Broadcaster's Earache

For eight straight days John Crosby, the New York Herald Tribune's new radio columnist (TIME, Aug. 5), gave what-for to the networks' censors. Some excerpts:

"[It] would be unfair [to suggest] that all censorship is harmful or silly. It isn't. . . . Broadcasters quite understandably don't like to offend individuals, minority groups, religious orders, advertisers or members of other nationalities. . . . The intentions are good but the administration is ridiculous. . . . For example:

"[Fred] Allen had a terrible time getting the adjective 'saffron' on the air because [a censor] suspected it had sexual connotations. . . . Another time, Allen gagged that [a certain bride] could have found a better husband in a cemetery. [The censor] thought this might hurt the feelings of people who own and operate cemeteries. . . .

"Doin' What Comes Natur'lly went through extensive alterations. . . . The line 'You don't have to go to a private school not to turn up your bustle to a stubborn mule' became 'Not to pick up a penny from a stubborn mule.' . . . Another verse about Grandpa Bill and his new wife. 'There he is at 93, doin' what comes natur'lly' . . . was thrown out and 'Uncle Ben, who stole chickens just as naturally as he breathed,' was substituted."

NBC had an answer: Crosby failed to understand the "listener's ear." Crosby had another: NBC suffered from "broadcaster's ear." His conclusion: "If the broadcasters insist on censorship, a high form of discrimination is called for. Despite their vigilance, censors still are not keeping smut off the air. At the same time, unintelligent censorship is . . . driving radio writers into a sterile cynicism with no faith in themselves or their industry."

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