Dog Bites Deejay

If you were tuned in to Class 95FM at around 8 am today, you would have heard a cringe worthy plea for mercy from the deejay who landed MediaCorp a $6,500 fine. As Joe Augustin tells it, based on the unfavorable print media coverage, he admits as much, "I hate myself". That plus the various online calls to have him sacked.

The redemption comes from the context, so he said. Blind girl (a.k.a. "visually-impaired woman") walks into fastfood joint with a dog. Outlet staff busy with kiasu crowd fighting for free burgers. Girl complains on Facebook page about shoddy treatment. Class 95FM’s Morning Express radio deejays Joe Augustin and Glenn Ong discuss the espisode of miscommunication and drops the “derogatory term (a**hole)” on air. The Media Development Authority (MDA) said the remarks contravened the Free-to-air Radio Programme Code and swiftly imposed the fine for this breach.

This has to qualify as the proverbial storm in a teacup. One rants about ill treatment, another rants about over reaction. Anybody notice the dog? Just as there are those conservatives sensitive about any topic touching on LGBT issues, we do have people around who are not enamored of the company of canines. Some actually base their view on religious grounds. But the elephant in the room is the use of asterisks in the offending word. In print, we can't tell the deplorable pejorative is about the rear orifice of a donkey or a human. In print, we now know f**k the P*P is not allowed to see the light of day; that's why we have to refer to online media to check out why the message on a public housing block is objectionable. MDA explains why radio has stricter standards,

"In Singapore, as a media platform for entertainment, information and education, radio broadcast reaches almost all homes and is easily accessible to all people, including the young. Because of its impact, programmes over radio must at all times maintain a standard that is acceptable to the community and does not offend good taste or decency".

We get it, the bar has just been raised. Don't just read the right stuff, hear also the right stuff.