Broadcast 101

A.J. Clemente joins Steven Tyler, Tom Hanks, Bob Beckel, Joe Flacco and many others - not to mention Howard - in an infamous club.

It was ironic that all three major network morning show personalities. including NBC's, seemed to relate in the aftermath to the faux pas. 

I'll leave it to others to decide whether this latest incident sets a precedent or is a cautionary tale, but before you count on "a light touch" from regulators, my advice is to live by that simple rule we all learned during the first day at broadcast school:

Treat every microphone as if it's ON.

You Must Be 18 To Read This Blog

After M.I.A.'s "obscene gesture" on Sunday it's tempting to brag about country music radio being a safe haven for tender little ears, but .. not so fast.

Yahoo Answers: Country songs with cuss words in them?

• Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue Toby Keith......"we'll put a boot in your a## its the American way"
• Garth Brooks Third verse to "Friends in low places"
• Montgomery Gentry: "Does durn count?"
• Oh and, Hell yeah (also by Montgomery Gentry)
• Crazy Ex-Girlfriend Miranda Lambert (*****, damn, hell)
• How 'Bout You Eric Church (***)
• Down in Mississippi (Up to No Good) Sugarland (***)
• Drunker than Me Trent Tomlinson (damn)
• Here's A Quarter (Call Someone Who Cares) Travis Tritt (damn)
• Johnny Cash Jason Aldean (screw you, ***)
• Didn't You Know How Much I Loved You Kellie Pickler (damn)Between the River and Me- Tim McGraw (son of a b****)
• No Damn Good- Gary Allan
• Hell on the Heart- Eric Church
• Ain't Killed Me Yet- Eric Church (hell, damn)
• Lotta Boot Left to Fill- Eric Church (hell, damn)
• I Could Kick Your ***- Justin Moore
• Whiskey Bent & Hell Bound--Hank Williams jr.
• TOES by Zac Brown Band (*** in the sand)
• THE DEVIL WENT DOWN TO GEORGIA by Charlie Daniels Band (son of a *****)
• MY GIVE A (DAMN'S) BUSTED by Jo Dee Messina
• Country Boy Can Survive--Hank Williams jr.
• KickMy A** (Big & Rich)
• Kiss My Country *** by Rhett Atkins

I bet you can add a whole lot more.

Town Hall blogger Brent Bozell: Luke Bryan boasted he was listening to hip-hop music when he came up with his 2011 anthem to exotic female dancing, "Country Girl (Shake It for Me)." Bryan recently performed the song on the TV broadcast of the Country Music Awards, complete with a bevy of booty-shaking, leather-clad dancers. The song is overtly sexual, although it didn't need anyone at ABC to hit a bleep button.

The comments on CMT blogger Craig Shelburne's 2008 post Keep Your @#$%^& Cuss Words to Yourself pretty much run the gamut of what listeners say to radio.

They don't like it, unless they love the song. Then, they don't mind it.

Welcome to the 21st Century?