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Should cable news networks use profanity on-air?

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tall_guy1

tall_guy1

I am making this topic in regards to their coverage of the president's interview. Should TV news networks make an effort to not use profanity on-air in regards to coverage of things like that? I think there are ways to cover it without using such language, but what are your thoughts?
 
Equally important ... Should the President use this kind of profanity when performing his official duties in the Oval Office?
 
The news channels themselves discussed this quite a bit internally before going with the story. I agree that on the surface, it's not a word that's acceptable to use on any air, whether it's cable or broadcast. But when the president says it, it becomes news, and that's the justification. The issue is whether or not the president actually said it, or they're just repeating what others say he said. And then, how often you say it, and if you say it in the context in which it was originally said, vs. just saying it in other situations.

I'm for saying it as little as possible. No need to repeat it just because you can. What some channels did was show the quote from the Washington Post, which is the organization that broke the news. Some then read the quote, warning viewers before they said it. Others just said it. Some bleeped it out. Some put asterisks in a few key letters. I felt there was no need for guests to repeat it during discussion. Yet some did. I find it funny that religious organizations seem to feel it was OK.

From the legal side, it's really only a problem for broadcasters if someone complains to the FCC. Until that happens, it's just a matter of personal taste. Should one have cable news on in your house with little kids in the area? Probably not. That subject was also discussed on TV. But then again, what does the supposed use of this language say about the people we have in government. That's a topic for another place.
 
America is not the only country where the press has to decide to air the president's rant or not when profanity is included.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-36251094

Even in the Philippines the media there had to make decisions similar to what the cable news/talk channels have to make here over how to cover the president's rants with profanity.

However I say its damn if you do and damn if you don't cover the president.
 
TheBigA said:
From the legal side, it's really only a problem for broadcasters if someone complains to the FCC. Until that happens, it's just a matter of personal taste. Should one have cable news on in your house with little kids in the area? Probably not. That subject was also discussed on TV. But then again, what does the supposed use of this language say about the people we have in government. That's a topic for another place.
Click to expand...

Inside Edition said the FCC as received a dozen complaints so far. (I don't know what time they tape Inside Edition. In my area it airs at 7PM Eastern). I don't know if they said the word on any of the networks - CBS, ABC, FOX, NBC, PBS, but I wonder if the general public knows the FCC has no jurisdiction over cable networks.
 
I doubt very much that any local broadcast TV station said the word. I listened to several radio stations today, and none of them, including the BBC, used the word, but referenced the story.

However I just watched CNN and they not only had the word in bold letters at the bottom of the screen, their host (Don Lemon) continually used the word.
 
tall_guy1 said:
I am making this topic in regards to their coverage of the president's interview. Should TV news networks make an effort to not use profanity on-air in regards to coverage of things like that? I think there are ways to cover it without using such language, but what are your thoughts?
Click to expand...

I don't think that stuff matters anymore at this point. One can find YouTube talk show hosts airing profanity when they are ranting about the president too. I don't think people care if Cable News airs profanity from the president or the pundits. But if one is worried about children getting exposed to this content then one has to take precautions like don't let your children watch Cable News/talk or watch some YouTube talk shows. How that gets enforced who knows how that really gets implemented in practice.
 
CNN is using the "s-hole" term today during daytime hours, but are using the full-term after 7pm eastern. Probably a great debate on this within the CNN boardroom today. Welcome to our new news reality due to an unconventional President. That is the best description I can give without this getting too political.
 
dhett said:
He wouldn't be the first to do so. Some were celebrated for it.
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Truman, LBJ, and Nixon were (in)famous for it. JFK allegedly also had his moments. Ike was a military man, so 4-letter words were no stranger to him, although he didn't use them in public.

Truman once made a joke about being "forced" to say "manure" in public. He said that his wife had been trying to get him to use that term instead of "the other one" for 40 years. :D
 
TheBigA said:
I doubt very much that any local broadcast TV station said the word. I listened to several radio stations today, and none of them, including the BBC, used the word, but referenced the story.

However I just watched CNN and they not only had the word in bold letters at the bottom of the screen, their host (Don Lemon) continually used the word.
Click to expand...

I've heard the word so often on CNN in the past couple of days that I thought they'd hired Bobby Knight or Mike Ditka as a news writer. :D
 
Don CT said:
Cable networks can swear all they want and the FCC can't do a thing about it.
Click to expand...

True all one can do is not watch the cable talk shows or in some cases certain companies like a gym chain that I mentioned on other threads will cut their cable packages where cable News/talk channels are not included on Gym owned TV screens.
 
Don CT said:
Cable networks can swear all they want and the FCC can't do a thing about it.
Click to expand...

But the ones that cater to children or to seniors are more likely to prohibit or censor swearing, or at least words stronger than "hell" and "damn" and possibly "suck," all of which were no-nos when I was a kid. Would the elderly be offended by "shithole" being said during coverage of a news story involving the president they way they probably would be if some character in a sitcom or a movie were to say it?
 
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