Dancing around risky language is common for many forms of on-air media. Sitcoms and family shows have been making substitutions like “sugar” and “fudge” for expletives and curse words for quite some time.
But why can’t “swear words” be said on TV?
Newsy itself has a standards team which deals with that question daily.
“It really depends on what swear word you’re saying, and it depends on what platform you’re saying them on,” said Jordan Bienstock, standards and practice director for news at Scripps. “For example, you can say hell on TV.”
Many of the rules that dictate people like Bienstock’s decisions are based on the guidelines set by the Federal Communications Commission, known as the FCC. They’re in charge of keeping “obscene, indecent and profane content from being broadcast” on public airwaves, meaning radio and broadcast television — specifically during the hours of 6 a.m….
