I've spent much of my career in broadcasting, both on air and behind the scenes. Hot mics have ended people's on air careers. Is it fair or right? No. But from day one in broadcast school you learn to treat any mic as if it's on and broadcasting.
I think that this is much less an issue of harassment and really just a professional conduct issue. Luckily in our line of work, negligence basically amounts to swearing on air. No one gets hurt. No one dies. But it's still a "serious" violation of one of the most basic rules of broadcasting. That said, I hope no one loses their job over this. The feed wasn't live on CBC or anything so I don't believe this would cause the CRTC to lay down any fines. Probably best for whoever was cursing in the background to privately apologize and be done with it. I thought Ball and Garrett were otherwise professional. They had some criticisms but nothing you wouldn't be able to broadcast on air - just maybe a little harsh/doom and gloom for two guys who are supposed to remain unbiased.
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