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Canada's public broadcaster was wrong to show a skit that joked about the possible assassination of US President Barack Obama and suggested he could be a thief, an industry panel ruled on Monday.
The New Year's Eve "Bye Bye" comedy program -- shown by the French-language Radio Canada network -- generated more than 200 complaints. In one segment, two hosts discussed Obama's election in November 2008. Obama, who took office in January, is the first black U.S. president.
"We're not racists. It will be good to have a Negro in the White House. It will be practical. Black on white, it will be easier to shoot him," one of the show's hosts remarked.
The Canadian Broadcasting Standards Council said it found "nothing redeeming in the allegedly comedic notion that an American president should be shot, still less that this would be easier to achieve because of the color of the president's skin. It was a disturbing, wounding, abusive racial comment."
The show also featured an interview with an actor pretending to be Obama. The host said, "The blacks, you all look alike," and then warned viewers to hide their purses.
The council said the comments and sketches breached regulations, adding they went "too far in terms of Canadian broadcast standards."
The producers of the show denied the skits had been racist, saying they had meant to mock the characters making the offensive remarks.
Polls show that Canadians like Obama far more than they do their own leaders. Tens of thousands turned up to cheer him when he made a brief visit to Ottawa in February. A spokeswoman for the US embassy said she did not know whether the White House had complained about the show.
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(Agencies)
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加拿大某行業協會于本周一裁定，該國一家公共電臺在節目中拿美國總統開玩笑不當，節目稱奧巴馬有可能被暗殺，還暗示奧巴馬是個賊。
這家加拿大法語廣播電臺于去年元旦前夜播出了一檔名為“拜拜”的喜劇節目，遭到二百多位聽眾投訴。兩位主持人在某時段節目中討論奧巴馬在去年11月參選總統一事。奧巴馬于今年一月就職成為美國第一位非洲裔總統。
其中一位主持人評論道：“我們不是種族主義者。黑人入主白宮是件好事，這很實際，黑白分明，向他開槍也更容易。”
加拿大廣播標準委員會稱：“拿槍殺美國總統開玩笑這種所謂的幽默感毫不可取，而且提到總統的膚色便于進行暗殺更讓人不能容忍。這是一種冒犯他人、令人傷心、惡意的種族主義言論。”
節目還采訪了一位假扮奧巴馬的演員。主持人說：“你們黑人都長得差不多”，并提醒觀眾看好錢包。
委員會稱，該節目的內容和形式觸犯了條例，并稱他們“嚴重違反了加拿大廣播行業標準”。
節目制片人否認玩笑帶有種族主義性質，稱本意是嘲笑那些使用冒犯言論的人。
民調顯示，比起本國領導人來，加拿大人更衷情于奧巴馬。奧巴馬于今年二月短暫訪問渥太華期間，數萬名加拿大人向他歡呼致意。美國駐加拿大大使館的一位女發言人稱，她不知道白宮是否對該節目表示了不滿。
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（英語點津 實習生許雅寧編輯） |
