New York - A Canadian broadcast watchdog has slammed a Toronto shock jock for making crude comments about teen pop star Justin Bieber and his legion of young fans, finding that there is “no justification for allegedly humorous references to children in sexual contexts”.
The controversy began last October when CFNY-FM radio host Dean Blundell took to Twitter to express his distaste for Bieber. The host also implied the singer was gay.
Bieber has one of the strongest followings on Twitter, accounting for 3 percent of all traffic on the website, according to one recent study. Predictably, Bieber's fans unleashed their venom on Blundell.
Blundell tweeted back: “Save your energy for puberty or to fend off your dad tonight while you're sleepin'.”
The exchange then became the topic of conversation on Blundell's radio show. He repeated his tweets, and several responses, and referred to one 12-year-old critic as a future ''chugger”, slang for a male prostitute.
The broadcast drew numerous listener complaints to the Canadian Broadcasting Standards Council, the northern neighbour's version of the Federal Communications Commission.
The agency's decision came to light last week. It found Blundell's comments to be “gratuitous and unnecessary” and a violation of the Equitable Portrayal Code. The station's penalty was to announce the decision twice on air during peak listening hours. - Reuters