What "level" of profanity is censored on American media for radio edits of songs and such?
Censored words in American Media
There are a number of words that will earn you a costly FCC fine if you allow them to be played on the radio. Fuck, shit, dick, cock, and pussy are all definitely out (I'm always amused to hear songs on the radio that have at least half their lyrics bleeped out -- why even release them for general airplay?). Damn and hell are fine. Goddamn varies. Sometimes other terms that are innocuous in themselves but seem a little racy in context get bleeped as well, although that seems a little silly (I'm thinking of Kid Rock's "I'm gonna paint his town red, and then paint his wife white", where "white" got bleeped out -- I mean seriously, either you get it or you don't, but it's not really bleep-worthy profanity!)
I notice that sometimes this happens in Spanish songs around here as well, since people are likely to recognize all the naughty words. Which cracks me up, since I remember watching old Speedy Gonzales cartoons as a kid where they sang La Cucaracha in its entirety, including the line about "marijuana por fumar". Those cartoons were DEFINITELY not only for kids! (And Tex Avery was a freakin' genius....)
I notice that sometimes this happens in Spanish songs around here as well, since people are likely to recognize all the naughty words. Which cracks me up, since I remember watching old Speedy Gonzales cartoons as a kid where they sang La Cucaracha in its entirety, including the line about "marijuana por fumar". Those cartoons were DEFINITELY not only for kids! (And Tex Avery was a freakin' genius....)
I've heard "fuck" on the radio. I don't know if those instances were during the "safe harbor" time. You can get more information on other sites, such as http://ask.yahoo.com/20040220.html
I think that radio stations also edit songs voluntarily. I've heard "ho" bleeped out (although, if you object to that word, why are you airing that sort of song that uses the word to begin with?) Clear Channel, which owns a rather large percentage of radio stations, is big on censorship.
I think that radio stations also edit songs voluntarily. I've heard "ho" bleeped out (although, if you object to that word, why are you airing that sort of song that uses the word to begin with?) Clear Channel, which owns a rather large percentage of radio stations, is big on censorship.
I've noticed that recently a lot of songs that used to be censored on radio stations are now being played uncensored. It started maybe a few months ago.
It also varies from station to station -- one might play a heavily censored version of a song, while the next one on the dial plays the same song straight. Probably more refelctives at that point of internal policy than legal constraints.
How come "new" swearwords never arise? Soon all swearwords will be stale and unoffensive and then how can you offend if you don't create new ones?