Seven Words You Can Never Say in the Media
Charles Johnson
Fri Mar 2, 2007 at 9:20 am PST • Views: 703
Here’s a guest post from LGF operative zombie, who conducted a little straw poll of LGF readers to identify the 21st century media’s most taboo words:
In 1972, comedian George Carlin recorded a famous monologue in which he identified the seven words that were forbidden in the broadcast media; this bit of social commentary is now known as “Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television.’
But a lot has changed since 1972. Little by little, the prohibitions against Carlin’s list have eroded away. Now, in the post-9/11 era, it is not obscenities that are banished from the media, but rather certain politically charged terms.
A silent regime of moral equivalence and hyper-sensitivity to any word that might rub the wrong people the wrong way has descended over America’s newsrooms. Specifically, any word that bluntly illuminates certain aspects of the “War on Terror” has been blackballed. Not officially banned per se, but vigorously discouraged and rarely used.
In order to identify the new list of forbidden words to replace Carlin’s now outdated list, a lighthearted casual online poll was conducted here by readers of the blog Little Green Footballs.
After a great many votes were cast, and totals tabulated, a new list appeared of the words that are actually forbidden by the modern media. And so, without further ado, here are:
Seven Words You Can Never Say in the Media:
1. Terrorist
2. Dhimmi
3. Treason
4. Caliphate
5. Victory
6. Jihadi
7. Patriot
Frank says: