There has always been a struggle between free expression and censorship.

This week proved no different, when Philadelphia radio station Power 99 suspended radio jockeys Star and Buc Wild after they made an abusive call to an outsourcing center in India. In the live clip, which aired last year without complaint, Star exploded at the operator, calling her “a filthy rat-eater” and threatening to choke her.

Initially the racist and misogynistic comments went unabated. Only after a Power 99 employee posted the call on the station’s website for the world to hear, was the station inundated with complaints. The station has since suspended Star and Buc for one day and posted a formal apology on its website: “The Star & Buc Wild Show prides itself on walking on the edge. On December 15th, we crossed it. We know the pain racial slurs cause and apologize that this comedy segment went too far.” Community-affairs director Loraine Ballard Morrill said the whistle-blowing employee would also be reprimanded and given “sensitivity training.” Right punishment, wrong target.

Not surprisingly, this is not the first time that the jockeys have been in hot water. The pair was suspended from New York radio a few years back after Star made light of the death of singer Aaliyah in a plane crash, complete with sound effects of a plane crashing and a woman screaming.

Classy.

The suspension is likely due to the fact that Power 99 is owned by Clear Channel Communications, which adopted a “zero-tolerance” policy last year against on-air indecency in violation of Federal Communications Commission regulations. The record $1.75 million fine against smut king Howard Stern ostensibly has everyone since on his toes.

As a journalist, I find myself always conflicted with this notion of censorship. The freedom to verbalize conceivably anything is exhilarating, so inherently “American.” There is as much value and truth in the rogue opinion as there is in popular sentiment. I shudder to think of where society would be without the unbridled convictions of people like Frederick Douglass, Salman Rushdie, or Michael Moore. In a way, the filth of an ignorant shock jock is no less poignant than such thinkers.

But in a more accurate way, a line of decency that supercedes the so-called right to free expression exists. Or at least it should. Regardless of what the First Amendment or any regulations dictate, there are certain levels of dignity that we as human beings should expect out of each other. There are some words, ideas, images, etc. that, regardless of one’s political alignment, are indecent. Period.

This is manifested in everyday life. The way we carry ourselves or speak with a close friend is far different from the manner in which we act around say, a supervisor or our mothers. Why? If we all have the right to freedom of expression, anything should go. But it doesn’t. That is why a distinction is made between a breast-baring in an R-rated movie versus a major national sporting event. Memo to Janet Jackson: Impressionable viewers expect violence from football, not sexuality. The point is that expression is situational; mannerisms are fluid in varying contexts.

The problem that arises is the nebulous nature of indecency; one person’s entertainment can easily be considered lascivious by another. In the end, it is “the powers that be” that will have the final say. Comedian Bill Maher’s television show “Politically Incorrect” was cancelled despite soaring ratings, because parent company Disney deemed Maher’s post-Sept. 11 comments incendiary. Though it seems that those with the deepest pockets or most political leverage are society’s keeper, it is actually common citizens like you and me. The reason the government and major corporations censor is to keep the majority of the populace content, because there is no greater threat to them than lost votes or consumer dollars.

We as concerned citizens have a right and responsibility to play watchdog. In the case of Star and Buc Wild, outraged listeners proved to be the momentum for the duo’s suspension. In Gulport, Miss. this week, a library board abrogated a ban on “Daily Show” comedian Jon Stewart’s best-selling satirical book America, after criticism by local residents and out of state e-mails. We have the power to determine what is situationally appropriate and what is not. We need to keep a watchful eye; liberal where necessary and stringent otherwise. As author Hubert H. Humphrey put it, “The right to be heard does not automatically include the right to be taken seriously.”

Krishnamurthy can be reached at sowmyak@umich.edu