Imagine, in the year 2018, being so offended by adults discussing premarital sex and marijuana use that you lay a complaint with the Broadcasting Complaints Commission of SA (BCCSA).

Then imagine that the BCCSA finds in favour of the complainant, and you cop a R10 000 fine for “glamorised dagga use” and promoting “sexual promiscuity when children could have been listening”.

Now stop imagining, because that’s exactly what’s happened to East Coast Radio (ECR). Here’s IOL discussing somebody who really needs to stop living in the dark ages:

According to the complaint detailed in the commission’s report, the listener was driving her two pre-teen boys to school when the “offending” conversation took place on the air.

“I was shocked to hear the announcers talking about marijuana and sexual partners. One of the announcers wanted to know if in the last six months the (others) had smoked any marijuana.

“The answer was yes. A further question asked was whether they had more than one sexual partner in the last six months. The answer was yes. I then turned off the radio,” read the complaint.

“We live in an open and modern society. However, we try to teach our children basic moral values. Marijuana is illegal in South Africa and here are radio announcers promoting the use thereof.

“What do our children think of the comment of various sexual partners? I am trying to bring my children up with basic moral values and not promiscuous behaviour.”

Where to start? How is one radio discussion going to overrule what is clearly the most closeted of upbringings?

I’m not a parent, which is something we can all rejoice about, but grow the hell up.

This one gets even more ridiculous when you consider why the hosts were discussing such subject matter:

…ECR programmes manager Zane Derbyshire said they didn’t think the finding was accurate…

He said the segment arose because the station was doing a blood drive on World Blood Donor Day. He said part of the screening when donating blood was a series of questions relating to behaviour in the last six months.

“Darren (Maule), the host of the show, asked those questions of the other members of the team and in the piece there was an acknowledgement of the use of marijuana by Kerry Miller. That was the only reference to marijuana on the entire show. Her answering the question honestly is now being sensationalised by the complainant,” said Derbyshire.

Maule had also put the questions to Sky Tshabalala.

They’re talking about the screening process of donating blood, which includes questions on recent sexual and drug history. They weren’t talking about hosting an illicit MDMA-laced orgy, for crying in a bucket.

I might actually listen to local radio stations if that was the case, but we digress.

ECR will lodge a complaint, although I’m not sure that news will reach the rock under which this parent clearly lives.

Live a little, people.

[source:iol]