Poynter’s Al Tompkins offers a real-live ethics question: When Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter says “asshole” during a TV interview about another shooting in his town, do you run it? Trim it? Do something different online?
My extra credit: Why does The Daily Show bleep the “hole” and not the “ass?”
One Response
I researched this extra credit question and found on the website provided that the most plausible answer is that it “could be used simply to get past censorship laws, as a half-hearted way of saying “look, we tried, honest.” I don’t feel that shows like The Daily Show care too much for cursing on air because they are very strong supporters of freedom of speech. Language is not a barrier on their show. However, shows such as Fox News will try and avoid any ‘bad language’ because they do not want to get angry emails and complaints that will drop their ratings. The Daily Show does not have to worry about bad language dropping its ratings.