Several media outlets recently ran readers’ and viewers’ polls regarding the future of Channel 10’s Big Brother program. Many Australians up to and including Prime Minister Howard had been scandalised by an incident involving unsolicited sexual horseplay, and renewed calls for the show to be banned.

The poll questions generally required a yes or no answer e.g. the Melbourne Age asked its readers, ‘Should Big Brother be axed?’, reporting the next day that the relatively large number of 11,990 votes had been received. 69% voted Yes and 31% No. (Age, 4 Jul. 2006) Most similarly-worded polls in other sections of the media produced comparable results.

However, the Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) gave readers some choice about what action should be taken. The results (26,603 self-selected voters) were as follows:

Final straw. Cancel the show. 47%

Government should enforce a ban. 5%

Incident handled well. Keep it on air. 19%

Don’t like the show but pollies should butt out. 29%

(SMH, 5 Jul. 2006)

Based on outcomes like the one in the Age, Religious Right groups have been crowing about their great victory over the forces of evil. But the more nuanced vote in the SMH indicates a marked public aversion to government censorship. I don’t think that the cut-and-ban brigade can take much comfort from this episode at all.

Filed in: Censorship