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BBC rejects 'Springer' complaints


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The program's "outstanding artistic significance ... outweighed the offense which it caused," the BBC said.
YOUR E-MAIL ALERTS
Jerry Springer
Great Britain
Mark Thompson
Arts (general)

LONDON, England -- British Broadcasting Corp. governors have rejected 63,000 viewer complaints about "Jerry Springer - The Opera" and ruled the BBC was right to show it.

The controversial musical sparked outrage and accusations of blasphemy when it was aired on BBC television in January.

The governors' program complaints committee ruled Wednesday the "outstanding artistic significance" of the work outweighed the offense it caused.

But one governor, a prominent Christian, broke ranks and said she "profoundly disagreed" with the decision.

Angela Sarkis, former vice president of the African Caribbean Evangelical Alliance and former chief executive of the Church Urban Fund, said the religious references "would have been considered literal portrayal of holy figures by many people."

The musical featured a diaper-wearing Jesus declaring he was "a little bit gay" and described Mary as being "raped by an angel, raped by God."

The BBC received 55,000 complaints before the broadcast and 8,000 after it was shown.

But the committee opted not to consider the 55,000 pre-broadcast complaints when making its report because the complainants had not seen the program. In its report, the committee noted, "a proportion of them appeared to be part of an organized e-mail campaign."

Pressure group Christian Voice had campaigned against the screening of the program.

Sarkis sat on the committee alongside former ITN editor-in-chief Richard Tait, historian and broadcaster Merfyn Jones, Northern Ireland representative Fabian Monds and ballet dancer Deborah Bull.

"The offense -- particularly the offense to religious beliefs -- caused to sizeable numbers of people should not be underestimated or taken lightly," the committee concluded.

"Reasonable and comprehensive attempts were made to minimize offense through appropriate scheduling, clear warnings, and the use of other programs prior to the broadcast to set the piece in context.

"The BBC is committed to freedom of expression, and has a duty to innovate, to reflect new and challenging ideas, and to make available to its audiences work of outstanding artistic significance.

"In all the circumstances, the outstanding artistic significance of the program outweighed the offense which it caused to some viewers, and so the broadcasting of the program was justified."

The award-winning musical was broadcast on January 8 as part of BBC2's Jerry Springer Night.

BBC management was "well aware" the strong language and portrayal of religious figures would cause offence, the governors said.

The ultimate decision to screen the program was taken by BBC director-general Mark Thompson.

On the subject of blasphemy, the governors noted "the juxtaposition of strong language with the names of holy figures was far more offensive than either would be by themselves."

Some Christians "would undoubtedly have interpreted it as an attack on their faith," the governors accepted.

But they said it was important to recognize that "by no means all Christians would have taken offense" and said the religious element of the musical was "a creative device" used to satirize Jerry Springer's TV talk show.

Jerry Springer himself has said the opera was offensive to Christians. The U.S. chat show host, who had no part in writing the musical, said: "I wouldn't have written it. I don't believe in making fun of other religions or in saying things that could be insensitive to other people's religions."

The BBC pointed out it received 2,200 messages of support for its decision to broadcast the program.


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