Mon 29 Mar 2010 In: New Zealand Daily News View at Wayback View at NDHA
The words "cocksucker" and "faggot" have been ranked among the top ten most unacceptable words to use in broadcasting. The Broadcasting Standards Authority asked 1,500 people whether they found a list of 31 swear words acceptable or unacceptable when used in 10 different scenarios on radio and television. "Cocksucker" was rated the fifth must unacceptable word, while "faggot" was ninth. Sixty percent of the respondents rated "cocksucker" as totally or fairly unacceptable, down from 64 percent in 2005. The word "faggot" was included for the first time, with 46 percent of those surveyed rating it as fairly or totally unacceptable. BSA chief executive Dominic Sheehan said that the research showed that while there was a general softening of attitudes towards the use of some lower-level swear words in broadcasting, a majority of the public still finds hard core swearing unacceptable. He says swearing is generally more acceptable in stand-up comedy, TV drama played after 8.30pm and in reality TV programmes.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News Staff
First published: Monday, 29th March 2010 - 1:53pm