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December 5, 2003
CRTC to examine Mojo case
Federal regulator to review alleged anti-Semitism of Loveline
program.
PAT JOHNSON SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH BULLETIN
A Vancouver man who complained to the CRTC over what he considers
anti-Semitic comments on a local radio station will have his case
heard by the national broadcasting regulator.
The Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission
(CRTC) has sent a letter to Don Rosenbloom, a lawyer who was disturbed
by comments on the California-based syndicated radio program Loveline
nearly a year ago. The CRTC has agreed to review the contents of
the program and determine whether they constitute an infringement
of the Broadcasting Act's prohibition against "abusive content"
which is "likely to expose an individual or a group or a class
of individuals to hatred or contempt on the basis of race, national
or ethnic origin, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, age
or mental or physical disability."
"I celebrate the fact that the CRTC has taken an interest in
this issue and have decided to review the decision of the CBSC,"
Rosenbloom said of the case. The Canadian Broadcast Standards Council
(CBSC) ruled that CHML-AM, which goes by the name Mojo Radio, was
in breach of Clause 6 of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters
(CAB) Code of Ethics, which states that "the full, fair and
proper presentation of news, opinion, comment and editorial is the
prime and fundamental responsibility of each broadcaster."
Rosenbloom hopes the hearing, which will take place exclusively
through written submissions, will lead to a fundamental change in
the manner broadcasters are governed.
Rosenbloom was tuning the radio looking for CBC Radio One when he
discovered Mojo Radio, just nearby on the dial at 730 AM. Within
minutes, he heard a purportedly humorous incident in which a seemingly
sexually aroused man was making offensive references to Jews dying
in the Holocaust.
The gist of the segment, which included guest television personality
Tom Arnold, was that a caller named Lorraine was seeking ways to
keep callers to her pay-per-minute telephone sex service on the
line longer. The hosts, Adam Carolla and "Dr. Drew" suggested
she use Holocaust imagery to temporarily deflate the ardor of her
callers.
The hosts were given further opportunity for ridicule when they
discovered the caller didn't know what the Holocaust was.
Rosenbloom was moved to complain about the content of the program,
which is based out of Los Angeles and broadcast by the Corus-owned
Mojo Radio in British Columbia. He was directed to the Canadian
Broadcast Standards Council, a self-regulating body of the broadcast
industry which enforces its own code of conduct on broadcasters.
The council responded to Rosenbloom's complaint last July. Though
it concluded that Mojo Radio did contravene the CAB Code of Ethics,
the council added that the case was beyond their jurisdiction because
"the broadcaster's programming responsibility does not extend
to questions of good taste." The council concluded that the
program did not constitute racist comment nor contravene the human
rights of Jewish persons.
In restitution, Mojo Radio was required to report the panel's decision
twice, using the following words: "The Canadian Broadcast Standards
Council has found that CHML-AM has breached the clause of the Canadian
Association of Broadcasters Code of Ethics which requires that broadcasters
respect the standard requiring the 'full, fair and proper presentation
of news, opinion, comment and editorial.' By building a humorous
segment dependent on details relating to a tragic historical event,
namely, the Holocaust, in its broadcast of Dec. 23, 2002, Mojo Radio
has breached the provisions of Clause 6 of the CAB Code of Ethics."
Rosenbloom was dissatisfied and complained to the CRTC – Canada's
highest regulatory body for radio and television broadcasters. The
CRTC has agreed to review the case and Rosenbloom hopes its decision
will set a precedent over who has ultimate authority over appropriate
broadcast content, a power Rosenbloom hopes will be taken away from
the industry body (the standards council) and taken up by the federal
regulator (the CRTC).
"I believe the public interest is best served if the CRTC polices
the broadcasting standards," said Rosenbloom. "They have
basically abdicated that responsibility over to the broadcasters'
body, this industry body."
Though the CRTC has agreed to take on the case, its letter to Rosenbloom,
signed by a client services officer in Ottawa, explicitly lowers
Rosenbloom's expectations that the federal body will clip the wings
of the industry's self-regulating body.
"[P]lease note that the [CRTC] has strongly supported the self-regulatory
process and, over the years, has found the CBSC's complaints process
to be a valuable and productive forum for maintaining an ongoing
dialogue between broadcasters and their audiences," wrote the
CRTC official, adding, "For your information, the [CRTC] is
not a censor board. Its role, under the Broadcasting Act, is to
regulate and supervise the Canadian broadcasting system in a manner
that respects freedom of expression and the journalistic, creative
and programming independence enjoyed by the broadcasters. Broadcasters
(not the CRTC) are directly responsible for the selection, content
and scheduling of their programs and advertising that they choose
to air. Broadcasters have also developed conduct codes that they
have agreed to abide by. These cover issues such as ethics, television
violence and sex-role stereotyping."
Rosenbloom has taken on the case by himself, he said, noting that
only two individuals have approached him to offer support, one being
Svend Robinson, the New Democratic party member of Parliament for
Burnaby-Douglas, who wrote a strong letter of support for Rosenbloom's
case. The CRTC's decision in the case, which will be based on submissions
by Rosenbloom and the radio station, will likely come within six
months.
For the original story that the Bulletin ran in September,
which included more information about what was said on air, follow
the archive links to our Sept. 26 stories.
Pat Johnson is a native Vancouverite, a journalist and
commentator.
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