Advertising Complaints Authority - Morning Programs, Newstalk ZB, 12/05/2006

Yesterday the Advertising Standards Complaints Board upheld several complaints made against a Toyota advertisement. The ad depicts a violent tussle between a couple vying for control over their car. Since the initial broadcasting of the ad, nineteen of your regular breed of concerned family values driven individuals complained it was too violent and would upset children. The Advertising Standards Complaints Board upheld those concerns and the advertisement is no longer allowed to be broadcast. That made for heavenly talkback pickings. Paul Holmes and Leighton Smith were outraged at this politically correct nonsense (if someone out there has a good definition of what the hell political correctness actually is, please let me know, I'm still confused). They claimed this was simply another example of the nanny state imposing its maternal instincts and stifling freedom. Another good example of why we should vote out this socialist - nay communist Labour-led government. Caller John Smith agreed of course. First the smoking legislation, now this? It's all too much Leighton. Leaning in close to my wireless I couldn't help but be bemused by what I was hearing. The Newstalk ZB morning hosts obviously had no idea the Advertising Standards Complaints Board wasn't a government entity at all. It's the executive arm of the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), a self-regulatory organisation set up by the advertising industry. And funnily enough, The Radio Network (Newstalk ZB's owner) is via its membership of the Radio Broadcasting Association, a member of the ASA. Well done Paul. Well done Leighton. Instead of blaming the government for this 'politically correct nonsense' you should probably be pointing the fingers at your own employer. Can you imagine it? Holmes: 'I'm tired of this station telling us what we can and can't do. It's about time someone put a stop to this PC epidemic running through the corridors of Newstalk ZB'. Well, no. Quite hard to imagine isn't it? Holmes and Smith don't really care about the issue at all. Their behaviour reflects nothing more than an opportunistic unintellectual cheap shot at a government they don't like. If there are no coherent and solid arguments at hand, they don't have a problem throwing lies out into the public sphere to advance their own interests. Good honest fair and ethical behaviour? I think not. This is simply another example of a media not playing its required role in our pluralistic democratic society. The media's role is act as society's public forum where issues can be debated honestly, openly and intelligently without framework limitation. Holmes and Smith as morning broadcasters on a major radio station share in this responsibility, and it's about time they faced up to it.