Some words are only allowed to be said a certain number of times per TV episode. Writing for Life’s Little Mysteries, Natalie Wolchover (2011) argues that the USA’s Federal Communications Commission (FCC) guidelines are difficult for the average viewer to fathom as the FCC does not make a list of banned swear words publicly available. Wolchover argues that the FCC ‘leaves it up to programmers to tread carefully through the murky waters of its regulations.’ These murky laws also affect audiences in Australia (where I live), since a great deal of our TV programming comes from America. “No one is going to tell you what you can and cannot do, because it changes on a case-by-case basis… What you would do if you were a TV programmer is look through all the case law and see what the FCC has acted on in the past.” Wolchover contacted FCC media relations spokesperson Janice Wise for clarification about the swearing guidelines and she felt none the wiser for it. So is it the case that in some cases the same swear words are more or less offensive than others? In The Social Construction of Reality, sociologists Peter Berger and Thomas Luckmann (1967) illustrate that human communication relies on verbal signs and visual symbols that take on different meaning in particular contexts. Yet when it comes to particular swear words being said on television, why do regulatory bodies censor on a case by case basis and why can they not be clear about which swear words are especially offensive and why?Īustralia has its own regulation agencies, of course. The Australian Press Council has been referred to as a ‘toothless tiger’ by media analysts. For example, see the September announcement of the Labor Goverment’s media inquiry in the The Australian (Franklin and Chessell 2011) and the Sydney Morning Herald (Taylor 2011), and the coverage of November hearings of NEWS Limited chairman and chief executive John Hartigan in The Australian (2011). In fact, the media enquiry seems to show that journalists watch the TV show Media Watch ‘ with trepidation’, fearing its critique more than a rebuke by the Press Council. George carlin youtube national press club tv# Polite use of language is shaped through context. It can be determined by culture, such as in the difference between language use in Japan and Australia (Obana and Takako 1994), as well as particular situations. Generally, research has found that men swear more than women, but this also depends on context. Swear words are used to add emphasis to masculinity, but younger people of different genders tend to swear just as much as one another (Newman et al. ![]() At public schools, swearing is sometimes conceived as an act of resistance but not necessarily meant to be offensive or malicious (Plank et. Melanie Burns (2008) argues that swearing serves two social functions. First, it is a physiological release of energy – in this sense, swearing is a socially-sanctioned way to express aggression. Second, swearing is a sociolinguistic marker. ![]() It helps people to express their belonging to special cultures and subcultures. George carlin youtube national press club tv#.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |