Profanity on the radio

Our man in Havana

http://soundcloud.com/italk/skilled-drivers-will-never-crash-even-if-they-go-too-fast-and-hang-out-the-window

The language is rather colourful to say the least. Is this allowed by the BAI. The stuff at the end crosses the line imho.

byte

Well, that show does run at night around 10pm, not daytime.

murpho999

Well the bad language came from the calller and don't see how they can control that with it being a live show.

I would rather have it on our airwaves than it be censored and end up with situations in America, like the over reaction to Janet Jackson Superbowl incident a couple of years ago.

Lurching

Jesus, if you think thats bad, try listening to Australian radio. Or watching Australian TV. No such thing as a watershed over here really.

Bard

This is a pretty tame example of some of the profanity that goes out on the Irish airwaves in fairness. Try listening to The Adrian Kennedy Phone Show some time. "Try" being the operative word

Up until about 6 mins in all there was that could be even the slightest bit offensive was one fairly innocuous/innocent "fu*kin'" (you can let one go, although perhaps telling him to mind his language at that point might have been wise) and a couple of "sh1t"s/"sh1te"s (wow, didn't think that word would be *'d out by the boards profanity filter!), "moron" and "dickhead" (none of which are really 'taboo' or 'banned' words) - all pretty simple stuff with regard to a "late night talk" show.

When the presenters started having a go at the guy on the phone and he responded (unsurprisingly) with a "fu*k you" - it had reached a point at which most stations (Kennedy on FM104 included) would probably cut the listener off, but I'd say fair play to these guys for keeping him on the line a wee bit longer and trying to salvage something of the call.

Frankly I saw very little or nothing wrong with it that the BCI would uphold a complaint about. Yes, it did start to cross the line at the end but that's when they cut the guy off. All the actionable language (the "f*ck you"s) came from the caller and so were outside the station's direct control. It wasn't a very long call, it was an emotive subject, it WAS late in the evening on a show which, frankly, the easily offended are unlikely to listen to.

As has been said already, there are far FAR worse examples of 'profanity' on the radio both in Ireland and elsewhere.

JonathanAnon

The male presenter should be suspended.... The chap, Tommy, was obviously an idiot. Calling him names on the air is hardly good interviewing.. Sounds to me like they were trying to be a bit sensationalist..

padz

i agree with the op, i heard the clip on a different thread and was pretty takin aback, not that the language botherd me but that the presenter allowed an important topic decend into that (i belive it was him who started with the insults) because of the topic they were discussing im sure a lot of young people listen to that show and it dosent show much common sence on the hosts behalf, they put him the guy on and then called him names and then told him to get lost,they couldve at least got another caller in, presenters arnt supposed to verbally attack their guests in that way, challenge them yes but its not jeremy kyle, lets please not decend into that muck, acording to their i102 site the presenters have won PPI awards in the past, ...they must be giving them away

Liam Byrne

They could have handled it better, but given that both presenters had been affected by such muppets (as mentioned by the female presenter) it's understandable that they lost the rag.

Producer's call really, to not have them present a show dealing with such an emotive topic (maybe have them as contributors).

That said, given the sh!te Tommy was coming out with, their reaction was fairly understandable and he deserved any comments that he got......I'd have stayed listening (which is no small achievement in terms of iRadio or Spin).

As for the profanities, they're in context and within the flow of the conversation right up to the point where they have to overtalk / pull him when it's directed so I wouldn't say there's a valid complaint in that regard.

That's one listener who won't be listening to iRadio while he's doing his doughnuts and angel wings on one of the new motorways and putting lives at risk......and good riddance!

sealgaire

Ah they are always cursing on that station. They have nothing better to say. Just trying to attract morans

Bard

sealgaire wrote: »

Ah they are always cursing on that station. They have nothing better to say. Just trying to attract morans

Bit of a sweeping statement there...

And what do you consider "cursing" exactly? Do the words "shíte", "arsehole" and "dickhead" come under that definition for you?

Our man in Havana

Thanks for the responses so far.

For what I can gather radio is given a much easier ride than TV when it comes to cursing on air. Would I be correct in my thinking there?

captain caveman

i'm pretty sure that goes against the BAI code of decency. The presenters should have tried harder to distance themselves from the language used or cut the caller off. I'd agree with Jonathan Anon that it's almost like they were trying to be sensationalist about it.

Bard

captain caveman wrote: »

i'm pretty sure that goes against the BAI code of decency.

There isn't one. There is, however a "Coarse and Offensive Language" section in their Code of Programming Standards, which reads:

3.3.1 As a general rule, broadcasters shall have
due regard to the appropriateness of, and/or
justification for, the inclusion of coarse and/or
offensive language in programming.
3.3.2 Broadcasters shall be alert to, and guard
against, the use of coarse and/or offensive
language in live programmes.
3.3.3 Recognising that the inappropriate use of
names considered sacred or holy by believers may
cause serious offence, broadcasters shall take a
responsible approach to their inclusion during
programming and their inclusion must be justified.

Keep in mind that the only word uttered in this clip that is likely to be "legally" deemed offensive or inappropriate is the F word. The rest would be considered relatively tame.

captain caveman wrote: »

The presenters should have tried harder to distance themselves from the language used or cut the caller off.

Well... going by Section 3.3.2 (highlighted in bold), the most relevant in this case, the responsible thing to do would probably have been to cut the caller off when he first said "f*ck you".

captain caveman wrote: »

I'd agree with Jonathan Anon that it's almost like they were trying to be sensationalist about it.

I would suggest that they perhaps believed they could get better and more interesting discussion out of him after the point where they (maybe) should have cut him off and so they decided to run with it for a couple of minutes more just to see. It would seem they were proven wrong in that respect by what developed and ended up cutting him off later anyway, but that's not the point. I really don't see a major problem with what transpired and what was broadcast and I can't imagine the BAI would either.

As I said already, it was a short enough call which went out late enough in the evening on a programme which is known tackling subjects which are often controversial and emotive - the easily offended (and children) were very unlikely to be tuned in.

Do you think anyone contacted iRadio or the BAI's Broadcasting Complaints section and complained about it? I doubt it...

eth0_

Liam Byrne wrote: »

They could have handled it better, but given that both presenters had been affected by such muppets (as mentioned by the female presenter) it's understandable that they lost the rag.

Understandable that they'd get angry, yes, but using that sort of language on air? Completely unacceptable. They are professional broadcasters, they should be able to control themselves and the producer should have made the presenters wrap the call up or cut it off him/herself - especially given the fact that caller could well have been a troll. The male presenter can barely string an argument together and cursing just made him sound even more out of his depth!

I guess the one saving grace is that iRadio has so few listeners it is unlikely anyone will complain to the BCI.

Bard

eth0_ wrote: »

I guess the one saving grace is that iRadio has so few listeners it is unlikely anyone will complain to the BCI.

i102-104, the station that this show goes out on, is actually doing quite well listener-wise. I don't have the latest figures to hand but their weekly listenership was 161,000 in Feb.

New JNLR's are out tomorrow, of course...

eoin1981

to be honest I thought the worst part was when the female presenter started calling the caller 'dude'....
pretty lame....

Kickbox

To be honest any show that hasnt vetted A call beforehand is bound to get into hot water! The worst and most unprofessional part of this call is that it wasnt ended abruptly and then move on from it! From listening in at times the show is poorly produced and presented of late. All I seem to hear is the two presenters bickering about petty things and not really discussing anything particularly interesting. One example is during a twenty minute segment the male presenter insisted on his music bed being played and the more the female stopped playing it the more irrate he got. I had a listen when she was on her own and although it's aimed at young people she was much better on her own.
From what I have read italk has considerably lower audience numbers than the rest of the day.