MPTV has chosen to censor the truth again

[Joseph S]

Milwaukee's Channel 10 is airing the bleeped version of a "Frontline" documentary on U.S. troops in Iraq at 9 Friday. PBS has edited out the salty language of the front-line soldiers. At least two public TV stations - Boston and Seattle - are running the raw version
http://www.jsonline.com/enter/tvradio/feb05/303651.asp

We have the FCC on record saying they wouldn't fine for "Saving Private Ryan," yet the folks at MPTV are running scared again for showing us the truth. They have now chosen censorship twice this year when they had a chance to take a stand against unjustified pre-showing critique.

Contacts listed: :OnAir:
tvviewer@matc.edu
veresset@matc.edu

[StarvingForHDTV]

At least they are showing Frontline.....  Usually it's Great Lakes Gardener or some other crap.  They replay Nova and Nature throughout the week on 36-1, but Frontline doesn't get the same treatment.  Sometimes you have to wonder who makes the decisions on what to put on the PBS-HD feed.  I mean, does that person even watch the channel ever?

[Stanley Kritzik]

The great English actor, Monty Wooley, once at dinner let fly a big belch.  A proper English woman exclaimed:"Well!".  Wooley leaned forward and said:"And, what would you prefer, madame?  Chimes?".

So, what does MPTV expect GIs under fire to say:  "Gosh darn it!"?  It is crazy and shows the oppressive weight of certain groups who think they know what's best for all of us.  Meanwhile, the reality of what the public knows is a country mile from what these self-appointed censors believe we should know.

Most of us watch The Sopranos, Sex and the City, and the like.  Most little kids are taught all the swear words by 12-year old boys on the school bus.  A lot of rock and rap CDs have the bluest language possible.  Yet regular network TV expects us to believe that Cary Grant and Doris Day wore PJs and slept in twin beds while married.

There is a massive disconnect between reality and what network TV shows -- except for violence, where the sky's the limit.  But, don't use the "F" word.

SK

[mrmike]

It's not going to get any better until rational people stop voting for irrational morons just because they happen to wear the right hats.

-MM

[SRW1000]

What's the big deal? So what if some swear words are beeped out?  

Will not including them really lessen anything the GIs have to say?  I find it hard to understand why people are more upset by bleeping a controversial word than they are by the word itself.

Scott

[Joseph S]

Will not including them really lessen anything the GIs have to say?

Yes, it will. The bleeps also serve as obvious distractions to the programming.

[SRW1000]

Yes, it will.

How?  

Seriuosly, what difference does it make.  Are you telling me that your mind can't fill in what the bleeped word is?  The points that they are making can only be understood by inlcuding swear words?

And the beeps are distracting?  I can't imagine anyone losing concentration by simply hearing a beep.

This just isn't a serious issue.

Scott

[Joseph S]

This just isn't a serious issue.

Of course it is.

In the last month MPTV has failed to show a program based on a real family in Vermont because the character, as did the real family, had lesbian parents. They have edited the harsh images of Auschwitz. Now, they will censor the words of soldiers under attack. This is a major issue and on each and every occasion MPTV shows cowardice over providing viewers with reality. You don't fill in reality with assumptions. You don't bleep it. You show it how it was and let the viewer experience what was captured. The point is lost with bleeps just as it would be with dubs of "Golly Gee, beware of projectiles of metallic origin." It's amazing, we can watch folks get shot at but not hear what they're saying?

[SRW1000]

Of course it is.

In the last month MPTV has failed to show a program based on a real family in Vermont because the character, as did the real family, had lesbian parents. They have edited the harsh images of Auschwitz. Now, they will censor the words of soldiers under attack. This is a major issue and on each and every occasion MPTV shows cowardice over providing viewers with reality. You don't fill in reality with assumptions. You don't bleep it. You show it how it was and let the viewer experience what was captured. The point is lost with bleeps just as it would be with dubs of "Golly Gee, beware of projectiles of metallic origin." It's amazing, we can watch folks get shot at but not hear what they're saying?

I don't think bleeping out swear words in any way harms the content of their stories.  They're under the stress of combat and they swear.  Do you really need to hear each specific swear word they use in order to understand their sentiments?

Honestly, does it matter if the GI says "That %#@&* $^@* is sitting next to the &#&*%," rather than "That #@&$* is sitting next to the #!&%#?"  

Reality TV doesn't show you everything.  It can't.  Cameras aren't omnipresent.  All of the footage shot is heavily edited, and you're only seeing a tiny sliver of a small portion of reality under the best of conditions.  Except, what they're cutting out during edditing is actual content - it has actual meaning.  In the scope of this, bleeping out a few banal words is hardly worth getting upset about.

At one time, society had a sense of decorum.  Those days are sadly slipping by.

Scott

[agrotto]

Two words:

Slippery Slope

[naimbeg]

At one time, society had a sense of decorum.  Those days are sadly slipping by.
Scott

I have to kind of agree... With the frontline show, I kind of see eitherway with beeping out the words... If you beep them out, you know what, you still do get the feeling of what is happening. So why keep them in???

Slippery Slope

That saying in this case goes both ways... You don't want to much censorship, as a example.. Do you want to see the actual gang rape of a women that is happening in what is Uganda or what ever to get the effect of what is happening???

Simply I do see way too many shows pushing the envelop now a days...

[wxndave]

Of course it is.

In the last month MPTV has failed to show a program based on a real family in Vermont because the character, as did the real family, had lesbian parents. They have edited the harsh images of Auschwitz. Now, they will censor the words of soldiers under attack. This is a major issue and on each and every occasion MPTV shows cowardice over providing viewers with reality. You don't fill in reality with assumptions. You don't bleep it. You show it how it was and let the viewer experience what was captured. The point is lost with bleeps just as it would be with dubs of "Golly Gee, beware of projectiles of metallic origin." It's amazing, we can watch folks get shot at but not hear what they're saying?

You are wrong they are going to air the buster show in question on Wednesday, April 13 at 4:30 p.m.   So I guess they are only censoring one show not two this year.   Tim was supposed to have it in his article earlier in the month.


Dave

[Joseph S]

You are wrong they are going to air the buster show in question on Wednesday, April 13 at 4:30 p.m. So I guess they are only censoring one show not two this year. Tim was supposed to have it in his article earlier in the month.

They didn't run it as scheduled specifically caving in to criticism. The list is actually 4 for 4 so far. Buster, Auschwitz, Frontline, and Dirty War.

[Joseph S]

After last night, it appears ABC obviously hasn't adopted the no nudity clause that the worry warts at MP[censored]TV[/censored] have.