Question about censorship:

[PanTheMan]

On Friday “Shelter From the Storm: A Concert for the Gulf Coast” will air on several staions across the nation. Last Week when Kanya West went WAY off script, many different reactions followed. Some said it was out of line and classless, uncalled for....some said it was an emotional statement said in a moment of heated passion and anger.

Should People feel free to express themselves openly? or Should they stick to the script? And if they feel the need to drop a bomb, barring profanities, Should they be allowed to do so, or should they cut to the next commercial?

What Do you Think?

__________________________________________________ _

I myself, feel they should be allowed to speak thier mind, and let us react accordingly.

[Prudence]

It's the ol' time and place argument.

I certainly agree that people should feel free to use their own resources to express themselves as openly as they'd like, within established boundaries of law.

However, if I owned a broadcast television or radio station, and I depended on the continued enthuiasm of advertisers for my product, and I didn't want to incur yet another silly FCC fine (don't get me started there), and you represented to me that you were going to make comments of a certain nature, and when live and on air you went off script -- I'd be mighty damn annoyed.

It's not public television.

Now, conversely, if I owned a broadcast station, and if I had strict rules about what could and couldn't be said or done on my station, and if I rigidly enforced these rules, and if I edited all footage to reflect my views, and if every "live" show were a carefully scripted act -- then I hope you would use whatever appropriate and available forum to let others know the reality of my business practices.

[Name]

As far as the Kanya thing goes, here is my opinion, not on what he said, cause I really don't care, but on the business side of it. Kanya West as an entertainer, is a business, and as such he holds a reputation, other businesses(broadcast companies) may or may not offer him a contract based on that reputation, just as any business wouldn't get clients based off their reputation.

It seems to me that Mr. West has a poor business mind when it comes to providing the best service for his clients(the broadcast company) by deviating from the planned agenda. If Mr. West gets contracted to do another live broadcast and deviates from the planned agenda again, it could greatly impact the odds that he will be offered another live telecast.

I heard someone say once that running a business is really easy; all you have to do is do what you say your going to do, when you say your going to do it. IF Kanya West said he was going to follow the script and didn't, he may have lost a revenue stream.

[€uroMeinke]

I'm ignorant of this situation, but I dug it when Sinead O' Conner ripped up a picture of the Pope on Saturday Night Live. I thought the "wardrobe malfunction" at the Superbowl was also amusing - isn't this the stuff we hope to see on Live TV anyway? Isn't this what we really want in reality TV?

I'd like to see the FCC to get out of making any content restrictions, but eh, private businesses & people can do what they like to express their biases/tastes/etc.

[innerSpaceman]

Heheh, but the West censorship made such news that it backfired. The guy didn't say anything FCCable, so the network censors overreacted and just gave NBC a bad name for squelching a heartfelt opinion, and one that happens to be very, very popular at the moment.

[PanTheMan]

I still wonder what was going through Mike Meyers head as Kanya was going off...lol. I hope he says some day in an interview. He had to stand right there next to him and I could see his brain scrambling in his eyes...

[innerSpaceman]

Myers is almost always funnier when he's not trying so hard to be. His face was priceless.