Bleeping 'HOLY SH*T!' from the videos

[Hail Ants]

In the case of the planes impacting the WTC the videotapes are showing the instantaneous deaths of dozens of people. And with the towers collapsing the deaths of thousands.

Why in the name of God does the media bleep the exclamation shit from the audio?

Are they saying that yelling shit is somehow more traumatic than what we are seeing?
In that context shit is what, offensive?
Do they think the FCC is going to fine them for it?
Do they think they are going to offend or alienate viewers?
Do they not see how these exclamations punctuate the seriousness of what is happening and by editing them out they are in effect saying, "Well this is terrible, but goodness gracious no potty language!"?!

[Guinastasia]

Wait-I thought we were ALLOWED to say shit on TV now?

I do know that yesterday, when I saw that video of the crash, where the woman is screaming OH MY GOD over and over, i swear, I heard someone say, 'Fucking christ!'

[TexasSpur]

Yesterday, Dan Rather let them use a tape that had "fuck" and "motherfucker" on it. He just warned viewers before hand.

[Toaster]

CBS had the cursing videos -- at the time, they had not reviewed them, so they couldn't really bleep...although I saw the video again today, only "fuck" is bleeped. Other curse words I've heard.

[Hail Ants]

Sometimes (usually when it aires for the first few times) its still there. But most of the time its been edited out.

And I reiterate. What Dan Rather is saying is: I must warn you that you're about to hear some naughty words. And, oh yes, see the horrible, fiery death of dozens of innocent people.

[Toaster]

Maybe it's in case parents have their small-to-middlin' children watching to understand what's happening, because of course they never hear those words at school or in their PG movies or from relatives?

[Enola Straight]

With the utter enormity of the situation, editing SHIT
from broadcasts became rather irrelevant.

[bdgr]

I get some of the news feeds un-edited(one of the joys of owning one of those big ugly satalite dishes), so I got to hear all kinds of profanity on some of them.

[Enderw24]

My take on it:

every day in America we see death and destruction on the news. No one is allowed to curse. Every night in prime time there are drama shows of mass murder and explosions. No one is allowed to curse though.

Yesterday we saw horrific events on television. 10,000 times worse than normal, but we're used to death and destruction. Cursing is still taboo.

Not that I agree with the logic, but it's the best explanation I can come up with.

[Flymaster]

I haven't seen any cursing bleeped, myself, and I've been watching CNN. Even when they're talking over the side view, where the guy yells "OH SHIT" as the second plane hits, or the video of the first plane, when the fireman says the same, over and over, it's loud enough to hear the profanity.

Whoever was anchoring at the time it was first played said, after it played, "Under the circumstances, the profanity is understandable."

I have not, however, seen the "fucking Christ" video, or at least heard the audio, but my friend saw it, and pointed it out as they were saying it.

[super_head]

I saw the "oh shit, holy shit" footage when CNN first aired it - and they left the sound intact completely. As the 2nd plane hit the building, either the guy filming or one of his friends let out the string of bad words quoted above, with more of a panic in his voice than an oh-cool sound.

When the clip was over, the CNN anchor basically said "I don't think we can really argue with the expletive."

I thought it was the perfect comment for the clip, and for people who would say they should edit the sounds of disaster from the tape.

[Barbarian]

My Canadian station didn't censor anything.

[kabbes]

No pathetic attempts to sanitise reality on the BBC. The only word they avoid is "cunt".

I find the whole notion... pitiable. You're supposed to be reporting what happened. Well, this is what happened. All of it. Including the reaction at the time.

It's just a fucking word. 5000+ people are being fucking killed. Have a sense of fucking perspective.

pan

[super_head]

I'd like to add that apparently CNN isn't censoring the video - I saw it again late last night and they left every word intact. Apparently they realize that "golly gosh darn" just doesn't convey the horror of the situation, so kudos to them.

[caircair]

There is a time and a place for everything, even such language as this. And if this is NOT the time and place, would someone tell me when it is permissable? The sheer magnitude of this makes "Oh my God!" pale in comparison. Since I suspect the words spoken in a visceral nature, i.e. without malice or thought, simply spoken from the soul, then no. They should not be bleeped.

But again, the networks and cable stations are operating under their normal rules even when it seems such rules shouldn't apply. At this point, the rules are all they had to go on, so that's why they did what they did.

I don't agree, but I understand.

[tiny ham]

Originally posted by super_head
When the clip was over, the CNN anchor basically said "I don't think we can really argue with the expletive."

I wish the anchor had said "holy shit....indeed." I mean, I'd like a little humanity from some of these people. This is why I'm listening to my normal talk radio shows. People are reacting like people, not anchors. I mean, Peter Jennings said "We're trying to figure out what the hell is going on here" and I nearly cheered for an innocuous word like hell. He was showing the real peter jennings.

It's like that Onion headline "HOLY LIVING SHIT. MAN LANDS ON THE FUCKING MOON"

that's how (some) real people talk!

[Syzygy]

And let's not forget that people are wasting time editing curse words out of videos, rather than using their time in a more useful fashion.

As for radio, Opie and Anthony (NYC radio personalities), not being able to use their regular studio in the city, have been given a studio (in Brooklyn?) so they can continue to broadcast. The thing is, they don't have the capabilities to put their broadcast on delay in the temporary studio, as they do in NYC. So they've been letting all sorts of profanity over the airwaves, only warning callers after a couple of usages. Their philosophy is, people need to express their sadness and anger, and that shouldn't be subject to censorship. I say good for them.

[Nutty Bunny]

When news anchors were showing us amateur videos, they would warn us about it being "unedited" video. I assumed they meant there might be some grisly scenes, but they meant there might be profanity?

So, it's okay for them to show a man falling to his death, but it's not okay for him to be yelling "Shit" on the way down. Do I have that correct?

[zut]

While watching news coverage on Tuesday, ABC (I think; I was flipping channels) showed a tape of some emergency personnel clearing the street; the guy in charge was yelling "get the fuck out of the way! Everyone get the fuck out of the way!" It was kind of muffled, but recognizable.

Later, Peter Jennings was interviewing someone, live, who had just gotten out of the World Trade Center in the nick of time, and was still in the area when the first tower collapsed. "What did you do then?" asked Peter. "Well, I ran like Hell," was the answer. "I think we would all run like Hell," was Peter's comment. Quite appropriate.