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Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Cursing Allowed

George Carlin is turning over in his grave; his 7 words you can't say on TV can now be said on TV! "A federal appeals court struck down a Federal Communications Commission policy on indecency Tuesday, saying that regulations barring the use of “fleeting expletives” on radio and television violated the First Amendment because they were vague and could inhibit free speech." While this ruling will most likely reach a higher court, it temporarily allows poor language to be used.

And you know what I say - hooray! It is time for a bit of self-regulation. Have we lost our way in the polite way to speak. Sure there are those that only know curse and need to populate each other word in their sentences with one; but for others, the English language holds unlimited word choices to convey our emotions, attitudes, and desires. And let the consumer and economy determine whether they will listen to poor language or not. These curse words will never go away. But we can make a conscious choice in our behavior, especially on TV and radio, not to lean on them too heavily. Do we really need government regulation to be the judge? If you don't like what you are seeing or hearing, turn the dial or the channel. That is ultimately how you can shape content.