The Fall of Imus the Racist: A Tale of Viral Video, Word of Mouth and Bloggers

[Kristijntje]

Yesterday, after eight days of dizzying activity, CBS pulled the plug on Mr. Imus's hugely successful radio show. One day earlier, MSNBC had canceled its broadcast of the show on cable TV. CBS had originally suspended Mr. Imus for two weeks, but succumbed amid an escalating national outcry and an exodus of big advertisers. "All of us have been deeply upset and revulsed by the statements that were made on our air," CBS Corp. CEO Leslie Moonves said yesterday in a written statement.

Mr. Imus, who didn't respond to repeated calls seeking comment, had for years been making outrageous and frequently crude remarks about risky subjects such as race, sex and gender, a style that millions of listeners had embraced. The media executives and advertisers profiting from Mr. Imus's popularity stood by him as protests occasionally surfaced. They usually subsided after a few days.

This time it was different. The target was a sympathetic team of young athletes. In the ensuing furor, the lucrative and often vulgar business of talk radio found itself running into new limits, as the Internet sent Mr. Imus to millions of PC screens, driving executives, advertisers and employees to distance themselves from his racist words...

full article: http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB1...n_tff_top/

[BellisimaJ.]

It's about time that he was called on it!!

Now, I would love to see a few of the other well-known culprits (eminem comes to mind  :  ) get their just deserts also! 8)

[maryrussel]

Sorry, while Imus was an asshole, I see no cause for rejoicing. It's censorship and I can't help but be concerned over who might be next.

[eclectica]

[quote author=maryrussel link=topic=9159.msg49498#msg49498 date=1176573703]
Sorry, while Imus was an asshole, I see no cause for rejoicing. It's censorship and I can't help but be concerned over who might be next.
[/quote]

I agree. While I find what he said to be deplorable, I think we're treading very dangerous water if this is a sign of things to come.

[BellisimaJ.]

[quote author=maryrussel link=topic=9159.msg49498#msg49498 date=1176573703]
Sorry, while Imus was an asshole, I see no cause for rejoicing. It's censorship and I can't help but be concerned over who might be next.
[/quote]

Censorship by society, which is what occurred here, is very different than censorship by the government.
In this country, hate speech is legally protected. Thus, even the filthiest sites on the internet enjoy free speech.
Imus was paid to do what he did. The sponsors chose to rid themselves of him because of the public outcry. Consequently, the network made a decision to terminate his employment. Had they not done so, they could be legally held liable (for any financial repercussions) by their stockholders. This is not censorship. It is economics 101 in action.

Edit:

The only way that other culprits may also get their just deserts is if they also are employed by someone else and that entity is also beholden to stockholders. Again, no censorship involved.
I.e., if eminem stops selling records because of his degrading and filthy remarks about women, his record company will likely either tell him to clean it up or cancel his contract. Censorship?

[maryrussel]

Now you are talking about legitimate business decisions. Not the same thing at all. If the media had admitted that they got rid of him because the advertisers were going to withdraw their ads, I would not have had a problem with it. But that's not why they said they got rid of him. Imus has been an asshole for all of his 40+ years in his career. Everyone knew what he was. No one was forced to hire him. The media did NOT suddenly develop morality. The ONLY reason that he was canned was because of the bottom line. That makes sense to me but they are trying to make themselves look good by pretending to care about what he said.

[BellisimaJ.]

f the media had admitted that they got rid of him because the advertisers were going to withdraw their ads, I would not have had a problem with it. But that's not why they said they got rid of him.

But it doesn't really matter what they said about it. It still isn't censorship of a sort that we should be concerned about. Also, you know that most people understand that the networks were not being altruistic---God forbid, that ain't gonna happen, lol.

The media did NOT suddenly develop morality.

Totally agree, Mary! The pressure from the public forced them to do what they had not heretofore chosen to do.
I'm still glad they did it.

[maryrussel]

But it doesn't really matter what they said about it.

I beg to differ. Because the media are too hypocritical to admit why they canned Imus, Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton have won a victory in their minds. They have claimed that they aren't going to stop with Imus. That concerns me.

[BellisimaJ.]

{{{{{{{{{Mary}}}}}}}}}}}

I understand what you're saying, and I guess we have to agree to disagree. I am no fan of SHarpton or Jackson, but really, I feel that we have to deal with this stuff on an individual basis. Yes, the networks should just say that they made a business decision rather than cloaking it in concern for something else. But, they didn't and I still feel that the right thing was done, even if for the wrong reasons. I don't really believe that this incident will have a lasting impact. I do hope that it will open up a dialogue.

Racisim makes me angry and sad. Sexism just makes me fucking angry!

[chiquita]

I am not touching the argument of censorship with a ten foot pole.
:blinkie:

Considering the recent events with Imus, Michael Richards, the anti-gay statement from the actor on Gray's Anatomy, etc...
is a reflection that ignorance is alive and well. How sad.

Now Imus will land on his feet, and probably get a sweet deal with satellite radio, just like Howard Stern. Only in America can hate speech be big business. Look at Rush Limbaugh, still going strong.

Imus has been saying racial and bigoted remarks for years and no one called him on it. However the big advertisers didn't threaten to pull their sponsorship before.

I agree with Mary in that they should have been straight up about the reasons for pulling his show. Not suddenly appear to have taken the moral high ground. If that were true they would have pulled the plug a long time ago.