London’s only Christian radio station, Premier Christian Radio, has been cited by Britain’s Radio Authority (RA) for seven breaches of programming rules resulting from broadcasts found “offensive” by listeners.
The RA also issued a Yellow Card - a serious warning that threatens a station’s license renewal - to Premier. The Yellow Card was issued for an Insight For Living broadcast by Dr. Chuck Swindoll that warned Christians about dabbling in the occult, a practice Swindoll said was “ensnaring” and “addicting” people. He then urged listeners to “burn books and all items” of such religions.
The Mysticism and Occult Federation, which filed the complaint against this broadcast, labeled such action a “hate crime.” That group filed 12 of the 13 complaints against Premier in the July-September 2001 quarter. Of those, seven were either fully or partially upheld.
Another complaint upheld by the RA was against Leading the Way with Michael Yusef. Yusef stated that “the liberal church teaches the crazy idea that you can be a good Christian and a practicing homosexual” and “there can be no healing outside Christ.”
The RA found both statements to violate Rule 7.7 of the Radio Authority’s Programme Code on religious abuse. The code states, “Theological debate and disagreement may occur within religious programmes; however, programmes and/or follow-up material must not be used to denigrate or attack the beliefs of other people.”
Like the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the United States, the Radio Authority regulates and licenses broadcasting outlets, and investigates complaints about programming, advertising and transmission.
Unlike the FCC, however, Britain’s RA publishes its findings on complaint investigations in regular quarterly reports. The RA also handles complaints about misleading broadcast advertising, a function the Federal Trade Commission handles in the United States.
Other broadcasts generating complaints were Grace To You with Pastor John McArthur, Love Worth Finding with Pastor Adrian Rogers, and A New Beginning with Pastor Greg Laurie.
U.S.-based broadcasts were not the only ones running afoul of Rule 7.7. An advertisement for a local church, Liberty Church International, also generated a complaint because the church helps “deliver you from sickness, poverty, abuse, racism, debt, occultism and fear.”
Infomercials for an upcoming seminar on occult practices and end-time events by New Zealander Barry Smith also generated a complaint. That complaint was upheld, as was another complaint against a show on the roots of Freemasonry.
However, the RA seems to be one-sided when dealing with Rule 7.7. A listener complaint was also filed against 96.4FM BRMB for offensive and ridiculing remarks made about the book of Leviticus. The RA decided in favor of the radio station.
Another complaint was filed against 96.9 Viking FM for a call-in program asking listeners where they would like to have sex and requesting volunteers to have sex on the air. The RA ruled in favor of the radio station in that instance as well.
Neither did the RA act on complaints filed for derogatory comments about the Virgin Mary, sexist and sexually suggestive jokes, insults to the poor, Welsh speakers, and the mentally handicapped.
The only complaint the RA upheld against a secular radio station program involved crass and insensitive comments applauding the murder of a child.