In an Oct. 7 column in response to reader complaints about sexual language in the newspaper, The Guardian’s readers’ editor Chris Elliott explained that the newspaper “has guidance about swearing — but not other kinds of sexually explicit material that may offend.”
The existing guidelines dictate that reporters print “swearwords only when absolutely necessary to the facts of a piece.” However, with sexual language, Elliott said it’s a case by case consideration based on “editorial judgment.”
Further, Elliott asked readers if the newspaper should set up guidelines for sexual content and “revise our guidelines on the use of swearwords as society changes its attitude to such words.”