el serracho

I am a long time listener and I have noticed a trend lately where NPR has allowed inappropriate language over the air. I am not a Puritan, I just expect more from NPR. This morning was the proverbial “last straw” for me—listening to a commentator use the term “ass-whopping” in a piece was inappropriate and unnecessary. In looking at NPR’s editorial guidelines, I found a section that states: “there are rare instances where we will permit use of profane or indecent languages for news or programmatic reasons. Such an instance is when the use of such language is so vital to the essence of the story that to excise or bleep it would be to distort it or blunt its power and meaning.” The writer of this piece could simply have used the term “whopping” and everyone would have gotten the point—I do not find any redeeming value in the use of “ass” for this story. I listen to NPR every day with my family because it is a place of refuge from the harsh noise that surrounds us.

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Christopher Aceto of Middlefield, CT on NPR Ombudsman: Kicking You Know What (via commenthell)

finds no value in the use of ass. ‘nuff said. 

(via luckyjimjd)