Is it really OK to say "Shithole" on the air?

I'd say no, but then again, I heard it many many times over the past week. Tom Taylor's NOW column looks at the issue from an FCC perspective...

Language issues are back at the FCC – from the White House to “Saturday Night Live.” SNL host Sam Rockwell blurted out the gerund version of the f-word in an opening skit and immediately covered his mouth. That may’ve happened only in the East coast live feed (and in “safe harbor” time, after 10pm). But it’ll produce complaints to the FCC. Later in that same episode, “Weekend Update” host Colin Jost intentionally used the News-Cycle Word of the Week – the “s-hole” word reportedly uttered by the President in a meeting with Congressional leaders. That could also result in FCC complaints, since Jost’s comment may not fit under the “fleeting expletive” rule. Then there were all the news executives making judgment calls about whether to use the exact eight-letter word allegedly employed by Trump. NBC News anchor Lester Holt said it, once. His evening news counterparts at ABC and CBS didn’t. The AP reports that there are viewer complaints at the FCC already about both NBC and CNN – though the easy answer about CNN is that the FCC doesn’t regulate language on cable channels. Attorney David Oxenford blogs about the history of profanity over broadcast outlets. He says in the case of newscasts, “the FCC has said repeatedly that there is no blanket rule exempting news programming from its indecency rule.” Though the agency “has recognized that the decisions made about the language in newscasts are subject to a different level of First Amendment protection than language included in an entertainment program.” But as Oxenford cautions – “there no blank check, even in news reports.”