CBSC says broadcasters can air Dire Straits song, overturns earlier ruling

The Canadian Broadcasts Standards Council (CBSC) on Wednesday overturned an earlier ruling that required broadcasters to edit out the word “faggot” when they aired the Dire Straits song “Money for Nothing.” A national panel decision from the CBSC on Wednesday said the offensive word “is not merely discriminatory and insulting, but it is also aggressive, hurtful and painful. Even if there was a time when the word had a more benign connotation, or, even if it did not, was less socially unacceptable, that time is past.” But the CBSC also said the use of the word is acceptable in the context of the song, and that individual broadcasters can choose whether to edit out the word. “he ad hoc National Panel concludes that the original version does not breach the private broadcasters’ codified standards, it would encourage broadcasters to make the airplay choice appropriate to their market,” the CBSC decision said. In a controversial decision issued in January, the CBSC—a self-regulating broadcasting standards council comprised of private broadcasters—said its Atlantic regional panel had reviewed the Dire Straits song and determined that it violates the human rights clauses of the council’s code of ethics. The CBSC's Atlantic panel reviewed the use of the song after a listener to CHOZ-FM in Newfoundland complained that the offensive word was discriminatory to gays. The earlier decision meant that broadcasters around the country had to edit the word from the song if they wanted to play it, and critics called the move a form of “censorship.” In late January, following the receipt of more than 250 letters from across Canada complaining about the decision, the CRTC issued a letter to the CBSC asking for a review. The CRTC asked the council to appoint a national panel to reconsider the Atlantic panel decision and take into account the public outcry. The commission noted in its letter that many of the letters mistakenly “assumed that it was the Commission, and not the CBSC, that determined that the version of the Dire Straits song containing the contested derogatory word was inappropriate for radio airplay.” In its decision Wednesday, the CBSC's national panel watered down the Atlantic panel decision, saying it is justified in the context of the song. The national panel said it is “of the view that the story told in this song, developed at some length over more than eight minutes, provides sufficient plot development, story line and context to justify the application of the legitimate artistic usage exception” in its code. It added that the CBSC makes concessions for the use of such words for comedic, humorous or satirical purposes. In the song, its author, Mark Knopfler, “satirized the jealous attitude of the 'bonehead in the checked shirt' who was his inspiration and ... he has done so deftly, and with a light and genuine touch,” the national panel noted in its decision. The CBSC said the age of the song, which was released in 1985 and rose to the top of the charts that year, is not a “material issue” in the decision. It cited the power of “the broadcast microphone” and said broadcasters have a responsibility to use language that is “neither abusive nor unduly discriminatory and which will not have the effect of desensitizing audiences by spreading the use of hurtful and painful terminology.” The national panel said it agreed with the Atlantic panel's original decision, but that it will not require broadcasters to edit out the word. “In the end, the ad hoc National Panel considers that the Atlantic Regional Panel was correct in its view of the inappropriateness of the word “faggot” for broadcast on Canadian airwaves,” the decision said. “ is only saying that there may be circumstances in which even words designating unacceptably negative portrayal may be acceptable because of their contextual usage. The ad hoc National Panel finds this one such occasion.” news@thewirereport.ca

CBSC says broadcasters can air Dire Straits song, overturns earlier ruling

Broadcast | August 31, 2011

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