Exit Imus

Who's the next racial profit baron (expanding on Pam Spaulding's call that no one should profit from racial hatred) to go? This from Media Matters:

On April 11, NBC News announced that it was dropping MSNBC's simulcast of Imus in the Morning in the wake of the controversy that erupted over host Don Imus' reference to the Rutgers University women's basketball team as "nappy-headed hos." The following day, CBS president and CEO Leslie Moonves announced that CBS -- which owns both the radio station that broadcast Imus' program and Westwood One, which syndicated the program -- has fired Imus and would cease broadcasting his radio show. But as Media Matters for America has extensively documented, bigotry and hate speech targeting, among other characteristics, race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, and ethnicity continue to permeate the airwaves through personalities such as Glenn Beck, Neal Boortz, Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly, Michael Savage, Michael Smerconish, and John Gibson.

And of course, as recent commenter's to my Imus posts (here and here) have noted, the rap music.

I have mixed feelings. I'm glad Imus got fired, I never liked the guy and I see nothing funny or redeemable about the tirades his radio show seem to be based on. He's a national media figure and he picks on a college sports team? That's a bully.

But I also believe in free speech and the players here, Imus, CBS and MSNBC are all private (i.e., not tax payer supported) actors. If they want to air and support such speech -- as abhorrent as I find it -- it's their right.

What seems to have happened is that both MSNBC and CBS couldn't keep Imus and look their other employees in the eye. I'm sure the loss of sponsors and the threat of losing sponsors was a factor too...and that is as it should be.

The problem is that there is such an appetite for racism and sexism as found in the list from Media Matters. And that' s not just an American problem. Several years ago at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival which features various cultures from around the globe, I remember seeing a performance from another country where the jokes from the lowlanders trashed the highlanders. It seems to be human nature to ridicule the "other."

And it's not just entertainers...our politicians have learned to "cash in" on prejudice and appeal to the baser instincts in all of us to get our dollars and votes...that's what the whole anti-same-sex marriage thing is about.

But it evolves. In my earlier post I mentioned Amos and Andy. Somehow we went from there to the Huxtables. Hopefully the Imuses of our day are headed for the same trash heap of history as Amos and Andy, because no one will "buy" it.

In other words, if someone is throwing hatred into the public square, I will back their right to do so, but I won't shed tears if it brings about their ruin.

MSNBC Drops Imus

Reacting to the market, as defined by their advertisers and employees. Hottie NBC president Steve Capus explains why. And in case you missed it, kudos to Capus for a heartfelt, sincere interview with Keith Olbermann last night. I don't think I've ever seen a smarter, genuine performance by a corporate talking head than that, which only enhances Capus' hotness. If a clip pops up on Youtube, I'll post it.

Okay, so Imus is off of MSNBC...we still have a lot of others out there who profit from racist comments. What do we do about Mind of Mencia?

Should Imus be Fired?

I've been asking myself that question, regarding Imus' reference on the air to the Rutgers women's basketball team as "nappy headed hos" as the scandal has unfolded.

And my answer is: that's a business decision to be made by his corporate overlords. Not me.

That doesn't mean I don't think his comments were grossly inappropriate, racist and sexist. They were.

But I am trying to see the brouhaha in a larger context. Fire Imus, and someone will replace him.

Pam at Pam's House Blend argues that he should be fired because he and CBS and MSNBC are making a profit from hatred.

And Imus is the only one doing this? Have you seen "Mind of Mencia" on Comedy Central? Shouldn't we be trying to get him fired? He's making a profit by playing off racial stereotypes.

Don't misunderstand me. I'm not trying to defend Imus. I hate his show and I don't understand it and don't listen to it. I don't know what is funny about saying "nappy headed hos" and I don't understand people who make a point to listen to jerks like Imus (or Ann Coulter, for that matter) for their own amusement.

Except I wonder if there's something anti-establishment about it -- we're not supposed to make comments like that so when Imus says it then it appeals to the American sense of rebellion. Again, I'm not making a defense of Imus, I'm trying to understand why what he does has made him rich. I do think he represents an American culture that has gone wrong, a culture that appeals to the worst aspects of our nature. And one could hardly claim that someone with as big a mouthpiece as Imus has who uses it to demean college students is acting in the traditional sense of our heritage to tell authority to go screw itself.

To get rid of the Imuses of the world our culture will have to change. It's happened before. Amos 'n Andy, a TV show that played to racial stereotypes was once thought of as acceptable and funny. That show's time has past. Will and Grace, and notably the characters of Will Truman and Jack MacFarland are the Amos 'n Andy of our day. Both characters played to gay stereotypes and were vain, selfish and shallow. I mean, would you want your son to date Will Truman? Really? I hope that one day our culture will not support the viability of shows like that just as we don't Amos 'n Andy today.

That's why I say this is a business decision. Today, our culture wants a Don Imus. Fire him and another will emerge.

In the meantime, don't like Imus? Don't listen to him. Pissed off at the politicians who go on his show? Don't vote for them. Hate the fact he's been given his platform by his sponsors? Don't buy their products.