Imus Done in by Media Mobsters
By Alan Stewart Carl | Related entries in Bad Decisions, MediaAt first the Don Imus imbroglio amused me. Then it irritated me. Now I’m mad. CBS and MSNBC have both fired Imus for his bigoted comments. Sure, they have the right to fire whomever they choose. But that doesn’t make their decision anything more than a sad commentary on the failings of modern society and modern media in particular.
Imus has been a so-called shock jock for a long time and has uttered an uncountable number of insensitive remarks over the years. CBS and NBC knew who he was and what he was likely to say. Yet this mildly racist, undeniably sexist comment gets him axed? Why? The answer is simple: the media needed the next sensationalistic story. Once that story was running nonstop, advertisers got scared and pulled away. CBS is just following its advertisers who are following the media who are following the immature, irresponsible, narrow-minded ideology that far too often masquerades as journalism these days.
Not only is this a complete overreaction to the crime committed, but it sets a horrible example. First, Imus’ quick and seemingly sincere apologies are being completely ignored. The lesson? It’s best not to speak at all than risk saying something you regret – your apologies will not be accepted.
The second horrible lesson is summed up in the statements of Les Moonves, the president of CBS who said: “There has been much discussion of the effect language like this has on our young people, particularly young women of color trying to make their way in this society. That consideration has weighed most heavily on our minds as we made our decision.”
So that’s how it is now? Instead of teaching our youth to stand up to adversity and shrug off the idiots of the world, we’re telling them that they must be protected from all slights less their poor fragile egos will crumple and die. The women Imus insulted are incredibly talented, college-educated women who had the strength to pull off a Cinderella basketball season. We don’t need to protect them from the likes of Don Imus. Please. That’s horribly insulting to these young women.
Really, I couldn’t care less about Imus. I’ve rarely listened to him and consider him no better than a more political, less scatological Howard Stern. His comments were abhorrent. I have not the slightest desire to stand near the man. But I can’t stay silent. Just because I don’t care for the man doesn’t mean I shouldn’t call a wrong a wrong.
Imus is being unfairly punished by a nauseatingly righteous bunch of media mobsters and their cohorts. What’s worse is that those leading the pitchfork-and-torches charge are ostensibly from the left. If liberals no longer have the stomach to stand up for free speech (even when that speech is insulting or idiotic), then who will?
The whole thing makes me sick. My apologies for the rant. Some events simply demand an outraged blog post.
Cross-ranted at: Maverick Views
This entry was posted on Thursday, April 12th, 2007 and is filed under Bad Decisions, Media. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
April 12th, 2007 at 7:54 pm
Concur about 98.9% with your excellent rant.
The Frankenstein Imus has been burned and his carcass left out for the other scavengers now that the primary vultures in Sharpton & Jackson has been duly fed.
Little will change in the village. Everybody will go back to placing their little blinders with the holes in them just like before.
Jason Whitlock, a African-American columnist for the Kansas City Star, said it best: “(Imus) got the death penalty for jaywalking.”
While I abhor his remarks, I find them far less racist (in the truest definition of the word as his words do not infer that he believes one race is inferior/superior to another) than sexist, but certainly not in good taste.
I would never have said such things on air and I have been live on air many times. What irks me the most about all of this is the blatant hypocrisy exhibited by those who called for nothing less than The Monster Imus’ professional demise.
Whitlock then called for a new generation of voices and spokesmen in the black community because these guys do not speak for the non-1965 Civil Rights issues that exist in the 21st century.
And I have to agree with him.
April 12th, 2007 at 10:52 pm
I have been saying very similar comments to my friends since I saw the media snowball begin to form. I don’t have much to add as this rant really sums it up for me.
I am tired of watching Sharpton & Jackson fill their pockets by using the hopes of the under privileged African-American communities through out the country.
April 12th, 2007 at 11:10 pm
[...] « Imus Done in by Media Mobsters [...]
April 13th, 2007 at 9:54 pm
Sorry, but there are limits to free speech. Calling anyone a hoe publicly is just too much. Maybe there is some room for shock jocks but they have no license to harm innocent people with totally malicious remarks.
Young women who participate in sports and are trying to improve their lives by studying are models for the community and deserve praise. I don’t mind if someone wants to make jokes about women playing basketball but not about their morals if those remarks are made with no justification whatsoever.
April 19th, 2007 at 6:18 am
If you believe the firing of Don Imus was about race ask yourself the following:
1. - Why Don Imus? There are many shock jocks, rappers, etc far more offensive than Don Imus so why single out Imus?
2. - Why Now? You can’t say because he crossed the line, Don Imus has been crossing the line for more than 30 years and often to a greater degress than this.
3. - Why Kill the Cash Cow? - Controversy does not turn off the type of people that listen to this type of material. Just like Hollywood, there is no such thing as bad publicity.
4. - Corporate America developed a Social Conscience? - Only possible if you believe in the “Enlightenment Fairy?”
MOST IMPORTANT
5. - Why did the ntetwork people invite Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton to wiegh in on this issue? That makes as much sence as a bank robber going home after a heist and call 911 to ask their opinion on whether it was an armed robbery because he held a gun on the teller.
Anyone who has followed the Imus show knows that Deidre Imus has become a more frequent and outspoken guest on Don’s show. Do you think it is a co-incidence that Don Imus’ firing came within two weeks of Diedre’s appearance on the Today Show promoting her new book on cleaning product that you make out of ordinary household products that are not only inexpensive but free of toxins that are dangerous to your health. Deidre’s rebuttal to the industry’s statement that these products have been proven safe was unequivical, just not true she said. I had two thoughts at the time: 1. This woman has cast-iron gonads! - 2. There is going to be fallout! Take a look at a list of the sponcors and tell me this is all coincidence.
The cleaning industry’s statements that the ingredients in their products are safe is the 21st century equivalency to the tobacco industry touting there is no scientific evidence that smoking is injurous to your health.
I am not alone in this stance, needless to say, however, it’s pretty difficult to get any time on the airwaves. Instead of “…now a word from our sponcors.” it’s “..NOT A WORD” say the sponcors.