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Canadian Broadcast Standards Council

 

 
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Canadian Broadcast Standards Council
 
 
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The Canadian Broadcast Standards Council is an independent, non-governmental organization created by the Canadian Association of Broadcasters
Canadian Association of Broadcasters

The Canadian Association of Broadcasters is the national voice of Canada's private broadcasters, representing the vast majority of Canadian programming services, including private radio and television stations, specialty, pay and pay-per-view services....
 to administer standards established by its members, Canada
Canada

Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean....
's private broadcasters.

The Council's membership includes more than 630 private sector radio
Radio

Radio is the transmission of signals, by modulation of electromagnetic radiation with frequency below those of visible light.Electromagnetic radiation radio propagation by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space....
 and television
Television

Television is a widely used telecommunication mass-media for transmitting and receiving moving , either monochrome or color, usually accompanied by sound....
 stations, specialty services and networks from across Canada, programming in English, French and third languages. As such, the Council allows the private broadcasting industry to be self-regulating and it acts as an intermediary in the regulatory process, which is governed by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC).






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The Canadian Broadcast Standards Council is an independent, non-governmental organization created by the Canadian Association of Broadcasters
Canadian Association of Broadcasters

The Canadian Association of Broadcasters is the national voice of Canada's private broadcasters, representing the vast majority of Canadian programming services, including private radio and television stations, specialty, pay and pay-per-view services....
 to administer standards established by its members, Canada
Canada

Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean....
's private broadcasters.

The Council's membership includes more than 630 private sector radio
Radio

Radio is the transmission of signals, by modulation of electromagnetic radiation with frequency below those of visible light.Electromagnetic radiation radio propagation by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space....
 and television
Television

Television is a widely used telecommunication mass-media for transmitting and receiving moving , either monochrome or color, usually accompanied by sound....
 stations, specialty services and networks from across Canada, programming in English, French and third languages. As such, the Council allows the private broadcasting industry to be self-regulating and it acts as an intermediary in the regulatory process, which is governed by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC). The CRTC itself generally hears complaints against only the few CBSC non-members (most notably public broadcasters such as the CBC) as well as reviews of CBSC decisions although these rarely lead to any additional action.

Although first suggested by private broadcasters as early as 1968, the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council was not created until 1990.

Council objectives


The Council has 5 primary objectives:

  • Assist in the application of broadcast standards developed by the private broadcast industry.
  • Inform the public of such standards and the Council's role in self-regulation of the private broadcast industry.
  • Provide a forum for public complaints should such standards be violated.
  • Provide third-party recommendations to private broadcasters and complainants, should complaint resolution not be achieved.
  • Inform broadcasters of emerging societal trends and develop ways to adjust broadcast standards to meet them.


Comparison with similar organizations


In contrast to the fines imposed by the Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission

The Federal Communications Commission is an Independent agencies of the United States government, created, directed, and empowered by United States Congress statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President of the United States....
 in the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
, the CBSC has required at most that a station broadcast a council-approved citation on-air during peak viewing hours.

Citations have been issued not only for violations of the content guidelines themselves but also for failing to provide sufficient information to viewers, i.e. missing or inadequate viewer advisories, or missing ratings icons.

However, the CBSC--and for that matter the CRTC--have a broader mandate than their U.S. counterpart. Both organizations have content jurisdiction over subscription-based services, such as cable specialty channel
Specialty channel

A specialty channel is a television channel which consists of programming focused on a single type or targeted at a specific demographic.The number of specialty channels has greatly increased during the 1990s and 2000s while the previously common concept of countries having just a few TV stations addressing all interest groups and demogra...
s, which the FCC lacks. Moreover, the CBSC considers not only so-called "indecency" complaints but also complaints dealing with hate speech, sponsorship issues, and journalistic practices.

See also

  • Censorship in Canada
    Censorship in Canada

    In Canada the principles of community standards and public interests are the primary adjudicants of what may be published or broadcast by the Mass media....
  • Radio and Television News Directors Association
    Radio and Television News Directors Association

    The Radio-Television News Directors Association is a membership organization of radio, television and online news directors, producers, executives and educators with both a Canadian and an American organization....
  • Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission


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