| Type of Document |
Dissertation |
| Author |
Fitzgerald, Megan
|
| Author's Email Address |
Meganfitz23@hotmail.com |
| URN |
etd-11082007-202020 |
| Title |
Offensive Language Spoken on Popular Morning Radio Programs |
| Degree |
Doctor of Philosophy |
| Department |
Communication, Department of |
| Advisory Committee |
| Advisor Name |
Title |
| Barry Sapolsky |
Committee Chair |
| Colleen Kelley |
Committee Member |
| Gary Heald |
Committee Member |
| J Rayburn |
Committee Member |
| Steven McClung |
Committee Member |
|
| Keywords |
|
| Date of Defense |
2007-10-31 |
| Availability |
unrestricted |
Abstract
A content analysis examined offensive language spoken on popular morning radio programs on the five highest-rated radio stations offering live-streaming audio over the Internet in the top ten U.S. markets. While concerns over indecency have long existed, renewed interest in the issue of indecency on television and radio was sparked during the 2004 Super Bowl half-time show and, as evident in the 2007 firing of radio personality Don Imus, continues to be of concern today. The purpose of this study was to identify the amount and kind of offensive language spoken on-air. Overall, there were 872 instances of offensive language or 4.36 words spoken per hour. Of these, words classified as mild (words such as “hell” and “damn”) were the largest proportion (40.9%). While the seven dirty words were the least common form of offensive language, these supposedly banned words were still uttered on popular morning radio programs. The bulk of crude language was spoken on radio formats such as Rock and Popular that target a young audience. Additionally, the Northeast broadcasts featured significantly more instances of offensive language.
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ISDN (64 Kb) |
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FitzgeraldMFall2007.pdf |
387.07 Kb |
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