All of this week's readings for lecture dealt with profanity and obscenities and the debate over whether or not they should be printed. According to AP Style, they should not be used in stories unless they are part of a direct quote and have a compelling reason to be included. Writers are supposed to try and find a way to convey the message without actually using the "curse word." If it MUST be used, the story needs to be flagged at the top so that readers are warned before the read the story.
Personally, I think that the use of obscenities is vulgar and unnecessary. These such words are considered inappropriate and disrespectful by the public. Therefore, there is really no need to print them. I feel it is just setting yourself up for comments. People are going to be offended; that is a no brainer. That could be avoided by just not printing such words at all. If a word was completely necessary and the quote would not have the full effect without it, then I think it should be printed with a *, such as sh*t or dashes or something along those lines. I do not think that the actual word needs to be printed in order to convey the message to the audience. People are smart and they will get the idea. It will make sense to them.
My opinion also applies to broadcast media. I think that a "bleep" or such sound should be inserted to censor certain words that may have been said. People might argue that this is infringing on the freedom of speech and cashes with the First Amendment, but i just do not think profanity is necessary.
I agree that profanity is disrespectful to the public. However, what is the difference between printing "shit" and "s***"? Readers still know what the word is and the message you intend to send out? Do dashes in place of the last 3 letters really matter? Sure, the word isn't being printed, but you are intending for the reader to know it's there. I guess I just don't see how the latter is any less disrespectful than just printing the word. It really needs to be deleted all together.
ReplyDeleteI agree somewhat with both of you. First of all, I think swearing in the newspaper is mostly unnecessary. But I think there are certain situations where people need to see the quote exactly as it was said. I am mainly thinking about situations where "important" people use it like politicians etc. That being said, I agree with Stephanie in the sense that I don't believe s*** is a good option. People know what you're saying, so why even bother trying to hide it? If a word needs to be used, then I think the newspaper should go with it all the way. But I am of course saying this without any experience trying to make publishers and advertisers happy.
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