Randy, a radio personality from local station WBLI-FM has been suspended for refusing to apologize for making an ignorant statement that offended a Mastic woman.
During his radio show, the woman called for a radio contest. She won, but when Randy found out she was from Mastic he started making trailer park jokes. The statements made her angry, she said.
Randy was later suspended because he refused to apologize.
How do you stand on this? Should he have been fired, suspended for the comment, given a warning, ignored or laughed at?
Let us know.
From the Republican American story:
The station’s program director, Jeremy “JJ” Rice, said Friday that Randy was suspended for his remarks after he refused to apologize.
“He had a chance yesterday to apologize but he refused, so in the 9 o clock hour he was pulled off the air by management,” Rice said. The weekday program ends at 10 a.m.
John Shea, WBLI’s station manager, said Randy would remain off the air “until we have an acceptable apology from him.”
He said the station was considering sending him to a sensitivity training class.
The station also was doing damage control in the community, meeting with the local county legislator and community leaders, Shea said.
“We are not happy about what he said about the town of Mastic. It’s a great town. I’m hoping he apologizes because its the right thing to do,” Rice said.
I think trying to force someone to apologize for something he’s not really sorry for is ludicrous. Otherwise, people need to get tougher skin — it is ridiculous with all of this political correctness already. Get a life, people! You don’t have to be “offended” by everything!
Agreed…get over yourselves. It makes me sick, you can’t say ANYTHING. I won’t rant…
where is everyones sense of humor? It wasn’t that long ago – on air – that people from mastic/shirley were called mastoids and shirliots and peole laughed and enjoyed the poke.
gcguy is right
Randy has been an obnoxious jerk since he started getting air time. He should get sensitivity training. Most radio stations today thinks its great to have an insulting DJ or two who prank and embarass people. The management is at blame as well for letting it get out of hand.
I cannot change that so I eliminate the station from my favorite buttons. Can’t even remember the call numbers
ive met randy personally and i live in mastic beach and personally it hurt my feelings that someone that i have met on 2 occassions and ive faithfully listned to and talked to for years would put my town down like that its not how it seems over here are we perfect? no but that doesnt mean we all live in trailer parks
I have met Randy, and he is the sweetest, funniest guy you would ever want to meet. People make fun of him all the time, you don’t hear him pissing and crying over it. People need to get over it and take it as the joke it was. BRING RANDY BACK!!!!!!!!!
Oh for cripes sake!!! I listen to Dana call Randy an “Old Man” all the time. Does that mean I should be offended because I’m 10 years older than he?? Should heavy set people be offended when Dana talks about Randy’s weight?? Should women get offended by all the male chauvinist crap that comes out of Drew’s mouth??? Get a life everyone.
I applaud Randy for not apologizing. He would be doing it simply because his boss wants him to. He did nothing any more “rude” than his co-hosts have done.
Great publicity play BLI………but you’re gonna lose a lot of listeners for it.
I live in Shirley and really don’t think what Randy did was such a big thing, they insult Jersey, Boston etc…..we don’t seem to get our panties in a bunch over that. Besides, these insults came from a man that has to do odd work at a pizzaria to earn food.
yo i live in mastic beach and while i didnt take really any offense too what he said i just think its out the wrong perception of this town………yo its really not that bad 1st off there are no trailor parks yea we have the reservation but whatever its good if you need cigarettes…….yea we got our low income families but for the most part its full of respectable people everytown has its problem childs………….people act like there so scared to come here………i would walk down any block by myself at whatever time of the day or night its not bad at all………..i mean we dont have gang problems like hempstead…….or other prob town on this island
This article and every article that has been published about this situation has been 100% twisted! If any of you are listeners, you may have heard the ORIGINAL mastic woman who had called in regarding some contest. She was NOT insulted by any of the comments Randy said. She was LAUGHING! The media has put it as if she was angry at Randy for something and he just went on a ripping rampage of the Mastic/Shirley area. The woman has been calling back since the initial conversation that local news has destroyed and has been very apologetic. She had no intentions of getting Randy in trouble. It’s the idiots of Long Island that have no sense of humor. If you know there’s no trailer parks in Mastic/Shirley and you don’t eat beans out of a can, then GET OVER IT. Obviously it was a joke.
Frankie the DJ
I totally agree — go get a life, get a job and have something else to do besides worry about what other people are saying. Does it really affect you personally? If it does, then that right there is a problem that needs attention — not some comment some radio DJ said.
It’s unfortunate that the Mastic/Shirley area can’t shake the “Trailer Park” stigma that it has held for who knows how long. Lots of good, hard working, middle class people live within its boundaries. There are some beautiful neighborhoods to be found if one takes the time to look. Alas, these neighborhoods are too few and far between.
I believe Randy was simply regurgitating what he’s seen and heard. Call it naivete. Call it ignorance. Call it a plea for ratings. Whatever. The oversensitive who are calling for his ouster ought to put that same energy, passion and emotion into cleaning up public perception.
Stop wasting your time and energy lambasting a DJ because he said something that hurt your feelings. Nothing will change in Mastic/Shirley if Randy gets fired. Want to effect real change? Write to your Legislator. Call Supervisor Foley. Put your energy somewhere that it will make a real, lasting difference.
I can understand that some people may be offended by the generalization that Randy made of the Mastic/Shirley area however it is no different than any other neighborhood here on Long Island. I am sure there are those that would contest me when I say that every Town on Long Island has a part of the Town that is not considered to be a desirable area. I can say that I am glad to hear that the people in Mastic/Shirley have community pride as should all Long Islanders. We live in a great community and Randy has said that many times. He simply thought he was being funny with his comments. He has apologized and it appeared to be sincere in his way. If we were to ban him from the airwaves I feel that we would be doing him and Long Island a great disservice as that would just prove that we as Long Islanders have no sense of humor about ourselves.
Well, this reveals a great deal about the subculture of “The Common Man on Long Island”. Of all the serious business stories this blog covers, look which one seems to have gotten far and away the most comments.
Sigh. This is yet another situation where radio hosts are fired for doing exactly what they are hired and encouraged to do, once management feels some heat. Yes, we have FCC guidelines and fines, and there is serious money at stake when a station allows a host to violate those guidelines, but nothing illegal was said here. Stupid, yes. Insulting, yes. Was any harm done? Not by the remarks themselves.
Radio is not a forced medium; if people don’t want to listen, they can turn to another station or turn it off. I also wonder whether those who called for “Randy’s” firing plan on finding new positions for the salespeople, engineers and others who may also lose their jobs as a result. {ProfJonathan}
I only heard parts of what he said through friends that listened. As someone who grew up in Mastic I understand how this area gets a bad rap. Maybe it is because of all the welfare dumping that was done in the late 80’s early 90’s, or all the sex offenders they decide to drop on us, or all the homeowners deciding to get guarantied money from the state by renting their homes out to section 8. This town was once a beautiful place to live, but now it is a lower class neighborhood. Not made so by the decent people that live here because it’s cheaper than other parts on the Island, but because of all the trash that the state dumps here. Get rid of them and you will have your respectable town back.
As for Randy, well I’m sure he’d go off if a caller spent time ranting about him being gay. What would the difference be. By attacking some place that decent people take pride in is the same as attacking someone for what they are, or what they like, or any other personal preference. We all have freedom of speech, as well as freedom of choice which makes this country the wonderful place it is. I don’t like what he said, but I can turn the dial.
[...] 2008 by Henry E. Powderly II Mastic gets a bad rap, as we saw this year when WBLI-FM personality Randy spewed trailer park jokes at a woman from the South Shore village who called into his show. That was truly [...]