[rfu-automation] Re: what's in a word?

[Andrew Ó Baoill]

The truth is a little bit of column A, a little bit of column B.

The FCC does not operate on the basis of a list of 'seven dirty words'  
- indecency is judged on the basis of context, references to excretion  
and/or sexual functions, etc., with an overall judgement then being  
made by the FCC on a case-by-case basis. It's for this reason that a  
piece without any recognized 'dirty words' but clearly containing  
innuendo can fall foul of the words.

The standard used by the FCC varies over time. In recent years they  
have become more strict - in part because of pressure from  
Commissioner Copps, a Democrat who has just been named acting chair of  
the Commission. In particular, 'fleeting expletives' (such as Bono's F- 
bomb at the Grammies) have been judged to breach the rules. [In this  
way they have moved from arguing that 'fuck' is indecent when used in  
a sexual context to arguing that the word is inherently bound up in  
notions of coarse sexuality, and that almost any use of the word must  
be a breach of the indecency rule - so still not a 'list of words' but  
moving closer in that direction, without providing clear guidance on  
what other words would fall under the same criteria.]

Thus, 'ass' is, as Joe notes, not necessarily a breach of the rules,  
but it might be judged to be a breach depending on context - including  
the fact that this is a recorded track, that it's been added to our  
automation library, and that we have edited other tracks for decency  
(whether this would count for or against us is an open question).

Again, my recommendation (if this hasn't yet been acted on) is that  
someone check the log, remove the track in question from the  
automation, and that we then review it and decide whether we are  
comfortable re-adding it.

Andrew

On Jan 27, 2009, at 12:00 PM, rfu-automation- 
request at lists.chambana.net wrote:

> Date: Tue, 27 Jan 2009 11:45:05 -0600 (CST)
> From: Raymond Morales <morales4 at illinois.edu>
>
> I do not agree with this interpretation.
>
> The general gold standard is the following words:
> f**k
> Sh**
> b**ch
> c**t
>
> I believe that d**n and a$$ is also not acceptable, but I am not  
> 100% sure. I am not saying that this is 100% codified, however, it  
> has proven to be the accepted rule of thumb. Saying it live by  
> accident and unintentially under non-obscene contexts is acceptable,  
> but I am not of the opinion that music contain these words should be  
> on automation. Obviously one can be obscene without using any of  
> these words, but, as far as being profane, I would be of the opinion  
> that these words would get us into trouble with the FCC. I would  
> rather air on the side of caution on this particular matter.
>
> -Ray
> ---- Original message ----
>> Date: Tue, 27 Jan 2009 10:25:05 -0600
>> From: Joe Futrelle <futrelle at shout.net>
>> Subject: Re: [rfu-automation] Fwd: song with profanity
>> To: Stephen Fonzo <fonzo.stephen at gmail.com>
>> Cc: rfu-automation at lists.chambana.net
>>
>>  It is not correct that the word "ass" is not
>>  permitted--there is no specific set of "forbidden
>>  words" that the FCC uses when judging complaints.
>>  I'm not arguing against removing the song, if the
>>  context of the word was such that it seems likely to
>>  be considered profanity. I'm just making sure people
>>  understand that there is no list of forbidden words,
>>  and so we should be looking for profane material on
>>  the basis of its content, not just its choice of
>>  words.
>>
>>  On Tue, Jan 27, 2009 at 12:03 AM, Stephen Fonzo
>>  <fonzo.stephen at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>    The quickest solution is to view the Zara log, see
>>    what track was playing at that time, and then
>>    either remove or edit the song.  I can check this
>>    tomorrow, try to find and then remove the track,
>>    and if someone else in the Automation group wants
>>    to edit it (if this will help; otherwise, don't
>>    bother), they can do so later.
>>
>>    -Stephen
>>
>>    ---------- Forwarded message ----------
>>    From: Raymond Morales <rmorales02 at gmail.com>
>>    Date: Mon, Jan 26, 2009 at 9:43 PM
>>    Subject: song with profanity
>>    To: Andrew Ó Baoill <andrew at funferal.org>, dan
>>    blah <dan.blah at gmail.com>, Nicole Pion
>>    <nicole.pion at gmail.com>, Stephen Fonzo
>>    <fonzo.stephen at gmail.com>
>>
>>    I listed to WRFU and at 9:34pm on my car radio,
>>    there was a hip-hop/jazzy sort of song with kids
>>    singing the hook about taking it to the top. The
>>    word ASS was explicitly used and that is not
>>    permitted as far as I know outside of 10 pm and 6
>>    am. I believe that this should be removed, but I
>>    have no clue what song it is or who added it. I
>>    heard this group on our rotation before, but this
>>    is the first time that I have heard anything that
>>    is profane.
>>
>>    -Ray


>>