“After an outcry from artists, composers, listeners and staffers, WNYC-FM announced Monday that it had reversed its plans to cancel ‘New Sounds,’ the influential, eclectic new music program that has expanded the city’s tastes for 37 years,” writes Michael Cooper in Monday’s (10/21) New York Times. “ ‘There was an overwhelming response from the community: I’m sure it took everybody in management by surprise,’ John Schaefer, the program’s host, said… ‘It took me by surprise.’ … The station had announced on Oct. 10 that it planned to end ‘New Sounds’—which was often the first place to hear future Pulitzer Prize-winning composers, avant-garde rockers and music from different parts of the world—by the end of the year, along with most of its remaining music programming, as part of a shift to more news and talk. The protests were immediate…. Some listeners took to social media to say they were dropping their WNYC memberships…. Many WNYC staff members spoke out against its cancellation—including at a tense staff meeting last Friday with Goli Sheikholeslami, the station’s new president and chief executive officer. On Monday Ms. Sheikholeslami, announced that the program … would continue to be broadcast.”
Posted October 22, 2019
