In public, yes. Papers, etc can print/video what they like.
That is always the context. Unless someone is refering to sex, the f-bomb = "duh"/"umm"/ahhh"/"uhhhhh"
It is a place holder for a brain that's trying to work too fast, a general adjective or noun (speaking loosely) that could mean anything.
So...public airwaves should be censored to prevent swearing? Who are we protecting at that point?
Adults should be mature enough to handle a person swearing. Honestly, if you're going to flip out if someone says 's***' or 'f***' in an exclamatory manner (i.e oh s*** i locked my keys in the car!), then there are bigger problems than the swearing (namely, your maturity level). On the flip side, I acknowledge that using swear words or obscene phrases to describe people should be banned and punished - but at the max a public apology, cutting off airtime/funds, or fining the person.
Kids my age don't normally listen to public radio (I listen to NPR, but hey, I'm liberal, so it's basically mandatory.

), and even if we do, we're exposed to enough swearing (in our own speech, for example), that censorship is useless. For kids younger than 15, if their parents raised them properly then they should be mature enough to know that a) swearing is generally uncalled for, b) is rude, and c) is useless. Now, I honestly wouldn't want my child exposed to swearing, but I think that as a parent I would hopefully be smart enough to censor the radio and tv myself...not leaning on the government for it. I should be the one either cutting cable or blocking MTV...not the government.
As for the second point: I dunno, I swear mostly as an exclamation. I've yet to hear someone say "Well...f**kkkkkkk......I........s**ttttttttttttttttt........." unless they have Tourette Syndrome, which is sad anyways.
