OTTAWA - A censorship watchdog is being defiant after receiving a wave of criticism over its decision to ban the nation-wide broadcast of an uncut Dire Straits song containing the word "faggot."
Ronald Cohen, the national chair of the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council (CBSC), told QMI Agency he sees nothing wrong with the fact one person was able to stop every private radio station across Canada from playing the popular 1985 song 'Money for Nothing.'
"The number of complaints is irrelevant," Cohen said. "Everybody is on our back about it (but) I think it was absolutely the right decision. This was a word that has no place today on the airwaves."
Cohen is unconcerned that the public was shut out from CBSC's deliberations and sees no problems with the fact that neither broadcasters nor Canadians have any avenues to appeal the decision.
"If there was an appeal process, it would be cumbersome," he said.
Dire Straits' keyboardist Guy Fletcher joined a chorus of fans on his website Friday calling the ruling "outrageous" and the council's decision "hilarious" for having missed the point of the band's song about homophobia.
"WHAT a waste of paper," he wrote of the decision. "Canada will now be forced to ban all Rap music since the 'N' word is uttered in most recordings."
Ottawa radio talk show host Lowell Green has been cited several times by the CBSC.
"I was told that if I was going to use irony or sarcasm on the air, I must alert my listeners that was sarcasm," Green said of one case where he had to apologize on air fearing his radio station would lose its license.
"The fact that one person can make one complaint about one song that has been played for 25 years, I find astonishing -- especially when you consider that millions of people can sign a petition opposed to the HST and nobody pays attention to it," he added.
The B.C. Civil Liberties Association's David Eby called the CBSC's decision "very patronizing" and suggested the federal broadcast regulator, the CRTC, should take over its functions to ensure some public oversight.
"It is difficult for us to understand how this private body can have such a profound influence on what Canadians see and hear without any accountability," he said.
The CBSC has been the private broadcasters' self-regulator since 1990, when they decided they didn't want the federal regulator to oversee their content.
Although neither body has the power to levy fines or stop the broadcast of any songs (even those banned), the CRTC can revoke television or radio licenses or refuse to renew them when they are about to lapse.
"We are a sugar-coated society and it is too bad," said Darryl Choronzey, host of the TV program Going Fishing, who was the subject of a CBSC complaint for political bias.
"If somebody doesn't like it, they can turn the radio off or turn the TV off."
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