Dixie Chicks and suspended DJ's back on the air!

Colorado Springs activists triumph in getting Dixie Chicks music and suspended DJ's back on the air.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:
Robin Thompson
Criz Stoddard
Thomas McCullock
Telephone: 719.210.6497
Email: contact@CSAction.org

COLORADO SPRINGS (PRWEB) May 8, 2003 - An activist group in Colorado Springs today announced its success in roping in country radio station KKCS. Just two days before, the station had suspended two of its DJs for locking themselves in the studio and playing music by the Dixie Chicks for six hours as a protest of the station's ban on playing their music. The Springs Action Alliance immediately called for a boycott of the stations sponsors, and in less than two days the station management was waving a white flag.

"We received an email from Mike Fell, KKCS General Sales Manager stating that the DJs will be back on the air today. He also said the Dixie Chicks are back on the play list." said Thomas McCullock, an activist with the group. "We succeeded. It just goes to show that if people stand up and make enough noise, they really can make a difference."

Mr. Fell spoke at length with SAA organizer, Criz Stoddard, regarding the action. "We were completely unprepared for the reaction from around the world. We didn't want or need the press." He went on to say that the station, one of the only independently owned stations left in Colorado, fully supports the right to free speech. He expressed his dismay that so many people across the country had written in likening station management to fascists. "We [Mr. Fell and station manager, Jerry Grant] are all about democracy; the issue was one of employee insubordination."

The Springs Action Alliance called an end to their boycott of the station's advertisers and stopped their email campaign against the radio station when a Dixie Chicks track came over the KKCS radio airwaves. Criz Stoddard had a live interview with Detroit radio personality, Peter Werbe, and stated, "SAA was not responsible for any hate mail that KKCS received. It is not our style to use abusive language. It is a sad thing some leftists have to resort to that in order to feel heard."

"I think a lot of it had to do with timing. The war is over, and people are tired of being told what they can and cannot say. The people of this country are not about to give up freedom of speech just because right wing media conglomerates demand it." continued Mr. McCullock, "Even their own polls showed that 3 out of 4 listeners wanted the Dixie Chicks back on their playlist."

ABOUT SPRINGS ACTION ALLIANCE
SAA's membership has a long history of populist activism toward the greater common good. SAA's focus is to end the US occupation of Iraq, prevent other "preemptive wars" by the current administration, and to also address civil rights issues such as the validity of Patriot Acts I & II. SAA's website is located at http://www.csaction.org.

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