When I was a senior at AU, I took a Journalism and Ethics class with Toby. The teacher, Professor "Hotson" Watson, would often ask his students what we thought would be appropriate to print in a newspaper.
There was one girl in the class who was unbearable. Anytime we were shown a photograph of a dude on fire or of a starving child, anything the least bit controversial, she would argue to the point of tears that it didn't belong in a paper. She would squeal about how she didn't want her six-year-old sister to be corrupted.
Of course, I disagreed with her constantly. I believe that it's a newspaper's responsibility to give the reader as much information as possible. I've given the Post a hard time in the past for refusing to use the words "nigger" and "fag" when the actual words were the crux of a major story. I hope tomorrow's Post features some gruesome photos of the monks being shot down in Burma so that its readers get the full scope of the atrocities happening in Southeast Asia. When it's in the best interest of the story, I want my media to pull no punches.
I'm boring you with this because I want it known that I'm no prude.
That being said, what the Hell was the Washington Post Express thinking when it printed the word "pussy" in an interview with Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine? Did they really need to print Dave Mustaine saying "I'm not a pussy"?
Printing that was unnecessary and bizarre. I think most people would agree that the word "pussy" is offensive. I certainly don't use it in mixed company. Or, to be more specific (and accurate), I used that word in mixed company and I got yelled at. I've never seen it published in a mainstream news media outlet unless it was proceeded with the word "cat" or "willow." Wouldn't "I'm not a [wuss]" have worked just as well?
Of course I can't find a link. Stupid Express.
9.27.2007
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ReplyDeleteshut your mouth rusty, mustaine pwns.
ReplyDeletefor someone who apparently reads Wonkette and the CP so much to find new material to bitch about, I'm surprised you find the word "pussy" offensive.
I am in no way denigrating the talents of Mr. Mustaine.
ReplyDeleteThe real question should be why WPE is writing an article about Megadeath anyway! I mean really - Megadeath?? It's not 1983 anymore and the population percentage that likes crusty old hair bands is scant at best; someone should really inform WPE of this. :o)
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Rusty, this is a total double standard. Good catch. And, by the way, I don’t think Rusty gets his material from reading Wonkette etc; he got two mentions this week on Wonkette and DCist…don’t think they refer their readers here if he was stealing their shit.
In the same vein of this “pussygate” debacle, does anyone here ever listen to "The Don & Mike Show" on WJFK? Stupid show, I know. But I have always wondered how they regularly use the terms "dick", "pussy" and "Goddamn" while (A) Howard Stern was repeatedly fined for the same and (B) you certainly would never ever ever heart these terms on public TV stations. Are there varying FCC guidelines for different broadcast medias? Stupid.
I'm sorry, but the word, "pussy," is not offensive. People may pretend that they are offended by it, but really- no one is offended by that word. You are a prude.
ReplyDeleteTypical. Racist or hateful speech is ok to you, but something that has a sexual connotation isn't. You're messed up.
ReplyDeleteAndrew, offend when necessary. When Ann Coulter called John Edwards a "fag," it was important that peole knew exactly what was said.
ReplyDeleteThis was a puff piece where no obscenity was necessary.
And I wasn't even offended by the use of "pussy." I read much worse on a daily basis. But it was unethical to print it in this context. I promise you someone out there was offended.
Um, wouldn't the person reading the word "pussy" have first to have chosen to read an article about a band called "Megadeath." Even assuming they didn't know anything about the most hirsute of guitar music, the average reader could probably have figured out from the name of the band that it intended to be inappropriate for the verbally sensitive. Fuck it: read about Megadeath, see the word pussy.
ReplyDeleteWant clean articles? Read about Diana Krall. Sarah Vaughan wannabe bitch.
Christ.
The limited scope of this argument is being totally overlooked here. The argument is that really vulgar and malicious words need to be published when they're important to a story that needs to be out there, and left out when the story is of the exact opposite nature: "a puff piece".
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, I don't think the word "pussy" is all that offensive. Bringing up the idea of "offense" caused by words used in a commonplace, off-handed way, as this Megadeath douche (oops) seemed to do, weakened the whole thing. If your reasoning, Rusty, is that using the female sex organ as a pejorative is sexist or patriarchal, or something, and therefore offensive, (I'm not at all sure this is what you have in mind; I'm trying to infer), then the reasoning's flawed. Calling someone a "dick" is equally insulting. The sex organ insult is an equal opportunity put-down. But I won't quibble with the idea that lame vulgar insults should be left out of puff pieces if that's what an editor wants to do.
What's really problematic is the statement that "someone out there was offended." Of course someone was. Thousands would be more like it. But journalism, while by nature available pretty much everyone, can’t pander or cater to the lowest common denominator and remain vigorous and challenging. Of course hordes of hypocrites and philistines that can read and have opinions but don't have the critical capacity to shrug off lazy vulgarities are "out there". And they will fall all over each other in a race to get themselves offended. But are they really the kind of readers journalists should be plying their craft for?
Evan, the Express is designed to be read by the masses. So even though the Post doesn't cater to the lowest common denominator, the common denominator is still pretty fucking low. That's why newspapers are written on a fourth grade level.
ReplyDeleteAnd, won't someone think of the children? Newspapers are read by kids and although I knew the word "pussy" in 4th grade, others might not. The use of the word in this context makes it look acceptable and it really isn't. This is exactly the shit that gets parents worked up.
Not saying the word is offensive, but it's not something I would risk around a bunch of people I don't know that well. Or my parents. It's not something the paper should have risked. Obscenities weren't even allowed in the AU paper. I tried saying "douchebaggery" in a column and ended up with a series of dashes.
And, people, it's MegaDETH, not MegaDEATH. I mean, duh.
Rusty, I'd argue that the notion that newspapers are written for a fourth-grade level is a myth. I wrote for major newspapers in several different states. Not once did I or any of my colleagues ever sit down to write our daily piece and think, "Well, better make sure I write this at a fourth-grade level. Only allowed to use 10 three-syllable words." Flesch and Gunning's research on this back in the day is what it is, but it has zero impact on the writers and editors actually doing the work every day. (As I've witnessed it.)
ReplyDeleteBrunch Bird, I assume you never worked for the USA Today.
ReplyDeleteI'm confused, Rusty. Are you upset that a fluff piece and not a genuine news article quoted a term that implies women are weak? Or are you upset that the word is vuglar? I think you might have point if its the former, but not on vulgarity.
ReplyDeleteI don't think Mustaine was using "pussy" in the same connotation as "Vaginia" or "Twat" or "Stank Vag" or "Punani" or "Vajayjay" or "Cooter" or "Cha Cha" or "Coochie" or "Muff." Similarly I doubt he meant "Beaver" or "Box" or "Kitty" or "Honey Pot" or "Hoo Ha."
(Notice I didn't use the c word... women truly HATE that word.)
It's true. We do.
ReplyDelete- Ri L.
I'm upset that the Express used a word more offensive than "shit" or "fuck" for no reason. Newspapers shouldn't print naughty words unless they are in the context of a story. I am only discussing this in terms of journalistic ethics, not how bad a word is.
ReplyDeleteAlthough, I admit I am more likely to use "cunt" than "pussy." The latter is offensive to some, the former is offensive to many. If you're going to get in trouble for using bad words, you might as well go down in flames.
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ReplyDeleteYou think "shit" and "fuck" are less offensive? Fucking pussy. You're just trying way too hard to be PC, or maybe score points with chicks by taking issue with a word that has female connotations.
ReplyDeleteContext is everything. "Pussy" doesn't mean "vagina" when used that way any more than "stop bitching about that" is degrading to women. Please get back to your regularly scheduled cursing and whining.
No, but my friend Alan does so he's included in the group of colleagues to which I referred. It's an old chestnut that people like to pull out but fortunately it's not true. (Again, for all papers that I have worked at and with which I am familiar). Never let the facts get in the way of a good slam at journalism.
ReplyDeleteFor what it's worth, I'm in complete agreement on your post. I'm also annoyed that Shake Your Booty, the boutique in Adams Morgan, has a huge sign in its window that states "Big Ass Sale." Just totallyunnecessary.
Rusty, the point about kids picking up newspapers is well taken. I think the real lesson to be gleaned here is that monolithic rules for obscenities in newspapers are useless because of the sheer diversity of target audiences and distributions. Some papers can get away with printing any and all vulagaraties without a second thought because their audience is ready for it. (I would cite The Reader in Chicago, which happens to do the city's best reporting, as an example).
ReplyDeleteAnyway, God knows kids should be encouraged to read good journalism, and at some point before they're old enough to see words like "pussy" in newspapers, just on the outside chance that we can avoid another two or three generations of fuck-ups who elect fuck-ups-in-chief.
Umm, as for misspelling Megadeth, the last time Megadeth did anything that could honestly be called relevant I was in 3rd or 4th grade. I wasn't up on my intentionally misspelled heavy metal band names then, and now they're so over with that I couldn't give any less of a shit.
But I digress. Save the kids! Really. But please, not at the expense of challenging journalism. I'm an amateur--I freelance for a small newspaper magazine--so no one gave me the handbook. But I trust my instinct that the habitual fear of offending makes for worse writing than even taking the risk of shocking or disturbing your audience without a preconcieved rationale for doing so. Of course journalism stands on that precarious ground between public service and creativity, but in the final analysis it's just writing. If I were ever to write a story at a 4th-grade level my editor would laugh in my face.
I know newspaper writing isn't really on the 4-th grade level, but I was told to dumb it down for my assignments in my Writing for Mass Communication class.
ReplyDeleteAnd you're familiar enough with my writing you know it doesn't need to get dumbener.
No, no. I'm actually familiar enough to know we share a disdain for all things annoyingly "4th-grade level" in the world. Hence, in your post about the cancer warning on a bus, "I am also against bus advertisements treating me like I'm an idiot," followed by some statistics that I didn't read but that I'm sure are true.
ReplyDeleteAnd if you knew me you'd know I was just trying to sound cool with that band name spelling thing. I'm actually a huge Megadef fan.
Is anybody still surprised that The Onion is just laying out there in the open for free when you walk into the Safeway, right next to the gumball machines, with headlines like "Shitty Neighborhood Rallies against Asshole Developer" and "Butterfly Fuck-swing Filled with Junk Mail"?
ReplyDelete*maniacal laughter* what the bloody hell is a "vajayjay"???
ReplyDeleteSure you've been told this, but your blog is shit. Not only shit, but possibly the lamest shit I've ever bother wasting a few minutes of my life skimming. I'm surprised anyone even bothers, excluding the lame asses on here. Duh…waste of life. Dc Dude..not going there. Il Ratto…if that is a pic of you…remove it…you are an ugly fuck. And most of all Evan…get a fucking life…might get laid if you had something better to do but obsessively write into a blog nobody fucking reads. cRusty, Don't quit your day job. You losers all need to get a fucking life. Rusty, you're offended by the word "pussy" because you're a little bitch ass faggot. And no offense to gays by including cRusty in your group. Go drool over your gay dysmorphic boyfriends cock. Again, sure you've been told but your blog is so unbelievable, incomprehensively lame that I felt compelled to tell you so. Megadeth? Nothing better to talk about?? Oh wait...lemme guess...next you'll bitch about the Metro because you are a fucking loser that choses to live in BFE without a car but still bitches about it anyway. Do this blog, and it's former owner, a favor....shut it down.
ReplyDeleteWell? Eat me makes some good points. No one cares to address them?
ReplyDeleteI heard the word "pussy" used on TV somewhere recently. I can't remember what channel or program, but I was rather shocked by its usage. Especially when it's still not ok to use the word "asshole". They bleep out "asshole", but saying "pussy" is completely acceptable?
ReplyDeleteI haven't checked to see if "dick" is considered offensive or not.
You are all a bunch of Cunts
ReplyDelete