|
|
September 26, 2003
Heat on Mojo over Holocaust
Radio program was inappropriate, but not racist, says media watchdog.
PAT JOHNSON SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH BULLETIN
A Vancouver man is taking his complaint to the country's top media
authority after a local radio station aired a "comedy"
program that made sexual innuendo and crude comments about the Holocaust.
Don Rosenbloom was sick in bed last December, surfing radio stations,
when he came across Mojo Radio, 730 AM. He listened for a time but
what he heard was not what he expected from a local radio station.
A call-in radio program originating from the United States included
a man using a sexually aroused voice saying, "Burn those Jews"
and "Gas 'em in the showers, baby."
Rosenbloom complained to the station, which is owned by the same
parent company as CKNW. When the response from the station proved
unsatisfactory, Rosenbloom contacted the Canadian Broadcast Standards
Council (CBSC). The council's British Columbia Regional Panel ruled
this summer that, while the program contravened the "full,
fair and proper presentation" clause of the broadcasters' voluntary
code of ethics, it did not contravene the human rights of Jewish
persons nor constitute racist comment.
Rosenbloom, a lawyer by profession, remains dissatisfied and said
the manner in which the issue has been handled has become an issue
that is larger than the comments themselves and reflects a fundamental
problem in the way broadcasting is governed in this country.
The Broadcast Standards Council is essentially a self-regulating
body of the industry and has limited ability to impose punishment.
In the Mojo case, the station was ordered to air fairly innocuous
disclaimers months after the fact. Rosenbloom said he is taking
the issue to the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications
Commission (CRTC), which has the power to pull a radio station's
licence.
The 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."
The panel determined, however, that the program, Loveline,
did not break Clause 2, which states that broadcasters shall ensure
that their programming contains no abusive or unduly discriminatory
material or comment which is based on matters of race, national
or ethnic origin, color, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation,
marital status or physical or mental disability."
The issue erupted on Dec. 23, 2002, when Mojo Radio ran an episode
of Loveline, a syndicated program hosted by "Dr. Drew"
and Adam Carolla. The program, which was apparently a "best
of" the year's episodes, included a call from a listener who
said she was a "phone actress."
The celebrity guest on the segment was comic actor Tom Arnold, and
the caller, who was named Lorraine, was seeking advice on keeping
her clients on the telephone longer in order to extract more money
from them in a pay-per-minute "phone sex" operation.
According to the transcript of the program, which was considered
by the panel, Carolla suggested Lorraine use subliminal messages
to deter sexual arousal in her callers, thereby prolonging the time
they spend on the phone. He suggested she utter words like "cancer"
and "grandparents" amid her sexually charged patter, then
the host launched into a riff that included the following quote:
"I'm wearin' a lacy black teddy, Holocaust, with a long, Hitler,
camisole. You know, cancer, and just see, like, see if you could
just slide in like 'cancer,' 'Holocaust,' 'grandparents' and see
what you could do."
As the conversation progressed, it arose that the caller, Lorraine,
didn't know what the Holocaust was, which permitted the hosts and
the guest, Arnold, to make fun of the caller and the Los Angeles
school system in which she went to high school.
As the program continued, the transcript indicates the following
comments:
Lorraine: "Mmm. Well I'm wearin' a nice black garter. Mmm just
thinkin' about the Holocaust right now." [Adam, Tom and Drew
laugh]
Adam [in mock aroused voice]: "Yeah, yeah, burn those Jews.
Gas 'em in the shower, baby. Yeah, yeah." [Continuing with
mock aroused voice] "Yeah, yeah, send 'em on the train to Krakow.
Lorraine, we may need to tweak this just a little bit more."
Rosenbloom wrote to the station requesting a transcript or tape
of the program, but his request was refused. The station's program
director deflected Rosenbloom's concerns, stating in part that the
" 'humor' surrounding the segment dealt with the woman's lack
of understanding of what they were suggesting she do and had nothing
to do with the Holocaust other than its representation as a word
conjuring up horrible images. We appreciate that you may find the
comment to be in poor taste. However, the Canadian Association of
Broadcasters codes, administered by the CBSC, have clarified that
'the broadcaster's programming responsibility does not extend to
questions of good taste.' "
Dissatisfied, Rosenbloom contacted the Canadian Broadcast Standards
Council, complaining about the content of the program, as well as
the refusal of the station to provide him with a copy of the tape
or transcript.
The panel determined, in a July decision, that the refusal of the
station to provide Rosenbloom with the program was reasonable, because
stations are not required either by law or by professional rules
to do so. The panel's report stated that complainants are not expected
to present an entire case, but rather to make the CBSC aware of
issues and allow them to investigate.
On the issue of whether the content of the program was racist, the
panel disagreed with Rosenbloom.
"[T]he panel does have a problem with the segment but it is
not on this basis," stated the report. "It does not find
that any of the comments quoted above were advocating violence toward
the Jewish population.... It does not believe that there was any
attempt to denigrate or insult Jews. In short, the panel does not
find a scintilla of racist commentary in the remarks of either the
co-hosts or their celebrity guest. To the contrary, their collective
suggestion regarding the use of the terms cancer, Vietnam and Holocaust
is that these are reminders of significant unpleasantness and societal
distress. Even the critical comment directed at the L.A. unified
school system implies a failure on the schools' part in not
teaching the relevance of the Holocaust to young students. There
is no suggestion whatsoever of even a word or tone reflecting unfavorable
comment directed at the Jewish community. There is no breach of
Clause 2 of the CAB Code of Ethics on this account."
However, the panel did take exception to the material from another
perspective.
"The panel draws a significant distinction between its conclusion
in the previous section regarding the nature of the hosts'
remarks about the Holocaust and their use of those references
in their humorous dialogue," the report continued. "The
issue in the previous section was racism. The panel found none.
The issue here is the employment of the apocalyptic historical event
as a humorous crutch. The panel readily understands the suggested
dampening effect of such non-risible concepts as cancer, Vietnam
(in reference, of course, to the 1960s war) and the Holocaust on
Lorraine's yearning telephone clients. It equally understands the
intended humor in the ludicrous concept of the sexual purveyor 'subliminally'
mouthing such words in the midst of her erotic discourse.... When,
however, the hosts progressed to the level of 'Yeah, yeah, burn
those Jews. Gas 'em in the shower, baby,' and so on, even in aid
of their sarcastic view of the ignorant 'telephone actress,' they
exceeded any reasonable level of propriety.... The humorous constructs
erected here on the base of great tragedy constitute improper comment.
The broadcast of this segment of Loveline constitutes a breach
of the standard requiring the 'full, fair and proper presentation
of news, opinion, comment and editorial.' "
As a result of the panel's decision, Mojo Radio was required to
twice announce the panel's decision as follows: "The Canadian
Broadcast Standards Council has found that CHMJ-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."
For Rosenbloom, that was not sufficient.
"I'm approaching the CRTC about it," he said. The CRTC
is the federal body governing broadcast media in Canada and has
the power to revoke or renew the licences of radio and television
stations.
Rosenbloom said the CRTC and the federal government have allowed
the industry too much flexibility in its self-governing authority.
The decision of the CBSC panel to force the station to make two
on-air statements is too little punishment, he said.
"There is no sanction in this," said Rosenbloom. "The
CRTC has allowed the industry to police itself. It's a higher issue."
The case, which emerged by an accident of station-surfing, is not
over, Rosenbloom insisted. His formal complaint to the CRTC could
have an impact on the station's next broadcast licence renewal hearing.
Rosenbloom's complaint was to be forwarded in writing to the CRTC
earlier this month. A response is not expected for some time.
Pat Johnson is a native Vancouverite, a journalist and
commentator.
^TOP
|
|
