Cursing in the newsroom

What can/do you get away with? Our EIC isn't afraid to drop F-bombs in the middle of the day in the newsroom, but there are certain folks in the newsroom, especially at night when it's usually more freewheeling, that are sensitive to it.

I'm sure we could all stand to curse less, but sometimes a "cocksucker motherfucker," or whatever you prefer, directed at your computer or SE is warranted. It'd just be nice to know that if one or 10 slips out, I won't have to fear reprisal.

 

fuck 'em

 

Feed 'em fish heads.

 

I've never worked in a newsroom where it wasn't OK to curse.

 

Sam Kinison blushed after listening to me converse with my office computer.

 

We used to have an assistant section editor who would call you curse names and then bust your balls if you didn't call him curse names back when the next opportunity presented itself.

 

My old ME warned people before hiring them that a newsroom often has colorful language and if they were going to have a real problem with it then they may not want to work nights at the paper.
During the day it is expected that we won't cuss loudly, though I have seen many, many meltdowns both during the day and at night.
My favorite ones involve people punching walls and throwing inanimate objects around the newsroom.

 

What newsroom doesn't allow cursing? Fucking buncha pansywaist cunts!

 

It's not so much that it's not allowed -- like I said, the EIC loves to do it at the most inappropriate times -- but there's one lady in the office who freaks out and will tell on you if she hears too many f-bombs and the like. Hostile work environment or some fucking bullshit like that, they call it.

 

There are a bunch of pansies on the news copy desk here and I got in trouble one night for dropping three straight f-bombs. They narked me off the next day to the EE and I was told to try and swear quieter.

 

It's a pressure job. Computers crash, Quark eats pages. If that happens to somebody and they DON'T cuss, that's when I'm afraid. Those are the ones that eventually come back wielding firearms.

 

My fucks tend to resonate.






Ya heard me. [/groundskeeper willie]