Word: jam
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...wasn't enough for Geoffrey C. Upton to complain about Boston's "White" station, Kiss 108; now we have Jal D. Mehta spouting about Boston's "black" station, Jam'n 94.5 (Opinion, Jan. 25). Both writers seem to agree that each of these stations represents a lack of "integration" in Boston's radio market that reflects a corresponding lack of integration in Boston's social world...
...Boston, WILD tries to fill the role of community station, but it is too small and too poor to do it. Jam'n has the resources, but, if anything, is anti-community. Its main selling point is its "Jam-Scams," essentially a grown-up version of a middle school prank, in which Baltazar torments his victims by telling them (falsely) that their cars will be impounded or that their houses will be foreclosed upon. The scammed person invariably gets angrier and angrier, leading to bleeped-out expletives, giggles from the 'Zar, and finally a promise from the scammed...
...Jam'n's programming director, "Cadillac" Jack McCartney (the nickname says it all) would, I'm sure, not take the moral high ground in defending his station but simply point to its ranking as one of the most listened to stations in Boston for young listeners...
...while Jam'n's meaningless pop and Baltazar's endless scams may appeal to the pre-teen and adolescent crowd, the continued existence of WILD (now in its 50th year) and the success of black-oriented programming on local college radio stations-such as this weekend's "history of hip hop" orgy on WHRB--indicate that there is a Boston market for serious urban music...
...Boston, an urban FM might break the city's unending complacency on racial issues. To take just one example, school busing has been almost entirely phased out, nothing has been put in its place, and nary a whimper of protest has been heard in the past decade. While Jam'n may insist that "the party never stops," the party never started for the Hub's minority children. It is this cycle of complacency that I want to escape; wherever I live next year I hope that it has the type of black musical presence that is both engaging...