OTTAWA – A Spanish-language insult used by a Sun News Network host violated the Canadian private broadcasters' code of ethics, the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council (CBSC) announced today.
The CBSC reviewed the December 22, 2011 episode of The Source, a public affairs talk program hosted by Ezra Levant. During his opening monologue, Levant criticized the Chiquita Banana company for boycotting oil from the Alberta oilsands and made reference to a letter that Chiquita had sent which explained the company’s position. Levant called the Chiquita executive who had written the letter a “liar”, and at the end of his monologue, he told the Chiquita executive to “chinga tu madre” – a Spanish-language insult that translates to “f**k your mother”.
The CBSC said that it received “numerous complaints” about the broadcast with viewers arguing that it was inappropriate for Levant to use such a nasty insult towards a named individual. Sun News replied that the word “chingar” can have many different meanings, and provided the CBSC with a subsequent broadcast of The Source during which Levant discussed the word with a native Spanish speaker. During that episode, Levant admitted he was trying to be offensive.
The CBSC’s national specialty services panel concluded that the context of Levant’s use of the phrase “chinga tu madre” on December 22 was clearly intended to insult an identified person. The use of coarse language to insult people in that manner, regardless of which language used, constitutes a breach of Clause 6 of the CAB Code of Ethics.
The CBSC also required Sun News to announce the decision, which an unrepentant Mr. Levant did in a 26-minute rant on Wednesday, telling the CBSC itself, in the end, to "chinga tu madre." Nice.
Ed note: Discussion of free speech and censorship has merit but Mr. Levant's laughably excessive hyperbole and tenous grasp of some of the facts of this case undermines his arguments.
