Censored Language Cross-Cultural Communications WTUC

Censor Censor:  to examine in order to suppress or delete anything considered objectionable <censor the news> ; also : to suppress or delete as objectionable <censor out indecent passages> http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/censor

Chinese media censor Obama's inaugural speech The state-run CCTV deletes reference to communism in Chinese-language translations.  http://articles.latimes.com/2009/jan/22/world/fg-china-censor22 

References to communism and to dissent in his inaugural address were deleted from Chinese-language translations in the state media. The sentence that seemed to most irritate the Chinese was when Obama said, "Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions." http://articles.latimes.com/2009/jan/22/world/fg-china-censor22

Chinese versions of the speech either deleted the sentence entirely or simply excised the words "and communism." Another offending passage was Obama's statement that "those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history." Because there was no easy way to disguise the president's meaning, many news sites omitted it. http://articles.latimes.com/2009/jan/22/world/fg-china-censor22

During the summer Olympics hosted last year by Beijing, all television stations were ordered to delay "live" broadcasts by 10 seconds -- a policy that was designed to give censors time to react in case free-Tibet protesters or others staged a political protest. But CCTV apparently wasn't expecting anything during the inauguration and was caught unprepared for Obama's mention of communism. http://articles.latimes.com/2009/jan/22/world/fg-china-censor22

The nervousness was reflected in an editorial today in the English-language China Daily that praised Bush's China policy and pondered what the future might hold. "Given the popular American eagerness for a break from the Bush years, many wonder, or worry to be precise, whether the new president would ignore the hard-earned progress in bilateral ties," the editorialist wrote. http://articles.latimes.com/2009/jan/22/world/fg-china-censor22

Foul Language on Prime Time Network TV The purpose of this report is to examine whether foul language on TV has gotten qualitatively and quantitatively worse or better.  We've seen the pattern time and time again.  Once the initial taboo is broken and the shock value wears off, more and more curse words fall into the category of "acceptable" language, and TV must try to up the ante by introducing new words to prime time TV's obscene lexicon  A 1996 U.S. News and World Report survey found that 88% of Americans thought incivility was a serious problem.  When asked about the consequences of this decline in civility, respondents cited an increase in violence, divided communities, and eroding moral values

Wanda Sykes: Did she cross the line?

Who is Wanda Sykes? According to her press notes, Sykes has been called “one of the funniest stand up comics” by her peers and ranks among Entertainment Weekly’s 25 Funniest People in America. Her smart-witted stand-up has sent her career in many different areas. She was last seen co-starring with Luke Wilson and Uma Thurman in the romantic comedy My Super Ex-Girlfriend and in the New Line feature Monster-in-Law, opposite Jennifer Lopez and Jane Fonda, and was recently heard in the animated features Over the Hedge, for DreamWorks, and Barnyard, for Paramount Pictures. She also recently guest starred on The New Adventures of Old Christine and on NBC’s Will & Grace. She was seen on Comedy Central’s Wanda Does It, where she tried various non-showbiz jobs. Her first book, titled “Yeah, I Said It” and published by Simon & Schuster, hit bookstores in September 2004. “Yeah, I Said It” is a hilarious collection of essays touching on life, family and current events. http://www.blackfilm.com/20070615/features/wandasykes.shtml

She spent five years as part of HBO’s critically acclaimed The Chris Rock Show. As a performer and writer on the show, she was nominated for three Primetime Emmys and, in 1999, w on the Emmy for Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Program. In 2001, she won the American Comedy Award for Outstanding Female Stand-Up Comic. She won two more Emmys—one in 2002 and one in 2004—for her work on Inside the NFL. In 2003, Sykes earned a Comedy Central Commie Award for Funniest TV Actress. Other writing credits include the MTV 1999 Music Video Awards, the MTV Movie Awards, the 74th Annual Academy Awards®, The Keenen Ivory Wayans Show and Wanda at Large. http://www.blackfilm.com/20070615/features/wandasykes.shtml

Comedian Wanda Sykes pulled no punches as she skewered conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh at the  White House Correspondents' Dinner -- but her morbid cracks set some guests' cringe-meters off the charts.  Sykes accused Limbaugh of treason, compared him to Usama bin Laden and wished for his physical collapse as she roasted the favorite target of liberals Saturday night at the Washington Hilton. http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/05/11/comedian-wanda-sykes-draws-cracks-rush-limbaughs-health-patriotism/

"Rush Limbaugh said he hopes this administration fails, so you're saying, 'I hope America fails,' you're like, 'I don't care about people losing their homes, their jobs, our soldiers in Iraq.' He just wants the country to fail. To me, that's treason," Sykes said. 

"He's not saying anything differently than what Usama bin Laden is saying," she continued, before addressing the guest of honor, President Obama. "You know, you might want to look into this, sir, because I think maybe Rush Limbaugh was the 20th hijacker. But he was just so strung out on OxyContin he missed his flight." 

The crowd groaned, Obama smiled and Sykes may have noticed a little discomfort in the room. "Too much?" she asked.  But then she piled it on:  "Rush Limbaugh, 'I hope the country fails' -- I hope his kidneys fail, how about that? ... He needs a good waterboarding, that's what he needs." 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KButIJdzCNk&feature=player_embedded

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2imRXiO9XY&feature=player_embedded

Did Wanda Sykes cross the line? At the White House correspondents dinner, comedian Wanda Sykes joked that Rush Limbaugh was the 20th hijaker on September 11 and said she hopes his kidneys fail. Were her comments harmless or offensive? http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/poll/2009/may/11/wanda-sykes-rush-limbaugh

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/poll/2009/may/11/wanda-sykes-rush-limbaugh

However, in today’s White House press briefing, Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said that the administration thought Sykes’s joke went too far: I think the President — I haven’t talked specifically with him, but my guess is, Jeff — I think there are a lot of topics that are better left for serious reflection rather than comedy. I think there’s no doubt that 9/11 is part of that. http://thinkprogress.org/2009/05/11/gibbs-sykes/

Who is Rush Limbaugh? Most of us here in the media are what I consider infotainers.... Rush Limbaugh is what I call a disinfotainer. He entertains by spreading disinformation. http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=1895

Limbaugh Rush Hudson Limbaugh III (born January 12, 1951) is an American radio host and conservative political commentator. He is the host of The Rush Limbaugh Show, a nationally-syndicated talk-radio show that airs throughout the United States on Premiere Radio Networks. Limbaugh suffered some personal difficulties in the 2000s. In late 2001, he acknowledged that he had gone almost completely deaf, although he continued doing his show. He was able to regain much of his hearing with the help of cochlear implants. He also suffered from a highly publicized addiction to prescription painkillers, particularly OxyContin. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rush_Limbaugh

On the October 23, 2006 edition of his radio show, Limbaugh imitated on the "DittoCam" (the webcam for website subscribers to see him on the air) the physical symptoms of actor Michael J. Fox, who has Parkinson's disease.[18][19] He said "(Fox) is exaggerating the effects of the disease. He's moving all around and shaking and it's purely an act ... This is really shameless of Michael J. Fox. Either he didn't take his medication or he's acting."[20] Michael J. Fox later appeared on CBS with Katie Couric and said he was actually dyskinesic at the time, a condition that results from his medication.[21] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rush_Limbaugh

"Barack the Magic Negro" parody On March 19, 2007 Limbaugh referred to a Los Angeles Times editorial by David Ehrenstein which claimed that Barack Obama was filling the role of the "magic negro", and that this explained his appeal to voters.[36] Limbaugh then later played a song by Paul Shanklin, "Barack the Magic Negro," sung to the tune of "Puff the Magic Dragon".[37] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rush_Limbaugh

On January 16, 2009 Limbaugh read a letter on his radio show that he had received a request from a national print outlet: ... "If you could send us 400 words on your hope for the Obama presidency, we need it by Monday night, that would be ideal." He responded, "I don't need 400 words, I need four: I hope he fails." He explained that he didn't want "absorption of as much of the private sector by the US government as possible, from the banking business, to the mortgage industry, the automobile business, to health care. I do not want the government in charge of all of these things. I don't want this to work." He continued, "what is unfair about my saying I hope liberalism fails? Liberalism is our problem. Liberalism is what's gotten us dangerously close to the precipice here." [38] Limbaugh later said [39] it is President Obama's policies that he wants to see fail, not the man himself. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rush_Limbaugh

Claims of Innacuracy Some groups and individuals have criticized Limbaugh's accuracy. The July/August 1994 issue of Extra!, a publication of the progressive group Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR), alleges 50 different inaccuracies and distortions in Limbaugh's commentary.[71][72] Others have since joined FAIR in questioning Limbaugh's facts. Al Franken, a liberal comedian-turned-politician, wrote a satirical book (Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot and Other Observations) in which he criticized Limbaugh's lack of accuracy.[73] Media Matters for America, a not-for-profit progressive media watchdog group, has also been critical.[74] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rush_Limbaugh

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CV1-sv0fDZk

Forum Comment Are we really going to have a hissy fit about Wanda Sykes making crude jokes about the fatuous gasbag now? Really? It's inappropriate now for someone to joke about Limbaugh being the 20th highjacker? The guy who called the majority leader "Mullah Daschle?" Who called Obama, "Osama" about 7,320 times? Even Keith Olbermann is wagging his finger over this --- the guy who names Limbaugh the worst person in the world virtually every night. http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x5640239

An editor with Britain's Daily Telegraph who was at the dinner wrote that liberals will give Sykes a pass, since her target was a right-wing talk show host. And he marveled at Obama's response.  "That's way, way beyond reasoned debate or comedy and Obama's reaction to it was astonishing," wrote Toby Harnden. "Imagine if a comedian 'joked' that Obama was a terrorist who was guilty of treason and should be tortured and allowed to die. There would justifiably be an outcry."

Forum Comment They should just get rid of these stupid events. Every year the press corps demonstrates what idiots they are. They get huffy when the joke's aimed at them, they think it's hilarious when it is crudely personal and aimed directly at the first lady, they laugh uproariously when the president jokes about not finding weapons of mass destruction but get the vapors when somebody takes aim at Rush Limbaugh. Really, it's just too ridiculous. http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x5640239

P. M. Forni, co-founder of the Civility Project at Johns Hopkins University “Words, our words, are like our hands.  They can soothe and heal, but they can also strike, which means they can hurt”