OTTAWA – The use of certain French swear words at times of the day when children could be listening to the radio violates the Canadian Association of Broadcasters’ Code of Ethics, the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council (CBSC) determined.
The CBSC said that it received a number of complaints about the use of coarse language on various episodes of the radio programs Prends ça cool …, which aired from 6:00 to 9:00 am on weekdays, and Deux gars le midi, which aired at noon on weekdays on CKRB-FM (103.5 Cool FM), St-Georges-de-Beauce, Quebec.
Both programs were talk shows during which the hosts discussed currents events and other topics of interest and took calls from listeners. In the context of different discussions, the hosts used the French words “tabarnac’”, “calice”, “chrisse” and “crissez-moi”.
In its defence, the broadcaster said that the programs were intended to “elicit emotions and provoke debate”, and that coarse words slipped out on occasion, “as is the case everywhere else in radio.”
The CBSC’s Quebec Regional Panel reviewed five separate broadcast dates and concluded that the airing of the words on four of the dates violated Clause 9(c) of the CAB Code of Ethics, which prohibits the broadcast of unduly coarse or offensive language.
The Panel also appeared to take issue with the broadcaster’s claim that other media outlets occasionally broadcast coarse language:
“There is […] a permissible range of animation, provocation and even showboating that goes with radio entertainment”, the Panel’s decision reads. “This does not, however, mean that there are no limits to what may be said in the pursuit of audience attention. […] The responsibility for the broadcast of inappropriate language is the broadcaster’s, whether the offending words are or are not those of their employees. Nor is it a defence to acknowledge that there may be an inadvertent slip or that such “accidents” happen all over the place on radio. […] And there is no justification or defence in the broadcaster’s assertion that other broadcasters may be doing the same thing.”
