Mistreated Worms
Britain’s Broadcasting Standards Commission is out with its latest bulletin (pdf file) focusing on wrongdoing by the nation’s broadcasters, upholding complaints about the mistreatment of worms and the use of word ‘pansy’ in a gardening context.
A listener to the BBC said use of the word ‘pansy’ in a quiz show (in a question about the Royal Horticultural Society) was homophobic, and the BSC agreed. “Although the the panel member had attempted a light-hearted joke on the issue in question, the humor, based on a negative sexual stereotype, had gone beyond acceptable boundaries for broadcast,” it said.
Another viewer complained about an edition of Fear Factor in which contestants were eating worms and live insects. It was an example of a show mistreating animals for the entertainment purposes, the viewer complained.
Amazingly, the BSC agreed. “The Panel considered that the graphic and extended footage of the consumption and treatment of the insects, purely for the purposes of entertainment, had exceeded acceptable boundaries,” it said.
________________________________
Changes to your subscription (unsubs, nomail, digest) can be made by going to http://sandboxmail.net/mailman/listinfo/sndbox_sandboxmail.net
