Dictionary of Media and Communication Studies, 8th edition

Balanced programming

A B C D E F G H I

JK

L M N O P R S T U V

XYZ

W

and dialects and the use of ‘non-standard’

English. Several studies have shown that the

evaluation of language as ‘bad’ in a particular

instance will depend on a number of variables,

which include the degree to which taboo words

or words relating to taboo behaviour are used,

the social context and the social roles, age and

gender of the interactors.

So bad language can be diffi cult to pin down.

Edwin L. Battistella in Bad Language: Are Some

Words Better Th an Others? (Oxford University

Press Inc., 2005) argues that ‘... good and bad

language cannot be defi ned in absolute terms.

Th e standard language of one era, generation,

medium, or region might well diff er from the

standard of another’.

The media also has to be mindful of the

limits of acceptability as regards bad language,

or complaints will ensue. The Broadcasting

Standards Council, for example, undertook a

study in the early 1990s to explore perceptions of

and attitudes towards bad language in response

to the number of complaints received about its

use, particularly on television. Th e results were

published in a report edited by A. Millwood

Hargrave entitled A Matter of Manners? – Th e

Limits of Broadcasting Language (Broadcasting

Standards Council, Research Monograph Series:

3, John Libbey, 1991).

The time of viewing and social context in

which the programme was likely to be viewed,

particularly the likelihood of children being

around, were key variables aff ecting judgments

regarding the acceptability of language used.

Generally speaking, the study found that the

possibility that a word might off end others to be

an important factor in judging the acceptability

of its use.

Bad or off ensive language in UK broadcasting

is dealt with in Section 1 of the Broadcasting

Code of ofcom, Protecting the Under-Eigh-

teens.

Back region, front region See impression

management.

Balanced programming The pilkington

report, 1962, put forward three criteria for the

creation of balance in TV programmes. Balance

would be achieved, Pilkington stated, if channels

provided the widest possible range of subject-

matter; if the fullest treatment was given to each

subject within the range; and if scheduling did

not create imbalances by concentrating certain

types of popular programmes at peak viewing

times while relegating others, deemed less acces-

sible, to inconvenient times.

Balance has a more controversial, politi-

zapping and zipping that goes on, facilitated by
the remote control pad. See ethnographic
approach to audience measurement.
▶Shaun Moores, Interpreting Audiences: Th e Ethnog-
raphy of Media Consumption (Sage, 1993); James S.
Ettema and D. Charles Whitney, eds, Audiencemak-
ing: How Media Create the Audience (Sage, 1994);
Raymond Kent, ed., Measuring Media Audiences
(Routledge, 1994); Denis McQuail, Audience Analysis
(Sage, 1997); Marie Gillespie, ed., Media Audiences
(Open University, 2005); Michael Higgins, Th e Media
and Th eir Publics (Open University, 2007).
Audience needs See uses and gratifications
theory; maslow’s hierarchy of needs. See
also topic guide under audiences/consump-
tion & reception of media; media: power,
effects, influence.
Autocue Or teleprompt. A device which uses
angled mirrors to project the words of a script
on to a screen just below the lens of the TV
camera. Th is enables a presenter to ‘read’ a script
without looking down.
Avaaz See online campaigning.
Avant-garde Th e innovative, advance guard in
any art form; usually assaulting tradition and
boundaries of acceptability. Th e phrase was used
as early as 1845 by Gabriel-Desire Laverdant, and
the anarchist Michael Bakunin named a periodi-
cal L’Avant-garde in 1878.

B

Bad language Lars Gunnar Andersson and Peter
Trudgill in Bad Language (Penguin, 1990), whilst
acknowledging that the term ‘bad language’ is
far from clear and unambiguous, refer to it as ‘all
those things (sounds, words and phrases) that
may be dangerous to use. Language contains
explosive totems that should be handled with
care’. Th e authors state that bad language can
be usefully analysed by explaining the possible
explosions which may be caused by certain
words, pronunciations or use of grammar.
Th ey also argue that ‘“Badness” is not found in
the language itself but in people’s views of the
language’, indicating the importance of examin-
ing the values, attitudes and ideologies within
societies that underpin the evaluation of some
language as ‘bad’.
When ordinary people are asked, Andersson
and Trudgill argue, ‘What do you think of when
you hear the phrase, bad language?’, most of
them will certainly say ‘swearing’. However,
Andersson and Trudgill point out that the term
is also used to refer to the use of slang and jargon,
the incorrect or misuse of words, certain accents