Freedom of Speech

The article I read, "Freedom's Curse", talks about how the FCC has taking away curse words from the media. It has basically decided that seven words are not allowed to be on media during the hours that children might be able to tune in and hear the curse words. It explains how at one point it was decided on the context the words were used in and soon the FCC wanted to do away with curse words all together. The article included several examples of people getting in trouble for using certain words in the media.

I found a scholarly article titled, "Offensive LAnguage in Prime Time Television:  Before and after Content Ratings", by Barbara K. Kaye and Barry S. Sapolsky. This article talks about how they completed a study in which they examined one week of prime time programs aired on cable in 1990, 1994, and 1997 (Kaye, 303). The goal was to see if offensive language increased when a content-based system ranking was implemented (Kaye, 303). According to the study they increased from 1990-1994 but then decreased to lower than they were in 1990 (Kaye, 303). This was shocking but true. The article continues to talk about how NYPD Blue helped begin the acceptance of offensive language in television (Kaye, 304). As time increases, less and less people are sensitive to offensive language although research claims that constant exposure to offensive language can hurt someone psychologically (Kaye, 305).  The content rating system was introduced to stop abusing the use of offensive language and help save our society. Although this has occurred, several of the "seven dirty words" have escaped into the media.

http://heinonline.org/HOL/Page?collection=journals&handle=hein.journals/jbem45&div=31&size=2&rot=0&type=image