Poll: If a news story involves swearing, what should the press do?

If a news story involves swearing, what should the press do?

Write the story without using the words.
Use ******* to censor the words
Use f******, etc, to make sure people know which words were used.
Print the words in full.

Statistics Poll Stats

This Poll:

  • Votes: 476
  • Comments: 6
  • Added: June 2004

Comments:

F word

Print the f***ers

MrTrilby

The third option is laughable. If everyone knows what word is being said, one might as well write the word.

pdecaux

It depends on the publication and the demographics of its readership.

Vidableek

I agree with Trilby. If you are going to just use the first letter and blank out the rest, everyone will know what word was used so might as well use the whole thing. ******* is better.

Ruvelyn Ta-aca

I agree with Vidableek.

Filip

@MrTrilby:
I wouldn't say that it is laughable. For one, younger children reading the article (despite the unlikeliness of this happening) then they probably wouldn't have a clue as to what the word is. The mast majority of adults, on the other hand, would know what word the author is referring to. Then again I usually find that the asterisks make an article seem a little less obscene, even if I know what it is being referred to. :P

Browse our language polls:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25

Trustpilot