Morford’s ‘F-word’ Usage Is Reason Behind Suspension

Controversial SFGate.com columnist Mark Morford was suspended by his bosses at the San Francisco Chronicle following his use of the word “f***ing” in an e-mail newsletter. As I reported here last week, his humorous column was put on hiatus for more than a month. The profanity was a serious-enough transgression that the company put him on paid leave while it negotiated with the Northern California Media Workers Guild, which represents SFGate.com workers. According to Guild executive officer Doug Cuthbertson, the result of the negotiations was that Morford was put back to work (starting today) and given a four-day unpaid suspension. The profanity appeared in a subscription footer at the end of his thrice-weekly newsletter, The Morning Fix, for some time. It did not appear on the website or in Morford’s column.

Cuthbertson says it wasn’t clear what the exact policy was regarding profanity on the website or in its e-mail newsletters. Policy for the print edition mandates using asterisks or dashes — as in “f***ing” or “f—ing.” He expects the company to come up with a formal profanity policy applying to SFGate.com sometime soon. A company spokesperson says company executives will not comment on the matter. Morford’s column is expected to resume this week.

The timing of this incident is interesting, of course, since it coincides with the current FCC campaign to clean up the American airwaves, the Janet Jackson breast-baring incident, the fines levied on Howard Stern, radio giant Clear Channel dumping Stern, etc. Could the trend to “clean up media” be moving beyond broadcasting with voluntary moves in the online and print worlds?