Famous story, here recounted by The Daily News:

Harold Brodkey used to tell the tale of how legendary New Yorker magazine editor William Shawn handled his use of a four-letter word: It's up to you, Shawn said, but would you rather be remembered for your story or the first use of that word in this magazine? Brodkey spiked the offending expletive.

Shawn was indeed vigilant against vulgarity. It's said that, being afraid of elevators, he used to carry a hatchet in his briefcase in case he was ever trapped inside one. But I like to think the weapon served also as a warning to staffers who did not get [...]

The Guardian's ombudsman examines the paper's use of profanity: "'Fuck', for instance, has made an appearance 470 times this year already, and the more taboo C-word has cropped up in 61 items. These profanities are more frequent in the culture and music sections than elsewhere and they nearly always appear, in speech marks, when someone else's words are reported. The Guardian's editorial code says: 'There is almost never a case in which we need to use a swearword outside direct quotes.' Complaints about inappropriate language usually concern breaches of this part of the code in columns written by contributors, but the front-page C-word story, on 25 July, which reported [...]