Offensive word in parody song breaches broadcast codes, says CBSC

OTTAWA – The broadcast of a parody song entitled 12 Days of a Guido Christmas contained a disparaging term for Italians which breaches the human rights clauses of two broadcast codes, the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council (CBSC) said Tuesday.The CBSC investigated the song, which was played on December 23, 2010 by CIDC-FM (Z105.5 FM Toronto), after a listener complained that the song “portrays Italians in a stereotypical way.”Although no specific words had been mentioned in the complaint, the broadcaster argued that “neither of these terms (i.e. Guido or paesan) can be seen as being used in an unduly negative or...