Choosing words wisely

everyman should write poems
choose wisely every word
for words chosen
are forever frozen
though it may seem absurd...

CHOI FM has clearly failed to choose their words wisely this time, and the CRTC should not back down from pulling the plug. Link to CRTC denial of licence renewal.

What is interesting about this story is how little of the actual words spoken have been included in the news stories. Here's an excerpt from the complaint:

49.
Commenting on a news story about the mistreatment of a patient in a psychiatric hospital, host Fillion stated the following on CHOI-FM on 8 May 2003: "[translation] Why don’t they just pull the plug on him? He doesn’t deserve to live. The guy’s a freaking burden on society." A few minutes later, a worker from the treatment centre called the host and said that the wing in which the serious cases, like the one being discussed, was referred to by staff as "the zoo." After that call, Mr. Filion added, "[translation] What I think they should do in the zoo is fill up the rooms, and then there’d be a switch, and once every four months, they press the button and just a little bit of gas comes out, and then you go in and pick it all up and put it in bags."

It is not surprising that the mainstream media wouldn't talk too loudly about this kind of thing. It's a freedom of speech thing, and the media always take the freedom of speech side. The other side is of course the abusive nature of the comments, which certainly deserve some criticism and debate over-- I don't want my radio broadcasting that kind of material.

From 98.1 CHOI-FM Supporters on the Hill:

What i think really worries me with this situation is that there was no clear distinction between when they were talking news and when they were talking shit. It's one thing when you see this stuff in an opinion piece that is clearly labled as such, but I don't think that that was the situation here.

Also, for those of you who saw the demon... er... demo on the hill, did you notice how completely monocultural it was? With all the punk rock an' white folk it was an eerie throw back to the skin head days...

So it's interesting to remember that Quebec City is quite "monocultural", and not particular and do not travel much, so that's why the station gets so much fervent support. But also why it is scary to see how fervent that support can be, and for what, exactly? The only ALTERNATIVE ROCK station in town. Did it ever occur to these people that once it's gone that void will be filled in a matter of days? Perhaps it has, but the people just love the personalities so much they can't bear to see them go. And if so, then what this guy said really IS a problem.

We as people should choose our words wisely, and those in the media, particularly broadcast media, should be held to an even higher standard. The radio is not a book you can close. Sure, you can turn it off, but perhaps not before you become thoroughly offended by hateful comments such as those. One poster comments that some people, kids mostly, take a lot of what shock jocks say as the gospel truth, even when they are speaking satirically. They think that the DJs are cool, so they say things like they do. The DJs are launching lots of negative memes.

Part of the issue is with the nature of radio as a medium. If the radio had a disclaimer on it, perhaps, like what is possible on TV, it would be easier to tolerate. Unlike newspapers, there is no way for the viewer to control what is being communicated to them. You don't mistakenly read the editorial and think it is news. You don't turn on Law and Order and think it is the news. But you might turn on the radio and think the guy shouting, "George Bush is a pig-f**ker!" is actually telling the truth. This is why radio-scares happen like The War of the Worlds thing. Only on radio.

The line between satire and slander is a fine one indeed, as is the line between edginess and offensiveness. Even as I write this I'm aware of other arguments I've made that those people near the line almost always have a point to make that no one else is talking about. One comment dealt with the fact that some students at Laval University happened to be children of dictators in foreign countries, and how no one at Laval says anything about it. A valid topic for discussion? Perhaps, as long as it doesn't offend too many people, I guess.

I'm torn between acknowledging the damage powerful media in the hands of morons or maniacs can do to a society, and the ability for someone with a perspective to voice that opinion. I'm off the mind that radio is too powerful a media to spout radical messages of that sort. Save it for the weblog, M. Fillion-- I'm afraid that radio was meant to be bland.