Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Quote of the day

"While we would never condone prejudice of any kind, we know our audiences are smart enough to distinguish between maliciousness and creative freedom. In the context of this song, I do not feel that there is any negative intent behind the use of the words, hence the reversal of the decision".

Andy Parfitt, Radio 1's Fat Controller, squirms his way through the announcement that the station's ban on playing the uncut version of The Pogues & Kirsty MacColl's 'Fairytale Of New York' has been lifted. Out of touch with the views of your audience, Andy? Now that would be a surprise.

2 comments:

Del said...

Hmmm. Perhaps. Although one wonders what the reaction would have been if it had been an Eminem or Beenie Man record where the word had been used. But in this case it was used by a white woman who happens to be dead on a Christmas record. So that's alright then.

Context is everything, of course, but trying to second guess what will be deemed offensive in the current climate is an absolute minefield.

Ben said...

Exactly - I think it is a question of context (nowt to do with black or white), and in this case censorship was daft. Beenie Man, on the other hand...