BCT Editorial – 8/15/07

This page was last updated on August 28, 2007.

Bleeped out; Editorial; Beaver County Times; August 15, 2007.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject editorial.

“One problem with censorship is not so much in knowing where to start but when to stop.

“Take what happened to lyrics performed by Pearl Jam that criticized President Bush on a webcast by AT&T Inc.

“The Associated Press reported the company’s Blue Room entertainment site offered a webcast of the band’s headlining Aug. 5 performance at Lollapalooza in Chicago. The event was shown with a brief delay so the company could bleep out excessive profanity or nudity.

“That was the starting point. But what ended up being censored weren’t dirty words but political free speech.

“Monitors hired by AT&T through a vendor cut two lines from a song to the tune of Pink Floyd’s ‘Another Brick in the Wall.’ One was ‘George Bush, leave this world alone’ the second time it was sung, and the other was ‘George Bush find yourself another home, [sic]’

“That’s hardly incendiary stuff. Yet someone in a position of power - and even the lowliest censor has enormous clout over someone else’s freedom - bleeped it out.

“Although AT&T has acknowledged that censoring Pearl Jam was a mistake and is working to rectify the situation, the incident should serve as a cautionary tale, especially since it involves the Internet.

“Hey, censors, leave those words alone.”

[RWC] This is the second example in nine days indicating the Times has a blind spot relative to its operation. I suggest we all remember this editorial the next time we submit a letter to the editor and it’s either not printed or not printed as submitted.

Don’t get me wrong. As a private entity, I believe the Times has the right to decide what it prints. I just get a kick out of the Times dumping on someone else for doing exactly what the Times does everyday.