Several Protesters Picket Kcmu-Fm

Several volunteers and members of Censorship Undermines Radio Station Ethics (CURSE) picketed KCMU-FM yesterday because of the radio station's recent program changes and staff dismissals.

Grace Crowley, CURSE director and former KCMU news director and DJ, said yesterday that the protest will continue until current KCMU station manager Chris Knab and program director Don Yates resign.

According to Crowley, 22 KCMU volunteers were suspended or fired within the past two months - eight of them in the past 10 days, including the music director.

Knab said yesterday he and Yates will not resign.

KCMU is the alternative radio station for the University of Washington. Recently KCMU volunteers and management became involved in a bitter dispute over the station's future. Some volunteers believed management was changing the station's alternative programming to a more "commercial" mainstream format.

"We are committed to a variety format," Knab said. "KCMU is trying to break ground and reach a wider audience." One attempt is the newly added "World Cafe" program which mixes alternative rock, world and roots music. Knab said the more "experimental" and aggressive music worked better during the night shift.

Not everyone agrees with Knab's approach, including executives at C/Z, Sub-Pop and Cargo records, who decided to withhold their labels' products and services.

Among those who spoke at the CURSE press conference yesterday were Daniel House, owner of C/Z Records; Jonathan Poneman, co-founder of Sub-Pop Records; Richard White, director of the Washington Music Industry Coalition; Riz Rollins, former KCMU DJ who resigned last month; and Soundgarden guitarist Kim Thayil.

Those who were suspended violated KCMU policies about on-air programming, said Wayne Roth, director of UW's Broadcast Services. "They got on the air and criticized internal affairs," which, he says, is forbidden by station policy.

As for the programming changes, Roth says it's not unusual for a station to tinker with its format. He dismissed the CURSE protest as a "red herring."

Red herring or not, KCMU's troubles have hit the national media. A cover story in Billboard's Dec. 19 issue predicts that the KCMU "battle" will be "monumental."