Derogatory songs 'Transcona Girls' and 'North End Boy' prompt regulatory action

The Canadian Broadcast Standards Council (CBSC) has asked Rogers Media to hand overaudio recordings of two derogatory songs played on the 92 CITI FM show Wheeler in the Morning. The CBSC is the self-regulatory body created by private broadcasters to respond to complaints made by listeners or viewers.

"What we have received, so far, is mainly complaints concerning the website of CITI where there were a couple of songs that were not appropriate according to the complainants," said Andre Nol, national chair of the CBSC.

The CBSC hasreceived20 to 30 complaintsabout thesongs North End Boy and Transcona Girls, she said.

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Complaints allege songs in the videosuse"aggressive language" and "language abusive to women," said Nol.Only ahandful of the complaints relatedirectlyto the songs whenthey airedon radio.

CBSC can only investigate radio or television broadcasts, not content made forsocial media sites like Youtube or Twitter.

"We have codes which we apply in broadcasting, but it's got to be broadcasting. We don't have any powers in terms ofinternet," saidNol.

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Nol said her organization needs Rogers Media's assistance to begin an investigation into the complaints to see whether the radio broadcast broke with CBSC'scode of ethics.

"We have requested the logger tapes for the broadcast. We haven't received them yet. So there's nothing we can do now but we have asked Rogers Media to send us the tapes," said Nol.

"They have confirmed to us that they have made apologies on air and that they had suspended Mr. Wheeler. We cannot make a decision without having the tapes in front of us."

Dave Wheeler, host of Wheeler in the Morning, was suspended on Tuesday over the controversial songs. On Monday Rogers Media removed animated videos of the songs from social media.

Once the CBSC receives the radio recordings and if complainants are not satisfied by Rogers Media's actions, the CBSC can assemble a six-person panel which includes three members of the public and three industry representatives to review the broadcast and determine whether it violates its code of ethics.

"There's a code which has been adopted by the Canadian Association of Broadcasters and validated by the CRTC," said Nol.

The CBSC is not able to fineRogers Media; however, if the company is found in violation of the code of ethicsthree times, they can be kicked out of the CBSC which could put their CRTC broadcasting licence at risk, saidNol.

Rogers Media has 15 days to respond to the complaints.