These comments are made spontaneously during the band members’ banter with each other and the presenter. The reference to is program’s ‘teabagging’ fleeting and was directed in a jesting manner towards Stav in response to his vulgar comment. Likewise, the comment, was ‘getting into 15 year-old girls’ directed to Steely Dan to deride this band in a light-hearted way. The focus of the interview segment is Bluejuice and the comments convey the light-hearted banter between the band members. There is no discussion of sexual activity with children. The tone of the interview segment is light-hearted. The band members’ comments are conveyed in the context of their jokes and banter with each other. The program presenters laugh at the comments but challenge them by The program presenters also stop the stating, ‘Filth! Trash! Disgusting!’ interview and have just turned off your mikes, we are going to settle state, ‘I going to play a down. We’re song’. In the view, the comments made by Bluejuice and the ACMA’s presenters’ responses do not condone or encourage sexual activity with children or sexual abuse of babies. Although the comments are vulgar - and the ACMA accepts that some listeners would be offended by this content- this broadcast content was not likely to cause offence to the usual target audience who would be aware of the style and humour used in Tom & Alex. The ACMA is satisfied that the use of this content was justified by this editorial context. Issue 2: Whether the broadcaster took appropriate steps to mitigate the harm or offence Relevant Code clause Standard 7.4 states: 7.4 If inadvertent or unexpected actions, audio or images in live content are likely to cause harm or offence, take appropriate steps to mitigate. Finding The ABC did not breach clause 7.4 of the Code. Reasons The ACMA notes the interview segment was live audio content and the comments complained about were broadcast during this interview. The ‘unexpected audio’ comments were spontaneously made during the banter between the band members. As indicated above at Issue 1, the presenters challenge these comments with the The presenters also stop the responses, ‘Two minutes in!’, ‘Filth! Trash! Disgusting!’
These comments are made spontaneously during the band members’ banter with each other and the program’s presenter. The reference to ‘teabagging’ is fleeting and was directed in a jesting manner towards Stav in response to his vulgar comment. Likewise, the comment, ‘getting into 15 year-old girls’ was directed to Steely Dan to deride this band in a light-hearted way. The focus of the interview segment is Bluejuice and the comments convey the light-hearted banter between the band members. There is no discussion of sexual activity with children. The tone of the interview segment is light-hearted. The band members’ comments are conveyed in the context of their jokes and banter with each other. The program presenters laugh at the comments but challenge them by stating, ‘Filth! Trash! Disgusting!’ The program presenters also stop the interview and state, ‘I have just turned off your mikes, we are going to settle down. We’re going to play a song’. In the ACMA’s view, the comments made by Bluejuice and the presenters’ responses do not condone or encourage sexual activity with children or sexual abuse of babies. Although the comments are vulgar - and the ACMA accepts that some listeners would be offended by this content- this broadcast content was not likely to cause offence to the usual target audience who would be aware of the style and humour used in Tom & Alex. The ACMA is satisfied that the use of this content was justified by this editorial context. Issue 2: Whether the broadcaster took appropriate steps to mitigate the harm or offence Relevant Code clause Standard 7.4 states: 7.4 If inadvertent or unexpected actions, audio or images in live content are likely to cause harm or offence, take appropriate steps to mitigate. Finding The ABC did not breach clause 7.4 of the Code. Reasons The ACMA notes the interview segment was live audio content and the comments complained about were ‘unexpected audio’ broadcast during this interview. The comments were spontaneously made during the banter between the band members. As indicated above at Issue 1, the presenters challenge these comments with the responses, ‘Two minutes in!’, ‘Filth! Trash! Disgusting!’ The presenters also stop the
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