I’d like to point out that “financial impact” is the only reason Imus was on the air in the first place. He was never, ever, put on the air because of his first amendment right to speak, every single moment, every single word he spoke into a microphone was broadcast because of his ability to earn money for the station.
I hate when the first amendment gets brought up in these situations, because your right to speak doesn’t mean you get the right to use CBS’s broadcast equipment to deliver your words across the country.
One other thing about the situation, and I haven’t heard this from commentators, is the effect on society at large. Making jokes and comments like this in such a public forum, validates the negative perception of the group being made fun of. Especially among people who already hold negative opinions of other groups, hearing a “respected” person make those comments just reinforces the opinion.
I don’t like the idea of anyone (Sharpton or otherwise) playing Public Censor, so we’re agreed about that much. I was kidding yesterday that soon, news stories will refer to ‘ho’ as “the h-word,” just as stories about othe racial slurs print “the n-word.” But this statement also implies Imus can offend anyone except his fans. That sounds like it’s a little too far in the other direction - non-listeners have good cause to protest if a radio host is trying inspire hate against them, for example.
First amendment is there whether that was the reason or not. Of course they put him on to make money. That’s my point.
It does when CBS and MSNBC give you the right to and you don’t violate FCC regulations. In fact, Imus regularly spouted that he was the sole “decider” of the content of his show, and if MSNBC didn’t like it, he would be more than happy to drop the simulcast. They loved him. Every obnoxious, mean-spirited, racist word he uttered. Remember, his bosses didn’t tell him he crossed the line. They loved when he pushed the envelope (and frequently TORE the envelope).
I agree with this completely. That’s why I turned him off. I didn’t want him in my living room every morning because I think he’s a jerk-off with respect to his program. None of the people in power thought it was a big deal, though. That’s why they paid him millions of dollars to be the obnoxious old craggy-assed fucker that he is.
No, Imus never has the right* to use their equipment, he doesn’t own it, they do. They allow him to use the equipment as part of a contract, but ultimately, the use of the equipment is 100% in the hands of the owners.
If Imus want’s the right to broadcast, he can buy his own radio station. Then he can say any damn fool thing he wants and remain on the air.
I’m using a strong definition of the word “right” here, as in a fundamental right, where one would say “you’re violating my rights” as opposed to a weak version that might say “this contract gives you the right to use the equipment” I don’t want to get caught up in arguing over nothing more than a definition, those are the most pathetic arguments going.
I’m using the soft definition, with regard to the show and the hard definition regarding freedom of speech within the guidelines of the FCC. They go hand-in-hand with regard to broadcasting. The two networks effectively asked him to be an abusive fuck, using their equipment, their FCC license, and with their blessing. They encouraged it by continually renewing his contract, giving him big fat raises, remaining silent nearly every time he used socially unacceptable language, and by allowing him to be the cockiest, most self-absorbed broadcaster in the business.
If he had his own station, he’d still be bound by FCC regulations.
Imus only quibbled with the attribution of the word to him, but not with the basic point: that his producer’s job was to come up with racial jokes.
He folded in his denial and could only say that it was “off the record.”
CBS ran this spot 9 years ago on their flagship muck-raking show and are only now shocked and appalled to learn that Mr. Imus uses racial jokes on their airwaves.. Bloody hypocrites.
Egg-zactly. He’s been who he is for his entire career. The networks weren’t outraged in the slightest. Fuck them. They were pissed because their stock was going to drop.
I don’t know if these networks have any financial interest in hip-hop or rap music, but do you think for one second they’ll drop the artists who are making millions for them using the exact same language? Feh.
The FCC hasn’t fined him or asked him to step down, and I think that’s the correct action. It does worry me a bit when you have Sharpton talking about what should be “permitted” on the airwaves.
I have no problem calling them hypocrites for saying they were “repulsed” by his comments. He’s being dropped because he’s not making them money anymore, or they just want to preserve their image in the face of more public outcry than before. That goes for the sponsors too.
Me either, but please…quit hiding behind the moral outrage and fucking admit it was strictly a financial decision.
Another problem I have, and this is directly with Imus, is that his show became less comedy schtick and more prevalent in the news/political world after he hit the simulcast portion of his career. In my opinon, he lacked professional judgement by trying to be both a comedian and Everybody’s Best Friend in the political and pundit worlds. The people who watch MSNBC are not the same people who listen to shock jocks get their rocks off making stupid jokes in the name of creative expression. You can’t have it both ways, and his guests should have realized it as well. They all aligned with him when they had something to gain, completely ignoring the fact that they gave tacit approval to his brand of humor.
Stupid edit limit. Sorry, I forgot that CBS had been split off of Viacom and went to fix it, just to be told that I spent too long typing.
National Amusements is the majority shareholder of both Viacom and CBS Corporation, and until the split a couple years ago Viacom was a much larger conglomerate with what is now CBS Corporation as part of Viacom. Viacom also owns MTV and BET. Aside from the fact that MTV never actually plays videos anymore, you are quite right to say “feh”. CBS Corporation does have CBS Records, but with all of three artists, they have no interest in rap or hip-hop yet.
And I repeat: his ratings have been at the bottom for years. So what if 100,000 people that earn 6 figures listened to him. Those well-to-do people already have a satellite radio. He’s not going to bring subscribers in. He brings nothing to the table for satellite broadcasters except baggage.
Thank you, to all those who brought something to this thread.
Do you think there will be any wider effects of this dustup, beyond Don Imus himself? Some folks have grumbled for years about the violent, woman-hating lyrics recorded by many rap stars. They started adding warning labels, and some artists even issued cleaned up versions of their work, to be sold alongside the nasty version.
Until now, nobody ever pulled the money plug. Fans continued to buy the CDs that disrespected women worse than Imus did. Are fans now going to dig in their heels and say they won’t pay for this stuff anymore?
I never bought the stuff anyway, so my opinion has no weight. I can’t quit buying what I wasn’t buying.
I think the marketplace will allow it to continue, at least for the time being. It’s art (whether I like it or not) and people LIKE it. It’s protected speech and it makes millions of dollars for lots of people. The question is, will people continue to like it or will they start considering it a waste of space? Will our tastes in entertainment eventually align with our social values? Or are these really our values? How do we change that?
I’m quoting this in full because I agree with every word of it – though I’m seeing this through white suburban-raised New Englander eyes. (Pushes bangs out of eyes.) Apropos to the sexism aspect, cnn.com has this commentary by Roland S. Martin making the point that, to him:
I’m inclined to see the racism as having an equal rather than lesser part to play in this debacle, but Martin makes a good argument.
His ratings were about the same as David Lee Roth’s when he took over Howard Sterns show. Better than some but nothing to click your heels over. I can’t imagine why people would watch him on TV unless they get up really early. He looks like a shrunken head with a baseball cap. Everyone I know who listed to him were commuters. When I had a long commute I used to listen to some dreck too just for the bordom factor of the drive so I wouldn’t fall asleep.
I mentioned the sexism angle in the beginning but it got shot down. NOW raised a stink about it immediately.
I know people want Sharptons head on a pitchfork but it’s native to think he had anything to do with the firing. It was all about the advertisers pulling out and potential fines so they fired him faster than you can say Janet Jacksons nipple.