory.asp


Controversy Continues Over WQHT/New York 'Tsunami Song'
Emmis CHR/Rhythmic WQHT (Hot 97)/New York is still feeling the heat a week after the Miss Jones in the Morning show aired what many felt was an ill-advised and racially charged song parody concerning the victims of the recent tsunamis in southern Asia. In the bit, a song sung to the tune of "We Are the World" says the tsunami "washed your whole country away," and victims are referred to as "screaming Chinks" and "little Chinamen." "We are absolutely appalled, saddened, outraged and angered," said Kai Yu of Asian Media Watch, quoted yesterday in the New York Daily News. According to John Mainelli of the New York Post, in a letter to the station Asian Media Watch accused the show of "repeated racist attitudes" and called for the show to be taken off the air. Along with reports in the New York press, news of the parody has now hit the national wire services.

Additionally, in a tense and disturbing Jan. 20 on-air exchange about the song between Jones, co-host Todd Lyn and newsperson Miss Info, who is of Asian descent, Miss Info objected to the song and Jones retorted, "I know you feel you're superior, probably, because you're Asian, but you're not." Minutes later, Lyn muttered, "I'm going to start shooting Asians." WQHT PD John Dimick issued a recorded apology for the parody on the air yesterday, adding that the show's seven staff members are each donating a week's salary to tsunami relief efforts, and an apology, which is also Emmis' official statement on the matter, appears on the WQHT website. That statement reads in part, "Hot 97 regrets the airing of material that made light of a serious and tragic event. We apologize to our listeners and anyone who was offended." It also notes the station's part in radio's tsunami relief efforts.