Editing Hallmark Channel (section)

=== Content standards ===
The Hallmark Channel has been criticized for editing its programming to remove what its [[Standards and Practices]] department considers offensive words. After the word "God" was muted in April 2014 from the film ''[[It Could Happen to You (1994 film)|It Could Happen to You]]'', in what is described as an attempt "to avoid taking His name in vain", the practice backfired when viewers interpreted the muting as evidence of hatred for God.<ref>{{cite web |website=Inquisitr |url=https://www.inquisitr.com/1215439/the-hallmark-channel-offends-audience-members-but-not-for-the-reason-you-think/ |title=The Hallmark Channel Offends Audience Members ... But Not For The Reason You Think |date=April 17, 2014 |access-date=February 21, 2018 |first=Sorcha |last=Szczerbiak |archive-date=February 21, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180221222427/https://www.inquisitr.com/1215439/the-hallmark-channel-offends-audience-members-but-not-for-the-reason-you-think/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/04/the-hallmark-channel-offended-its-christian-viewership-by-refusing-to-take-the-lords-name-in-vain/360803/ |magazine=The Atlantic |date=April 17, 2014 |access-date=February 21, 2018 |first=Abby |last=Ohlheiser |title=The Hallmark Channel Offended Christian Viewers by Not Taking the Lord's Name in Vain |archive-date=February 21, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180221222434/https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/04/the-hallmark-channel-offended-its-christian-viewership-by-refusing-to-take-the-lords-name-in-vain/360803/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Blogger Donna Cavanagh criticized the channel's content policies in July 2011, describing them as "censorship at its worst", with removal of profanities or epithets such as "ass" and "hooker". In response to Cavanagh's inquiry, a representative of the network wrote:<ref name=theSOP>{{cite news |last=Cavanagh |first=Donna |date=July 10, 2011 |url=http://thesop.org/story/20110710/bleepin-censorship-on-the-bleepin-hallmark-channel.html |title=Bleepin' Censorship on the Bleepin' Hallmark Channel |newspaper=The Student Operated Press |access-date=February 21, 2018 |archive-date=February 21, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180221162123/http://thesop.org/story/20110710/bleepin-censorship-on-the-bleepin-hallmark-channel.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
{{blockquote|Crown Media Networks is committed to family friendly programming. Our Standards & Practices ("S&P"&nbsp;— the things that are or are not acceptable for a particular network) are very conservative. There are words and phrases commonly used on other cable channels and broadcast networks that Hallmark Channel's S&P guidelines deem unacceptable.}}

Cavanagh accused the network of hypocrisy in deeming such material as being objectionable according to the network's standards, while continuing to acquire off-network sitcoms such as ''[[Frasier]]'' and ''[[The Golden Girls]]'', which often feature sexual content including references to promiscuity.<ref name=theSOP /> Others have recommended the channel's late night programming, while noting that the word removal from these programs "puts a mild damper on the fun."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://splitsider.com/2017/08/a-recommendation-the-hallmark-channels-late-night-lineup/ |website=SplitSider |title=A Recommendation: The Hallmark Channel's Late Night Lineup |date=August 21, 2017 |access-date=February 21, 2018 |first=John |last=Hugar |archive-date=January 17, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180117184938/http://splitsider.com/2017/08/a-recommendation-the-hallmark-channels-late-night-lineup/ |url-status=live }}</ref>