What to do with ****hole?

[HanSenSE]

Saw this tweet on a friend's feed, and of course it inspired me to start the usual navel-gazing thread here.

 

[Deskgrunt50]

The “president” said it. Report it.

This is where we are.

 

[Shropshire Slasher]

I’d bet most newspapers (Times notwithstanding) edited the word, but I think the seal has been broken. You will see more unedited instances of every curse word except the F-bomb going forward.

 

[matt_garth]

Saw this tweet on a friend's feed, and of course it inspired me to start the usual navel-gazing thread here.

This would be the publisher of the Post-Gazette:

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette publisher hangs on Donald Trump’s jet in a ‘more than memorable’ experience

 

[wicked]

I’d bet most newspapers (Times notwithstanding) edited the word, but I think the seal has been broken. You will see more unedited instances of every curse word except the F-bomb going forward.

I thought we moved past that when the Post published Cheney telling Leahy to go **** homself.

 

[Rhody31]

Doesn't matter who said it. You don't run it. You either print those things all the time or you don't.

 

[User 4332]

I find the conundrum that broadcasters faced last night more intriguing than newspaper publishers.

NBC was apparently the only over-the-air network to use the president's words in full: Trump calls Haiti and African countries '****hole' nations

I'm curious how their affiliates handled that, and whether any complaints will be forthcoming to the FCC.

 

[Kato]

The President of the United States said it. ... About certain countries. ... In regards to our immigration policy. ... In which people from those countries are here or are trying to come here. ...

Print it.

 

[User 149557]

 

[playthrough]

What is going overboard on being safe? Reading NYT story about this, it said that Wolf Blitzer opted for "s-hole." That struck me as weird.

 

[Southwinds]

Doesn't matter who said it. You don't run it. You either print those things all the time or you don't.

Incorrect. In this regard, quotes are not unlike photographs. If the quote is so powerful and so moving that it will have a great impact on the population, you must run it.

 

[reformedhack]

The word, and its use by the president in a flagrant act of anti-diplomacy, is the news. You run it.

I wouldn't put it in the headline, myself, but in text? Oh, you bet.

I will note that CNN had the word in four places on its homepage this afternoon.

 

[jr/shotglass]

My first question would be, who specifically are we protecting by not running it? And if you have the answer, look at your answer and ask if it is more important than the quote itself.

 

[tapintoamerica]

What do we do with ****hole? Put Trump in it.

 

[Donny in his element]

NPR's Approach To A Reported Presidential Profanity Evolves

"One aside: Some listeners have referenced Federal Communications Commission regulations when asking about NPR's thinking around this issue. Profanity is generally prohibited between the hours of 6 a.m. and 10 p.m., but cases are evaluated individually and the FCC takes into account context (including news value). If listeners lodge complaints, stations could incur legal fees defending the decision or see delays in renewing their broadcast licenses. Memmott said, "I think we have a strong case. This is news. This is important news."

 

[britwrit]

Back in 2008, the Times tiptoed around this issue in its obit of Earl Butz. The lead was....

Earl L. Butz, who orchestrated a major change in federal farm policy as secretary of agriculture during the 1970s but came to be remembered more for a vulgar racial comment that brought about his resignation during the 1976 presidential election race, died Saturday in Washington. Mr. Butz, who lived in West Lafayette, Ind., was 98.

Then, after several graphs that dealt mainly with his rural childhood and American agricultural policy in the 20th century, they came to the only thing that he's still remembered for....

Mr. Butz made a remark in which he described blacks as “coloreds” who wanted only three things — satisfying sex, loose shoes and a warm bathroom — desires that Mr. Butz listed in obscene and scatological terms.

Then, more on his all-American upbringing and a heart-warming anecdote to bring it all home.

During his first months in office, Mr. Butz anticipated at least some of the tumult he would bring to the national political scene. “When President Nixon asked me to come to Washington, he told me he wanted a vigorous spokesman for agriculture,” he told Julius Duscha for an article in The New York Times Magazine in April 1972. “I told him at the time I was sworn in, ‘Mr. President, you may have a more vigorous spokesman than you want.’ "

Earl L. Butz, Secretary Felled by Racial Remark, Is Dead at 98

 

[Slacker]

This would be the publisher of the Post-Gazette:

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette publisher hangs on Donald Trump’s jet in a ‘more than memorable’ experience

Beware of publishers wearing bow ties.



(Yes, I know: Beware of publishers wearing bow ties.)

 

[Slacker]

Back in 2008, the Times tiptoed around this issue in its obit of Earl Butz. The lead was....


Then, after several graphs that dealt mainly with his rural childhood and American agricultural policy in the 20th century, they came to the only thing that he's still remembered for....


Then, more on his all-American upbringing and a heart-warming anecdote to bring it all home.

Earl L. Butz, Secretary Felled by Racial Remark, Is Dead at 98

For all you youngsters out there, the uncensored version ...

Butz started by telling a dirty joke involving intercourse between a dog and a skunk. When the conversation turned to politics, Boone, a right-wing Republican, asked Butz why the party of Lincoln was not able to attract more blacks. The Secretary responded with a line so obscene and insulting to blacks that it forced him out of the Cabinet last week and jolted the whole Ford campaign. Butz said: "I'll tell you what the coloreds want. It's three things: first, a tight *****; second, loose shoes; and third, a warm place to ****." – WIKI

I recall it being bastardized pretty quickly as "loose shoes, tight ***** and a warm place to ****."

 

[Doc Holliday]

So my question here is, what did your media/employer decide to do with it?

My newspaper ****-canned it. No way was it publishing ****hole no matter who said it.

 

[SoloFlyer]

What is going overboard on being safe? Reading NYT story about this, it said that Wolf Blitzer opted for "s-hole." That struck me as weird.

NBC did that Friday night and it sounded like the reporter said 'asshole'.