To bleep or not to bleep?
If President Donald Trump swears during a public appearance, should news organizations censor that swear word or let the audience hear/read it?
That was part of an interesting roundtable discussion during Sunday morning’s “Reliable Sources” on CNN. During his marathon speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on Saturday, Trump said the Russian probe is “bulls***.”
“Reliable Sources” host Brian Stelter noted that many of the Sunday morning news shows bleeped out the word, so he asked guest Olivia Nuzzi of New York Magazine if that was the right call.
“When the president curses, I think it’s really important for us not to bleep it, not to use stars or other symbols when we write about it in print,’’ said Nuzzi, a Washington correspondent for the magazine. “I think it’s important that we don’t treat viewers or readers like children, and that we let them see and hear the president for who he really is.”
Whether or not to show Trump uncensored depends on what the president says, and context must be considered. But as a general rule, I would lean toward being conservative and bleeping out the word. If a media organization can bleep out or cover up the word and still let its audience know exactly what the president said, that organization is still doing its job without offending anyone. For example, in this item, I used symbols to cover up what the president said, yet you still know what the offensive word was.
Some might argue that when we bleep out a word, we’re softening it and, therefore, we’re protecting the person who said it. I don’t see it that way. The words are still coming through. Ultimately, news organizations need to report the news, but in a way that is as accessible as possible to an audience that is young and old, liberal and conservative. If it can tell an accurate story without turning off its audience, it is fulfilling its obligations.
Stelter made the best point of all when he said, “It’s definitely complicated. I can see both sides, but it’s a problem newsrooms shouldn’t have to have, right? Because the president should act presidential — we wouldn’t have to worry about whether children can watch our broadcasts.”
(Editor’s note: It is Poynter’s editorial policy to strike out most profanity in the stories that it covers.)
Remembering a legend
Greek photojournalist Yannis Behrakis in 2016. Behrakis died at 58 this weekend of cancer. (AP Photo/Enric Marti)
Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist Yannis Behrakis died Saturday after a long battle with cancer. He was 58. Behrakis spent most of his career with Reuters and his most powerful images came during times of conflict.
“I’m there to record the best and the worst of humankind,” Behrakis said in his Reuters biography. “This is my contribution to world peace.”
Behrakis, born in Greece in 1960, led a team of Reuters’ photojournalists who won the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for covering the refugee crisis impacting Europe.
Best exchange
Chuck Todd on Feb. 20, 2019. (Photo: Faye Sadou/MediaPunch /IPX)
NBC “Meet the Press” host Chuck Todd gets the persistence award for the weekend.
During an appearance on Sunday’s “MTP,” Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) tried to defend Trump by pointing out others in the administration who were not credible. To which Todd astutely asked: “Why does the president surround himself with people who can’t tell the truth?”
Jordan shot back, “You’re missing the big problem.”
Todd then said, “You’re not answering my question. Why does the president surround himself with people who can’t tell the truth to law enforcement or Congress?”
Jordan ducked the question until Todd asked it a third time. At that point, Jordan said, “The president’s surrounded himself with some people that maybe he shouldn’t, I don’t know.”
Check it out
The Washington Post’s Katie Mettler writes about how a black man says he outsmarted a neo-Nazi group and became its new leader.
Rolling Stone climate reporter Jeff Goodell on the “Doomsday glacier.”
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette columnist Gene Collier writes about longtime Pittsburgh newspaper news and sports columnist Roy McHugh, who died last week at the age of 103.
Upcoming Poynter training:
- The Flying Camera: Drone Photography Skills (webinar series). Begins March 11.
- Covering Jails: Addiction Behind Bars (webinar). March 13 at 3 p.m. EST.
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