"Satanic" Pirates give NPR listening audience a well-deserved reprieve

Jim Westrich westrich at miser.umass.edu
Wed Sep 20 08:45:36 PDT 2000


I do think Wisconsin Public Radio does an excellent job (particularly its "Ideas Network" programming) but growing up in the Green Bay area I know that WPNE's programming is not always what the "public" wants (particularly when it was nearly all classical).

I loved the sheriff's department comments. I also doubt that actual "satanic" music was played. Probably some thrash or industrial punk. The people of Green Bay do not have particularly distinguished musical tastes but has also had a serious longtime punk scene there and in the Fox Valley.

Pirate Airs Satanic Music on Public Radio The Brown County Sheriff's Department calls it a disturbing crime. For Wisconsin Public Radio, it was probably embarrassing. Over the weekend, someone took control over a local radio station and played devil worshipping music. It played for hours over Green Bay's public radio.

The sheriff's department says this goes far beyond a prank, and they're asking for help to catch the perpetrator. They believe the person has a serious problem.

Known for its no-frills news and talk radio format, Wisconsin Public Radio received quite a shock Saturday morning. By 6:30 a.m., complaint calls were coming into Madison saying the Green Bay station was playing satanic music. WPR immediately called a reporter who rushed to the unmanned studio on the U.W.-Green Bay campus. There was no one there, and she couldn't stop the music.

It wasn't until 11 am, more than five hours after the music began playing, that WPR in Madison got in touch with its local engineer. He drove to the transmitter tower, saw it was broken, and called police.

Inside the transmitter, investigators found the station's power feed was cut. Electrical lines were spliced and a beat-up CD player was spinning the pirated broadcast.

Police called it a delicate, dangerous act. "They could be hurt, even killed, fooling around with that type of electricty," Brown County investigator Craig Kohlbeck said, "so I suspect the person who did this knew what they were doing and where to go."

While WPR engineers were out at the transmitter Monday trying to make sure it doesn't happen again, Brown County investigators were listening closely to the music that hit the airwaves over the weekend.

The Brown County Sheriff's Department is working with the FBI, and asks anyone with information to call CrimeStoppers at (920) 432-STOP (432-7867).

WPR is also working with the FCC on the matter.

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