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There are many reasons interviewees might use offensive language, but when is it necessary to publish those in an article that might upset readers or affect your publication's reputation?

Have a read of this article from Roy Peter Clark at Poynter, who describes his method for making the right decision in such cases. He describes his methodology, which consists of going through the four quadrants of the 'Potty Box': level of profanity, news value, social context and standards and practices.

For each quadrant, he explains how the journalist weighs up whether the word in question is newsworthy enough to be published or not.

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