[theexpendablesmovie.net]
“I am a long time listener and I have noticed a trend lately where NPR has allowed inappropriate language over the air,” one wrote. “I am not a Puritan, I just expect more from NPR. This morning was the proverbial ‘last straw’ for me—listening to a commentator use the term ‘ass-whopping’ in a piece was inappropriate and unnecessary.”
To which the ass whoop (whop?) deployer in question, NPR contributor John Ridley, replied:
“A commentary about summer movies and the hypocritical embrace of both sides of the social divide of violence in the media, and your entire take away was ‘ass whoop?’
Really? That’s it?
‘Ass whoop?’
Really?
Seriously?”
“In the last year, the word [‘ass’] has appeared 22 times in NPR produced news reports, including Ridley’s review,” NPR Ombudsman Edward Schumacher-Matos discloses. “Interview guests and callers have said ‘ass’ 14 times on air.”
Glad they’re keeping track.
