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CNN Live Sunday
Interview With Bruce Weinstein
Aired February 08, 2004 - 18:24 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Janet Jackson's antics generated 200,000 e-mail complaints. That is a record for the Federal Communications Commission. So is the country going into a meltdown of ethics? Bruce Weinstein joins us for a reality check. He's with the Web site theethicsguy.com. Hi, there Bruce.
BRUCE WEINSTEIN, THEETHICSGUY.COM: Hi, Carol, how are you?
LIN: I'm doing just fine. I don't particularly like that question. I think the question is, whatever happened to common decency?
WEINSTEIN: Exactly, Carol. There are no heroes in the story. The NFL looked bad. CBS looked bad. MTV looked bad. Most of all, the performers looked bad, because this kind of behavior is simply unacceptable.
Now, I'd like to preface my remarks by saying that my argument against this sort of behavior is not based on my personal reaction to this music. I'm a huge fan of all of these artists. The question is really a matter of policy. Should a broadcast entity like CBS, like MTV, allow this kind of behavior that is offensive to so many people around the world, to be seen on the largest, the most widely watched network program in the world that eclipses even the Oscars.
LIN: First let me ask you this, because the interesting thing is, I mean, you say so many people. And yes, a lot of people were offended. But when you check out the poll that we just showed people, people were actually pretty split about this. 48 percent saying that, you know, it wasn't the worst thing they'd ever seen and 47 percent saying yes, it was a new low in bad taste. So obviously, there are still a lot of people out there who don't think it's that big a deal.
WEINSTEIN: If you focus on the breast issue, perhaps. But let's look at the issue more widely, the entire Super Bowl halftime segment was in questionable taste. You had Kid Rock draping the American flag around him like a poncho. You have Nelly grabbing his crotch every few seconds. You have lyrics talking about explicit sexual conduct.
And you know, the ironic thing is on Nellyville, Nelly's his last album there are much better songs to play that don't have those kind of lyrics. So the message from this entire debacle is that businesses take the high road and then win in the long run. That being ethical is actually not just the right thing to do, but it's good for business in the long run.
LIN: You mean being unethical? WEINSTEIN: No, being ethical in the long run is good for business, being unethical is bad for business. What's ironic is this entire episode occurred on a network, CBS, that 50 years ago would not let Lucille Ball use the word pregnant on "I Love Lucy."
LIN: But that was a different time. And you know what, the public would have shut the network down. But in this particular case, there's a whole debate. She gets a ton of publicity. Her album gets released early. There's some benefit -- and everybody is talking about her, for better or worse.
WEINSTEIN: For a few days, at least, maybe one more day.
But if Janet Jackson is guilty of any crime, it's that her last three albums haven't been very good. To that extent, she has a connection to her brother, Michael. So, the music world really wants Janet please release a better album. That's really the concern.
LIN: OK. So, if the idea is sex sells, and you know what, there are feminists out there, some named feminists, who actually say listen, if a woman's sexuality is the way she can get ahead in the workplace in today's times, that's part of what the feminist movement was about.
It's OK to wear the mini skirt to work if it gets the boss's attention. It's okay, translation then, to whip out our your boob in a public place if people will talk to you, it's going to sell records and you're going to get back on the charts.
WEINSTEIN: Well, Carol, again, the focus should not on Janet Jackson's breast, and whether it was intentional or not to whip it out, so to speak. The question is whether the entire segment, the entire halftime show was in good taste. So whether or not her breast came out or not is beside the point, because so many other elements of it were in questionable taste. And that's where I think CBS can win in the long run by rethinking the policies. I know they will.
And MTV and the NFL by saying, you know what, we want to gain as much of an audience and maintain as much of a trust with the public as we can so we will not allow this kind of behavior on a public trust, on the public airwaves. And this is not a blue nose position. This is a matter of common decency and ethics and economics.
LIN: And still, unfortunately, Bruce a matter of interpretation interpretation. Bruce Weinstein, thank you very much.
WEINSETIN: Thanks, Carol.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired February 8, 2004 - 18:24 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Janet Jackson's antics generated 200,000 e-mail complaints. That is a record for the Federal Communications Commission. So is the country going into a meltdown of ethics? Bruce Weinstein joins us for a reality check. He's with the Web site theethicsguy.com. Hi, there Bruce.
BRUCE WEINSTEIN, THEETHICSGUY.COM: Hi, Carol, how are you?
LIN: I'm doing just fine. I don't particularly like that question. I think the question is, whatever happened to common decency?
WEINSTEIN: Exactly, Carol. There are no heroes in the story. The NFL looked bad. CBS looked bad. MTV looked bad. Most of all, the performers looked bad, because this kind of behavior is simply unacceptable.
Now, I'd like to preface my remarks by saying that my argument against this sort of behavior is not based on my personal reaction to this music. I'm a huge fan of all of these artists. The question is really a matter of policy. Should a broadcast entity like CBS, like MTV, allow this kind of behavior that is offensive to so many people around the world, to be seen on the largest, the most widely watched network program in the world that eclipses even the Oscars.
LIN: First let me ask you this, because the interesting thing is, I mean, you say so many people. And yes, a lot of people were offended. But when you check out the poll that we just showed people, people were actually pretty split about this. 48 percent saying that, you know, it wasn't the worst thing they'd ever seen and 47 percent saying yes, it was a new low in bad taste. So obviously, there are still a lot of people out there who don't think it's that big a deal.
WEINSTEIN: If you focus on the breast issue, perhaps. But let's look at the issue more widely, the entire Super Bowl halftime segment was in questionable taste. You had Kid Rock draping the American flag around him like a poncho. You have Nelly grabbing his crotch every few seconds. You have lyrics talking about explicit sexual conduct.
And you know, the ironic thing is on Nellyville, Nelly's his last album there are much better songs to play that don't have those kind of lyrics. So the message from this entire debacle is that businesses take the high road and then win in the long run. That being ethical is actually not just the right thing to do, but it's good for business in the long run.
LIN: You mean being unethical? WEINSTEIN: No, being ethical in the long run is good for business, being unethical is bad for business. What's ironic is this entire episode occurred on a network, CBS, that 50 years ago would not let Lucille Ball use the word pregnant on "I Love Lucy."
LIN: But that was a different time. And you know what, the public would have shut the network down. But in this particular case, there's a whole debate. She gets a ton of publicity. Her album gets released early. There's some benefit -- and everybody is talking about her, for better or worse.
WEINSTEIN: For a few days, at least, maybe one more day.
But if Janet Jackson is guilty of any crime, it's that her last three albums haven't been very good. To that extent, she has a connection to her brother, Michael. So, the music world really wants Janet please release a better album. That's really the concern.
LIN: OK. So, if the idea is sex sells, and you know what, there are feminists out there, some named feminists, who actually say listen, if a woman's sexuality is the way she can get ahead in the workplace in today's times, that's part of what the feminist movement was about.
It's OK to wear the mini skirt to work if it gets the boss's attention. It's okay, translation then, to whip out our your boob in a public place if people will talk to you, it's going to sell records and you're going to get back on the charts.
WEINSTEIN: Well, Carol, again, the focus should not on Janet Jackson's breast, and whether it was intentional or not to whip it out, so to speak. The question is whether the entire segment, the entire halftime show was in good taste. So whether or not her breast came out or not is beside the point, because so many other elements of it were in questionable taste. And that's where I think CBS can win in the long run by rethinking the policies. I know they will.
And MTV and the NFL by saying, you know what, we want to gain as much of an audience and maintain as much of a trust with the public as we can so we will not allow this kind of behavior on a public trust, on the public airwaves. And this is not a blue nose position. This is a matter of common decency and ethics and economics.
LIN: And still, unfortunately, Bruce a matter of interpretation interpretation. Bruce Weinstein, thank you very much.
WEINSETIN: Thanks, Carol.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
