Sicilian Culture: The News: Standing Guard Over Decency Standards

Sicilian Culture

The People, The History, The Culture

The News & Views
Standing Guard Over Decency Standards
By Marja Mills, Chicago Tribune (Los Angeles Times)
A former ABC censor looks back at a career of judging the sensitive material that might make it into your living room. Excerpted. See URL for complete article.
...In "The Gatekeeper: My 30 Years as a TV Censor," recently published by Syracuse University Press, Schneider takes readers into the tumultuous world of a major network's broadcast standards and practices department. He spoke about his career by telephone from his office in New York City, where he works part time as a consultant....
* * *
Q: The word "Mafia" was banned from ABC entertainment until the early '90s. What was the story behind that?
A: Well, it originated with "The Untouchables," and the concern that the Italian American community had with the portrayal of criminality in "The Untouchables" and the reference to Italians and the Mafia. A number of prominent [New York City judges] came to visit with us and said that this was hurting their children. . . . They made their case, along with several Italian American public-interest groups.
* * *
Q: How did you feel about just banning a word outright like that?
A: I think it was a trade-off of respecting the concerns and interests of others against the creative community's ability to find another word. They could use the word "organized crime." They could use "Cosa Nostra."
* * *
Q: Why was the term "Mafia" a problem but not "Cosa Nostra"?
A: The objection was to the use of the word "Mafia," and we never got into the use of the word "Cosa Nostra." It may be they felt that it was the Mafia appellation that had the offensive connotation, whereas "Cosa Nostra" was not that well-known to many people.
* * *
Q: How many other words like "Mafia" were banned that people might not know about?
A: Other than scatological or four-letter words, not that many. I can't think of any. Racial slurs, "bastards," "bitches." Other than that, "Mafia" is the only one I can recall.....
* * *
Q: What do you think are the toughest issues for your counterparts at the networks these days?
A: I think the issues are the same: language, sexuality, violence, truth. The question is how they deal with them. The line between entertainment and news has become more fuzzy . . . the docudrama and the whole question of how far you mix fact and fiction....
* * *
Standing Guard Over Decency Standards
www.latimes.com/print/calendar/20010702/t000054549.html

HOME