Canada radio stations told to censor Dire Straits
January 14th, 2011 - 10:06 pm ICT by Aishwarya BhattToronto, Jan 14 (THAINDIAN NEWS) The Canadian Broadcast Standards Council has directed that radio stations in Canada should censor the 1985 Dire Strats’s song “Money for Nothing” because the lyrics of the song are derogatory.
In a milestone ruling, the council ruled that OZ FM erred by playing the unedited version of the song. The complaint was brought against the radio station by an unidentified listener who felt that the lyrics were offensive.
The use of the word “faggot” is what is making all the difference. The council ruled that the word is used to taunt gay men and as a result, as per Canada’s recent human rights standards, the unedited version of the song should not be played on the country’s radio stations.
The chairman of the council, Ron Cohen said that, “The decision doesn’t really relate to the Dire Straits song at the end of the day, the decision relates to the word in question.”
When “Money for Nothing” was released in 1985, the song won a Grammy award and became an instant hit. The song was on the album, “Brothers in Arms” which became a best selling album.
The council believes that the use of the word “faggot” was used sarcastically in the song and though it was accepted in 1985, the same cannot be said today.
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Tags: best selling album, broadcast standards, brothers in arms, canada radio stations, canadian broadcast standards council, dire straits, faggot, gay men, grammy award, human rights standards, listener, lyrics, milestone, oz fm, radio station, ron cohen, s song, song money for nothing, strats, unedited version