 50 Cent's Brits performance was one of the upheld complaints |
Media watchdog Ofcom has upheld five complaints of offensive language on British TV and radio, including one from coverage of the Brit Awards. The broadcasting watchdog said ITV had breached guidelines by carrying a swear-word on subtitles of a performance by rapper 50 Cent.
This was despite it masking the words from his song.
Complaints were also upheld against CBBC's Stitch Up, ITV1's Love on a Saturday night and two radio shows.
Ofcom upheld complaints against the Brit performance, despite the defence that it was human error because of time constraints.
"We agreed that such strong language was unacceptable at that time. The most offensive language should not be used before the watershed." Ofcom said.
CBBC's 27 February edition of Stitch Up, where child actors play tricks on unsuspecting members of the public, was found in contravention of standard guides of conduct for a stunt on a Greek holiday. A Greek man was heard shouting an obscenity in his own language, which offended one Greek-speaking viewer.
Although the programme's producers said they did not understand the words were offensive, Ofcom said they should have taken more precautions before airing the piece.
They also said the production teams should take more care in future in identifying foreign words.
Love on a Saturday's 28 February episode was found in breach of bad language regulations after a viewer swore in surprise at being picked for the dating show. ITV1 apologised for broadcasting the outburst saying it was hard to prepare for contestants' reactions.
"We acknowledged that it is not easy to predict the reaction of people surprised live in a show.
"However we felt that the potential for outbursts of this kind should have been taken more seriously, particularly as the show was pre-watershed," it said.
Manchester radio station Key 103 was found in breach of Section 1.1 (Taste, Decency, Offence to Public Feeling) for a radio broadcast on 10, 11 and 12 February that made jokes about the deaths of Chinese cockle pickers. A complainant said the items were offensive, especially due to the use of a racially derogatory description of their race.
The station apologised, but Ofcom ruled: "We thought that the decision to read out a variety of texted 'jokes', a week after the incident, was seriously ill judged and that the items had been offensive."
Nottinghamshire radio station Mansfield 103.2 was found in breach of the same guidelines for broadcasting offensive remarks on a phone-in show about gay adoptions on 23 February. The show's host was accused of being insensitive and rude to callers giving their opinions.
Ofcom ruled: "He made derogatory remarks about homosexuality, some of which were directed to those who rang and declared that they were gay.
"We thought that the discussion lacked balance and that some of the comments were offensive. The complaint was upheld."
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