UCC Radio has apologised to Ukrainians after accidentally playing hours of Russian music overnight.<\/p>\n
Ray Burke, the UCC radio manager, denied suggestions that the songs played were \u201cRussian propaganda music\u201d, saying that no apparent breach of Irish broadcasting content standards was identified.<\/p>\n
He said the music broadcast was predominantly mainstream Russian-language pop, including romantic ballads and older commercial recordings, some dating back to the 1990s.<\/p>\n
Mr Burke explained: \u201cUCC98.3FM is a student-led community radio station with approximately 100 volunteers and a small part-time staff team.”<\/p>\n
Late on Monday night, he said, \u201ca student volunteer made an error while attempting to open our playout software, ZaraRadio.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey inadvertently entered “Zara playlist” into a separate music application, which brought up a song called Nedolyubila by the Russian pop singer Zara.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe application then continued automatically selecting similar tracks throughout the night. This was entirely accidental, not a deliberate programming decision,\u201d and the music was changed when staff arrived on Tuesday morning.<\/p>\n
He said they had acknowledged the mistake and apologised to complainants \u201cfor any distress caused, particularly given the terrible circumstances in Ukraine.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cWe have a small team of three part-time staff and approximately 100 student volunteers, around half of whom are new to the station each academic year. We provide training and support throughout the year, but mistakes can occasionally happen.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe’re reviewing our end-of-programme procedures and will reinforce these with our volunteers to prevent a recurrence.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
One Ukrainian living in Cork, who heard the music, told The Echo she was \u201cshocked\u201d to hear Russian music from the UCC station while on the way to work.<\/p>\n