Spotlight - Debate » Watch your mouth!

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January 30, 2009

Watch your mouth!

Chi paga il canone radiotelevisivo vuole veramente un etere pulito o le emittenti dovrebbero
utilizzare lo stesso linguaggio che viene usato nel quotidiano?

Public broadcasting in Britain was rocked by a big scandal late last year. It started when celebrity presenter Jonathan Ross and comedian Russell Brand (at left in the photo) left lewd messages on an actor’s answer phone as part of a BBC Radio 2 broadcast.
The messages said that Brand had “fucked” the granddaughter of Andrew Sachs, known for his role in the classic comedy series Fawlty Towers.

The flood of complaints from the public led to Brand having to leave his radio show. Ross, the BBC’s best-paid broadcaster, was suspended for three months without pay.
Mark Thompson, director general of the BBC, apologized to the public, saying that “there are absolute boundaries which we must never cross”.

What are these boundaries, though, and who defines them? As a public broadcaster funded by licence fees, the BBC has a responsibility to keep to programming standards that protect the public it serves, especially people under the age of 18, from “offensive and harmful material”.
One way the BBC and other television broadcasters do this is by protecting what’s called the 9 p.m. wate before 9 p.m., scenes of sex, violence and swearing are restricted.
Similar rules exist for radio. Ofcom, the official regulator for the communications industry, can cite or fine anyone who violates the Broadcasting Code, which says that “the most offensive language must not be broadcast before the watershed”.

Does this method of regulation work? A YouGov study carried out right after the “Sachsgate” scandal found that 57 per cent of Britons think there’s too much swearing on TV. Yet some of the most popular programmes include a lot of bad language. The show with famous cook Gordon Ramsay seems to have a near monopoly on the word “fuck”.
In the media, as in real life, the effect swearing has depends on its context: live comedy, a crime drama or a documentary about troubled teenagers would be more likely than other programmes to include swearing. Broadcasters can also warn people of potentially offensive material before programmes begin, which is one way they keep their creative freedom. Mark Thompson pointed this out in an Observer newspaper editorial, saying, “The BBC must always
dare to be original.”

8 Comments »

No, I wouldn’t have it on the television. I wrote to the television people and said until they
put some sensible stuff on that I could watch, I wasn’t going to buy a television licence.

Comment by Mrs I. Baxter — April 30, 2009 @ 3:33 pm
If the context is right, then it’s acceptable. I think with people like Russell Brand [and]
Jonathan Ross you expect it to a certain extent, and people generally accept it.

Comment by Jonathon Kenworthy — April 30, 2009 @ 3:34 pm
I think so, probably because it’s everyday. Most people do it a lot. I think public television
should be a sort of representation of real life, so it makes sense to have it.

Comment by Lisa Grijzenhout — April 30, 2009 @ 3:34 pm
I think most people are adult enough to know what sort of programme they’re watching
and that there could be, obviously, potential of swearing, depending on that context.

Comment by Julian Bradford — April 30, 2009 @ 3:35 pm
In comedy shows, maybe you can understand having it. But in a cookery show, it’s not really
needed — and if it’s on before nine o’clock, certainly not.

Comment by Steve Williams — April 30, 2009 @ 3:36 pm
I can’t imagine any situation in which that would be acceptable.
When it’s suddenly coming out at you from the radio or television with young children around, it’s unnecessary.

Comment by Helen Collier — April 30, 2009 @ 3:36 pm
In broadcasting, they should be a bit more careful about what they say; and there are certain
heavy words like the F-word that I think we should really avoid.

Comment by Richard Talbot — April 30, 2009 @ 3:37 pm
One or two swear words wouldn’t really offend me, but a lot of swearing does. When it’s out of context and it’s swearing just to use bad words, I don’t like it.

Comment by Avril Baker — April 30, 2009 @ 3:37 pm

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Spotlight - Debate

January 30, 2009

Watch your mouth!

8 Comments »

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