Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, June 13, 1993 TAG: 9306130014
SECTION: HORIZON PAGE: D-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By RITA CIOLLI NEWSDAY
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Observers of the language used in print, radio and television news said it has become racier and more streetwise.
"There is a lot less priggishness," said Don Fry, faculty member at the Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, Fla. He said that over the past five years, entertainment programming, primarily on cable television, has pushed the edge of what is acceptable.
"At the end of the day we tend to reflect the sensibilities of our audience. And that audience generally speaking has become more tolerant of language that once would have been considered out of bounds in polite society," said David Bartlett, president of the Radio-Television News Directors Association.
Most often the risque language is found in the feature sections of newspapers or soft news segments of broadcasts, and usually is confined to direct quotations. "There is a different standard for casual language," Fry said.
The really bad words have not often been seen or heard in news media that have large, general audiences. On the airwaves, the Federal Communications Commission, which regulates the radio and television industry, can fine a broadcaster or suspend a license for indecency. Instead, it is the off-color phrases, often with sexual connotations or excretory functions, that find their way into stories.
Not too long ago, "damn" wasn't permitted either on the air or in print; now it is fairly common.
"Words that entered the language as genuine industrial-strength swearwords are part of fairly normal parlance and tend to show up in print and on television news programs," said Bartlett. " `Pissed-off' used to be a lot heavier and a lot dirtier than it is today," he said.
Indeed, that phrase, and its variations, are finding their way into newspapers more often than before. "Such language is more common in ordinary life; these are not just words heard on athletic fields or in the barracks anymore," said Anthony Marro, editor of Newsday.
"We try not to be casual or gratuitous in the use of vulgarities. Sometimes, in context, to show the extent of anger, terror, frustration or to reflect the bitterness of a debate we will use it," he said. Marro said that younger reporters and editors were more likely to seek inclusion of these words in their stories.
Yet, there already may be signs of a backlash. National Public Radio, which has in the past used earthy terms, including the dirtiest of them all in a report on mobster John Gotti, has strict new guidelines.
"We are tightening up. We are more careful today than we were before. We think there is greater sensitivity and we work harder at making sure the language we use is acceptable," said William Buzenberg, vice president for news at NPR. "We have heard from a lot of stations and a lot of listeners," he said.
As a result, more "beeps" are being heard on NPR. And if there is an absolute need to use the worrisome language, local stations are notified and additional warnings to listeners are made during the broadcast.
"There is quite a bit of interest in indecency, there are an awful lot of complaints," said Edythe Wise, chief of the complaint bureau at the Federal Communications Commission. The FCC investigates complaints that are documented with either a tape or transcript of the broadcast and the specific time and date it was aired. In April, there were 19 documented complaints; there were nine in March and eight in February.
A Tennessee listener filed such a complaint with the FCC contending that it was indecent for NPR to have used the four-letter word, 10 times, in its "All Things Considered" report on Gotti. The broadcast contained excerpts of the enforcement wiretaps used as evidence against Gotti.
The FCC dismissed the complaint, and the listener took the case to court. A federal appeals court in Washington is expected to issue a decision soon on whether the FCC should have upheld the complaint.
by CNB