On April 6, the Canadian Broadcast
Standards Council (CBSC) cleared CP24 of any breach of ethics connected to its coverage of events at last year’s Toronto Pride celebrations.
CP24 broadcast live from the parade and afterward received a complaint that it was inappropriate programming for a Sunday afternoon.Luckily viewers were alerted before the
show and after each commercial with the standard spiel: “The following is a live event and
may contain scenes of nudity. Viewer discretion is advised.” Since the station had included the warning,
CBSC let them off the hook.
CBSC also found that words like
“fuck” or “fucking” were fine if used by bystanders interviewed during the live
Pride broadcast. According to the report, since the enthusiastic bystanders
swore only a few times during the “lengthy event coverage,” there was no breach of the coarse-language standard of the CAB Code of
Ethics.
Is the board loosening its approach
to censorship?
In January, Xtra wrote about CBSC’s banning Canadian private radio stations from airing the unedited version of the 1985 Dire Straits hit “Money for Nothing,” The council acted on a single complaint from a member of the gay community who was offended by the repeated mention of the word “faggot.” The ban was applauded by some queer
organizations but condemned by rock stations and straight and gay musicians
alike.
Why you can trust Xtra
