By Peter Johnson
USA Today
Published: 7/17/06
Excerpt:
News outlets were divided Monday over whether
to air or post an expletive used by President Bush during an unguarded
moment at the G8 summit in Russia.
CNN broadcast and posted unedited video. The New York Times and The Washington Post reported
the word in Web stories. On CBS, NBC, ABC, Fox News, MSNBC and USA
TODAY, the word was excised in videos and Web stories (though an audio
clip with a warning at USA Today included it). The Times and the Post said they'd publish the word today; USA Today will not.
CNN spokeswoman Christa Robinson says: "The word
is not one we would normally air on CNN, but when said by the president
in this context, we thought it was appropriate.
"The expletive ... was reflective of how these two world leaders talk with each other." ...
...But Bob Steele, who teaches journalism ethics at the Poynter Institute, says news organizations were right to use the word.
"You don't have to spend very long in a barber
or beauty shop or on the golf course or in the locker room to hear this
word," he says. "It may be tough on some people's ears, but this word
is not one that is high on the scale of offensiveness."
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