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Media Bias Outrage of the Week - Bleeping Jesus
Citizens Coalition for Responsible Media ^ | 06/03/2002 | Peacerose

Posted on 06/06/2002 9:00:55 AM PDT by Peacerose

Strangeness is nothing new at ABC, but since when is the name of Jesus a dirty word? Bare butts are okay, foul language of all types is tolerated, but let a talk show host say, "Thank you, Jesus," and its time for the censors to step in!

On May 23, this exchange occurred on The View, a daytime talk show:

Meredith Vieira: "So yesterday, yesterday if you say this show, you know it was the last day of the weigh-in, the scale is gone."
Joy Behar: "Yes, and thank you, thank you, Jesus, is all I have to say! Goodbye to that damn scale and this whole diet. I'm sick of it!"

Nothing too shocking there, but it was too much for the censor: The word "Jesus" was bleeped out for the West Coast feed.

The next week, during the May 28 show, as the co-hosts discussed the bleeping, Behar said, "Well, geez, so what? I'm a Catholic!" . . . "Jesus and I are pals, okay? Get with the program!"

That's right, ABC! Get with the program! What kind of disturbed reasoning process is behind decisions like this? If a Muslim woman thanked Allah on a talk show, would that be bleeped, too? I suspect that it would not -- in the interests of diversity, you understand. And plenty of tolerance is afforded to the "realism" of taking the Lord's name in vain. How is it possible to decide that thanking Jesus is ugly and profane?

Whatever warped policy is at work here must be reviewed. ABC owes the public an explanation and an apology. Join me in demanding answers from these people. The contact information is below.

ABC
77 West 66th Street
New York, New York 10023

Phone 212-456-7777
FAX 212-456-4292

E-mail ABC's Audience Relations Department

Read more here:

MRC CyberAlert, 05/30/2002

ABC Censors Thanks to Jesus


TOPICS: Activism/Chapters; Culture/Society; Free Republic; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: abc; catholiclist; ccrm; christianlist; keywordsgohere; mediabias
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Citizens Coalition for Responsible Media (CCRM) is the Free Republic Network media bias chapter. You are invited to visit our web site at www.fairpress.org.
1 posted on 06/06/2002 9:00:57 AM PDT by Peacerose
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To: CCRM; ForGodsSake; Patriot1; newslady; bert; calypgin; Nick Danger; Singapore Yank; Landru...
Flag!
2 posted on 06/06/2002 9:02:39 AM PDT by Peacerose
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To: Peacerose
On the final episode of ER, Dr. Green fell to the floor and said the "S" word,without any bleeping.
3 posted on 06/06/2002 9:15:29 AM PDT by Wild Irish Rogue
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To: Peacerose
"How is it possible to decide that thanking Jesus is ugly and profane?"

That's an easy one, Peacerose; in fact, the answer's as easy as A-B-C.

For God's sake they're Godless Liberal-Socialists running that sewer; &, as well as the others for that matter!
The mere word "God," obviously is analogous to the effect a cross has on a vampire.

Funny thing, too.
Wanna bet these Liberal-Socialist Lamestream ghouls will still expect -- no, make that demand -- getting Christmas AND Easter *off* from their duties at the 3 Godless network-sewers??
~Yea...

...& ABC's "Ellen" (DeGenerate) was just a hunky-dory, prime time family *entertainment* show, eh?

4 posted on 06/06/2002 9:38:38 AM PDT by Landru
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To: Peacerose
bump !
5 posted on 06/06/2002 9:41:31 AM PDT by MeekOneGOP
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To: Peacerose;all
Thank you, Peacerose, very much.

PLEASE SUPPORT CCRM!!!!

6 posted on 06/06/2002 9:50:55 AM PDT by E.G.C.
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To: Peacerose
I'm watching them all very, very closely....

TGR

7 posted on 06/06/2002 10:21:59 AM PDT by TheGrimReaper
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To: Peacerose
Bump!
8 posted on 06/06/2002 10:30:28 AM PDT by RAT Patrol
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To: Peacerose
It's quite acceptable to the networks to use "Jesus" or "God" as swear words, i.e., as exclamations of shock, dismay or anger, but do not - I repeat, do NOT - dare to thank God the Father or the Son for ANYTHING!
9 posted on 06/06/2002 10:37:11 AM PDT by mountaineer
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To: Peacerose
Zero tolerance of censorship. That includes the seven words banned from television. I think it was George Carlin that brought the censorship issue to public attention more than anyone else, which is besides the point.

Of course, each network and cable station should have free reign to show and say whatever they want. Just as each person is able to change the channel whenever they want. Ditto, for print, radio, the Internet, billboards, smoke signals and carrier pigeons.

If people have neglected their character development to the point of not being able to change the channel they certainly have no business petitioning the government to force a network to change their programming.

In general, all the old-time status-quo media are losing readers/viewers with each passing quarter. Let them continue shooting themselves in both feet until they don't have a leg to stand on.

10 posted on 06/06/2002 12:37:46 PM PDT by Zon
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To: Peacerose
The name of Jesus has always outraged demons.
11 posted on 06/06/2002 3:06:44 PM PDT by F.J. Mitchell
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To: F.J. Mitchell
THat should have read enraged.
12 posted on 06/06/2002 3:07:48 PM PDT by F.J. Mitchell
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To: Peacerose
The fact this person invoked the name of Jesus in the same statement as swearing.

This is not a worthy manner to use the name of the Lord, it really dishoners Him.
It would have been better not to bring the name of Jesus into it at all.

I can't understand why people are upset over this.
It's not like they bleeped out a verse or a prayer.

13 posted on 06/06/2002 3:26:54 PM PDT by Jorge
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To: Peacerose
I never watch ABC, CBS or NBC. They are poison for heart and mind. Program them out of your TV. Get your friends to do the same. FOX is the only network news I watch, and in moderation.

Or, if you do watch these Godless stations, make a list of the advertisers they show and make it a point to never buy anything they sell. Get your friends to do the same. If they wont, get new friends.

These are small acts of principle, but ones we are duty bound to perform.

Search4Truth

14 posted on 06/06/2002 3:37:12 PM PDT by Search4Truth
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To: F.J. Mitchell
Very, very true!
15 posted on 06/06/2002 4:11:55 PM PDT by Peacerose
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To: Wild Irish Rogue
On the final episode of ER, Dr. Green fell to the floor and said the "S" word,without any bleeping.

Thanks for bringing that up. I saw that too, and told my wife about it. Of course, that was on NBC, a different network.

If I had been in charge at NBC, I would not have let that pass. It was wrong. With that said, I feel obliged to add that it was the most powerful use of the word imaginable. The character (Anthony Edwards' "Dr. Greene"), a relatively young man, was dying, his bodily systems shutting down, one by one, and he couldn't even get out of bed without falling.

That show had been going to hell for a couple of years -- ever since George Clooney left it -- and I had stopped watching. Knowing that that episode would be the farewell for Greene/Edwards, I made an exception for it. The producers managed to suck it up for one last episode, which I think was one of the three or four most powerful they ever made. The only others that spring to mind, are the George Clooney-drowning-boy-in-the-aqueduct episode; the Route 66 episode that had the Clooney and Edwards characters drive out to the Southwest, following the death of Clooney's father (who had been played by Jimmy Farentino) in a car crash; and the show in which Edwards' father (played by the great John Cullum) finally succumbed to cancer.

16 posted on 06/06/2002 7:04:17 PM PDT by mrustow
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To: Peacerose
Thanks for the ping, Peacerose. This is a very peculiar incident. I hear black athletes saying "Thank you, Jesus" all the time on TV, after wins. Both cases sound equivalent to me. I can't believe that none of those jocks were on ABC. Was this ABC Standards & Practices, or an out-of-control producer on The View?

I saw Joy Behar about ten years ago on Broadway in a Borscht Belt comedy review, Catskills on Broadway; I always thought she was Jewish.

17 posted on 06/06/2002 7:10:18 PM PDT by mrustow
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To: mrustow
I agree with you about the use of the word and it's power as a statement. I heard nothing either pre or post about the word-are we the only two who heard it?? The drowning kids episode was also one of my favorites.
18 posted on 06/06/2002 7:15:57 PM PDT by Wild Irish Rogue
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To: Wild Irish Rogue
I agree with you about the use of the word and it's power as a statement. I heard nothing either pre or post about the word-are we the only two who heard it?? The drowning kids episode was also one of my favorites.

After that episode, I checked the New York papers for mention of it by the TV critics, and found nothing. It wasn't even looking because of the word. I suspect that the local TV critics, who tend to be on the pc/artsy-fartsy side, refused to look at ER anymore, unless it did something obscenely pc, re lesbianism or "racism."

I'll throw out three different possible explanations why no one mentioned the word, each of which may apply to different media types or groups.

1. TV has gotten away with so much, in the way of foul language and sexual explicitness, that it was anti-climactic.

2. Some media writers didn't mention it, because they want to see more of the same, and fear that drawing attention to it will lead to a return of standards by an embarrassed NBC.

3. It created no buzz among youngsters and 20-somethings, because they usually watch cable, where they hear that sort of langauge all the time.

19 posted on 06/06/2002 7:27:26 PM PDT by mrustow
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To: Peacerose
Excellent web site. THANK YOU for the time and effort put into it.

It should be required reading for all.

20 posted on 06/06/2002 7:39:57 PM PDT by zip
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