BBC blasted for Live8 profanity
2006-02-21 11:48
London - The BBC has been chastised by the UK media regulator for broadcasting profanity and offensive language from artists including Madonna, Green Day and Snoop Dogg during last summer's Live 8 concert.
Ofcom criticised the BBC's failure to use a standard delay
to filter out offensive language during the event, which
gathered more than a billion people in cities across the world
to pressure rich nations to do more for the poor.
It said the broadcaster "should have anticipated an audience
for this event which would include a significant number of
children".
Madonna opened her performance with an expletive and a user
of the BBC website later wrote in the Live 8 comments section:
"I would have liked my seven-year-old to see a piece of history in
the making, however I do not want her to think that swearing is
the way to ending poverty."
The BBC told the regulator it regretted any offence caused
to viewers, "particularly the stream of expletives and racist
terms used by the act Snoop Dogg", one of the world's most
famous rappers. The broadcaster noted that the event was billed
as a live concert, and that any delay was forbidden under its
contract with organisers.
- Reuters