Dozens of CBS affiliate stations in the United States are afraid to air a documentary about the Sept. 11 attacks in case they're hit with massive fines for profanity because of expletives from firefighters.
The two-hour 9/11 focuses on a group of New York firefighters who are in one of the World Trade Center's two towers on Sept. 11, 2001, when they were destroyed by planes hijacked by al-Qaeda militants.
No carnage is shown in the Emmy Award-winning documentary produced by French filmmakers Gedeon and Jules Naudet, but it includes expletives from firefighters as the horror of the devastation starts to rain down around them.
It was the worst terrorist incident in American history that took the lives of thousands yet the networks are afraid of a few swear words uttered by firefighters in the midst of the most horrendous disaster they've ever witnessed?
The article goes on to say that CBS has already shown the documentary twice and has not been fined yet 12 of their affiliates refuse to air it. Why? Because CBS originally broadcast the film in 2002 and since then indecency fines have increased tenfold.
It would seem to me that when it comes to historical accuracy in the showing of such a major event, the last thing television networks should have to be concerned about is how complaining viewers might be offended by the occasional expletive. Anyone who would complain about such a thing in the context of the tragedy of 9/11 obviously can't see the forest for the trees. What was indecent about 9/11 was the lives lost and the massive destruction caused. If someone is so distraught about a few cuss words appearing in the telling of that story, they should just stick to watching cartoons - not Sponge Bob or the Teletubbies though, since those are, apparently, obscene as well.
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