Fleeting expletive

A fleeting expletive is a verbal profanity or visual indecency or obscenity (i.e., a fleeting moment) expressed or shown during a live television broadcast or radio broadcast.

Notable examples

In chronological order:
*During the January 2003 Golden Globe Awards, Bono accepted an award exclaiming, "This is really, really, fucking brilliant."
*At the December 2003 Billboard Music Awards, Nicole Richie said, "Have you ever tried to get cowshit out of a Prada purse? It's not so fucking simple."
* Janet Jackson's wardrobe malfunction in the half-time show of Super Bowl XXXVIII (January 2004) is an example of the visual indecency type of fleeting expletive.:* A half-million indecency fine by the FCC was overturned. The court determined that the FCC "acted arbitrarily and capriciously" in fining CBS for the less than one-second broadcast of a women's breast. cite web|url=http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080721/ap_on_en_tv/cbs_janet_jackson|title=Court tosses FCC 'wardrobe malfunction' fine |publisher=Associated Press|date=2008-07-21|accessdate=2008-07-21]
* In a conversation with British Prime Minister Tony Blair in St. Petersburg, Russia, United States President George W. Bush said, "See the irony is what they need to do is get Syria to get Hezbollah to stop doing this shit and it's over."
* On an episode of Big Brother 10, there was a heated argument with lots of muted expletives; however, one went through in the sentence "Memphis was in the fucking room".

upreme Court case

On March 17, 2008, the United States Supreme Court agreed to hear, in September 2008, a case on whether the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is allowed to regulate the use of fleeting expletives on television broadcasts.cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7301244.stm|title=US Court to Rule on TV Expletives|publisher=BBC News|date=2008-03-17|accessdate=2008-03-20] cite web|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2008/US/03/17/fcc.expletives/|title=High Court to Review Penalties for TV Expletives|publisher=CNN|lastname=Mears|firstname=Bill|date=2008-03-17|accessdate=2008-03-20] cite web|url=http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0318/p02s01-usju.html|title=FCC's Obscenity Rule to Get Supreme Court's Ear|publisher="Christian Science Monitor"|lastname=Richey|firstname=Warren|date=2008-03-18|accessdate=2008-03-20] cite web|url=http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/washingtondc/la-na-scotus18mar18,1,6067658.story|title=Supreme Court to Rule on Broadcast Indecency|publisher="Los Angeles Times"|lastname=Savage|firstname=David G.|date=2008-03-18|accessdate=2008-03-20] The parties in the case are the Fox Broadcasting Company (supported by other television networks including ABC, CBS, and NBC) and the FCC. A federal appeals court had ruled in the favor of the networks; the Supreme Court has agreed to hear the FCC's appeal.

References

ources

*2004, 13 CommLaw Conspectus 135, 9772 words, COMMENT: What the # & is Happening on Television? Indecency in Broadcasting, Treasa Chidester
*November, 2007, 29 Cardozo L. Rev. 891, 14833 words, NOTE: SILENCED: THE SEARCH FOR A LEGALLY ACCOUNTABLE CENSOR AND WHY SANITIZATION OF THE BROADCAST AIRWAVES IS MONOPOLIZATION, Matthew S. Schneider

External links

* [http://gawker.com/news/fleeting-expletives/court-says-swear-away-and-screw-the-fcc-265999.php Playful Commentary on June 2007 Decision by Federals Appeals Court]