OTTAWA – If only these musicians would just stop dropping the F-bomb so much, a broadcaster’s life would be much easier.
Rawlco Radio’s Rock 92 (Saskatoon) let the explicit version of Matthew Good Band’s “Load Me Up” hit the air, complete with the aforementioned F-word, which did, indeed violate the Canadian Association of Broadcasters’ Code of Ethics, said the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council.
However, noted the CBSC, some complainers just won’t be mollified and the regional panel commended the station for its response to the listener complaint.
The station explained to the complainant that the unedited version of the song, with the profane language, had accidentally been loaded into its computer system and added that it would be instituting safeguards to ensure that all songs, whether new or old, would be properly previewed from then on to ensure that only edited versions of potentially problematic songs would be added to their playlist.
Rock 102’s General Manager also agreed to immediately broadcast an on-air apology six times. The complainant was still not satisfied and requested that CBSC rule on his complaint.
“It almost goes without saying that the apparent increased on-air usage of the various forms of the f-word reflects a more frequent use of the term in everyday parlance,” said the Prairie Panel. “In the view of the Panel, this does not elevate the broadcast of the term at hours of the day when children could be listening to a level of acceptability, since the CBSC still finds that there is a meaningful segment of society that is troubled, if not offended, by the broadcast of such language.”
However, the panel did not require the station to make the customary on-air announcement of the CBSC decision because it had already aired an apology on six occasions.
“The Panel considers that the broadcaster proposed extraordinary measures in order to acknowledge its error and to put the matter right. It exceeded by a considerable measure the customary CBSC membership responsibility of any broadcaster to be responsive to a complainant.”
