"Mother" is now foul language at PBS, if used in conjunction with "fucker."

This e-mail message from PBS Co-Chief Program Executives Jacoba Atlas and John F. Wilson was circulated on May 31st at various PBS stations. It instructs PBS station managers how to deal with coarse language in light of the FCC's crusade to clean up the public airwaves.

This message to production executives and executive producers of PBS programming is a follow-up to Katherine Lauderdale's message dated April 28, 2006.

Effective immediately, as a part of the process of working to assure that all PBS programming complies with recent Federal Communications Commission rulings, PBS is advising all producers of two new editing requirements concerning scenes including coarse language.

In instances when coarse language in a program is to be edited (wiped or bleeped) the entire word needs to be edited. One example might be a "compound word," such as "motherfucker." Where we previously required editing of only the "fucker" part of the word, now the entire word needs to be edited.

In any scene where an individual utters the word “fuck” or “shit” (or any variant of either word) while facing the camera such that any ordinary viewer could ascertain from the speaker's lips what was said, the lips of the speaker need to be pixilated.

We are implementing these changes to our practices in light of recent Federal Communications Commission decisions resolving numerous viewer complaints about television broadcast programming allegedly in violation of the FCC’s standards for indecency and profanity.

Doubleplusgood!