Overseas media regulators have found against hate radio broadcasts from the US antigay fundamentalist multinational, Focus on the Family. Could these strategies be used here? Yes and no. In 1997, an American listener tuned into CKRD, and was shocked to hear the content of a Focus on the Family broadcast from across the Canadian border. James Dobson was the host and hawked numerous pieces of antigay propaganda from his predatory organisation. "Homosexuality: Fact and Fiction" was available through cassette, as was "Help for the Homosexual," a "research sheet." This broadcast invited antigay luminaries like Jeff Satinover (Physicians Resource Council, FOF subsidiary), Bob Knight (Family Research Council) and Anthony Falzarano (Transformation Ministries) to comment about lesbian and gay issues. Dobson and his guests made spurious allegations about the "falsehood" of research about gay male teen suicide and argued that this was all a ploy to get "the homosexual agenda" into schools. Nonsense. For further balanced information, check out Gary Remafedi's collection of research articles about the subject. (Mainstream professional pediatrics do not agree with these fundamentalist diatribes. In previous articles, I've noted that the American Academy of Pediatrics supports legal recognition of same-sex partnerships and parenting, and backed its position through a research article in its peer-reviewed journal, Pediatrics, in February 2002). Furthermore, Falzarano alleged that the lesbian and gay communities were trying to use HIV/AIDS to "push a homosexual agenda." The contributors whined that this was all related to the "criminalisation of Christianity" and that the lesbian and gay community used "government and corporate power to affirm homosexuality and persecute those who oppose it." Uh huh. Dobson is the leader of a predatory multinational corporation which has outposts in the United States, Canada, Britain, Japan, Costa Rica, East Africa, Southern Africa, Malaysia, Singapore, Sweden, Spain, Australia and sadly, New Zealand. And he talks about the "misuse" of government and corporate power? And "persecution?" Yeah, (Christian) right. Anyway, CKRD was found to have violated the CRTC's religious programming guidelines. CRTC's operational code includes Clause 2 (human rights), which bans broadcast of abusive and discriminatory content, and includes lesbians and gay men. Moreover, Clause 6 notes that news and current affairs coverage must ensure "full, fair and proper presentation" of contentious issues. Religious programming has to meet programming acquisition guidelines that insure that it does not promote intolerance and exploitation of any social group, and has a regulatory obligation not to engage in abuse or misrepresentation. The CRTC ruled that Dobson's cross-border broadcast had violated Canadian broadcast regulatory code provisions. Would it work in New Zealand? Like the CRTC, our own Broadcasting Standards Authority has antidiscriminatory provisions. In our case, the BSA has made conflicting regulatory decisions about the broadcast content of TVNZ's current affairs programming, which propagandised for the defunct "ex-gay" New Image/Lion of Judah/Immaculate Heart of Mary communities (BSA Decision 1996-15). However, Neil and Briar Whitehead made similar allegations but were found not to have breached the equivalent code provisions on a Radio Pacific talkback programme (BSA Decision 2000-151). More recently, though, the BSA found against Brian Tamaki's Destiny Television for a series of homophobic diatribes. According to the Codes of Broadcasting Practice, Sections 6g (free to air television), 12 (pay television) and 7a (radio broadcasts) can be used for the above results, variable though they might be. This raises some interesting questions. Do we need specific religious broadcasting content limitations? Do we need to lobby the Minister of Broadcasting for additional content regulation of downmarket tabloid talkback stations like Radio Pacific? And should we watch out for content like this on Radio Rhema, given Focus' past track record? Recommended Reading: 1.Websites: http://www.bsa.govt.nz [New Zealand Broadcasting Standards Authority] http://www.cbsc.ca/english/decisions/decisions/1997/971216i.htm [Above-mentioned CRTC CKRD/Focus on the Family decision] http://www.rhema.co.nz [Radio Rhema: New Zealand fundamentalist national radio network. Broadcasts Focus on the Family segments as part of its programming] 2.Books: Gary Remafedi: Death by Denial? Boston: Alyson Books: 1992. [Series of evidence-based articles about gay adolescent suicide. Probably dated now, but still worth reading for professionals in field.] Craig Young - 6th June 2004