Irony

How’s this for an irony…

WAMU was having its Friday wrap-up on the news and they had just focused on the subject of censorship referring to upcoming TV programs that were based on real-time events connected with the WTC disaster. In the process, language considered profanity was used liberally which was picked up by spokespeople for extreme religious groups who objected to the use of such language on the airwaves and demanded that they be “removed” or censored.

. The network’s spokespeople including reporters from USA Today and the Washington Times cited how in the recent movies pertaining to WWII, the use of profanity was simply part of the story and aided credibility. As the arguments went back and forth, it was clear that the central rulings would favor the religious conservative view and the use of any profanity would result in significant fines to the stations allowing the profanity to occur. One measure discussed the possibility of bleeping out the profanity but for many that was not deemed realistic or appropriate to the story being told.

At that precise moment, the station’s signal disappeared from the air waves.

One wonders whether a program about censorship was in the end a victim of government policy. Questions are bound to arise since WAMU is probably the archetype of progressive, liberal broadcasting.

Les Aaron