Imus Done!! CBS fires him

[LKellerIII]

I was never an Imus fan, though I'm bothered by anything that smacks of censorship. Yes - a double-standard is being applied here, but we all have to realize that context is everything. We all know that African Americans in some circles call each other the N word. But as a white person, I would NEVER do that, and I understand the reasons why I shouldn't, and I don't resent it.

Similarly, two east coast morning DJs were fired a couple of years ago (don't recall their names) after they aired a very long and salacious segment on forcing women to perform oral sex after receiving anal sex. I read the transcript and I can tell you it truly was vile, not to mention degrading to women. Keep in mind, this wasn't internet porn, it was terrestrial radio. At the time, some called it a double standard and noted that Oprah had aired a recent segment about these same sexual acts on her show. Sorry - double standard or not, the difference was obvious to me - Oprah wasn't airing the information to be salacious, nor did she intend it as comedy, nor was she degrading women.

I'm not defending rap music lyrics - some leaders in the black community have spoken out against it, and they should continue to do so.

 

[JimH]

>>SIRIUS would not surviive an Al and Jesse boycott, especially with the merger going on<<

Totally irrelevent...Sirius, and XM, are both SUBSCRIBER-based services. As long as long they acquire enough new subscribers by hiring Imus(and, no, I don't think this is guaranteed), it doesn't matter whether there's a boycott or anything else. Remember, satellite radio doesn't depend on advertising.

 

[DToTheJ]

Similarly, two east coast morning DJs were fired a couple of years ago (don't recall their names) after they aired a very long and salacious segment on forcing women to perform oral sex after receiving anal sex. I read the transcript and I can tell you it truly was vile, not to mention degrading to women. Keep in mind, this wasn't internet porn, it was terrestrial radio. At the time, some called it a double standard and noted that Oprah had aired a recent segment about these same sexual acts on her show. Sorry - double standard or not, the difference was obvious to me - Oprah wasn't airing the information to be salacious, nor did she intend it as comedy, nor was she degrading women.

I know Stern got into a flap about Oprah doing some content on her show that he couldn't. By any chance, are you thinking of the time The Regular Guys out of Atlanta attempted to play a porn tape backwards, but something went wrong leading to their dismissal?

 

[DToTheJ]

Who replaces Imus? DLR? ;D ;D ;D

He would fit right in on a sports station - overpaid jock with little results.

 

[tlyle]

Does Imus have grounds for wrongful termination? Most major corporations have rules for displining employees which may include termination if those rules are majorly violated. There is employment case law that you must warn employees before termination occurs. You must put them on probation and provide some performance improvement plan. NBC and CBS put him on suspension, but not probation. Did Imus get any prior warnings for his acts on the air? Does NBC or CBS have a case for dismissal because of FCC violations? I don't see where the FCC rules were broken. His contract may have wording indicating firing if certain things occur, but did it happen in this case?

I agree that sponsorship probably caused the trigger to be pulled, but Imus may still come out the winner here. I am suprised that Imus has not gone to satelite before now.

 

[Starscream]

Does Imus have grounds for wrongful termination? Most major corporations have rules for displining employees which may include termination if those rules are majorly violated.

No, because CBS will probably bench him just like they did O&A. It's not wrongful termination if you're still getting paid.

 

[mostb1]

>>SIRIUS would not surviive an Al and Jesse boycott, especially with the merger going on<<

Totally irrelevent...Sirius, and XM, are both SUBSCRIBER-based services. As long as long they acquire enough new subscribers by hiring Imus(and, no, I don't think this is guaranteed), it doesn't matter whether there's a boycott or anything else. Remember, satellite radio doesn't depend on advertising.

Yes it does matter. It's TOTALLY relevent. This deal needs FCC and Anti-Trust approval. Neither company will be able to sign him until their merger is declared dead by the feds (which I expect it to be). They can't hire a political hot potato like Imus now as the deal is being fought by many already. Don't give those fighting the deal another reason to kill it.

 

[Starscream]

>>SIRIUS would not surviive an Al and Jesse boycott, especially with the merger going on<<

Totally irrelevent...Sirius, and XM, are both SUBSCRIBER-based services. As long as long they acquire enough new subscribers by hiring Imus(and, no, I don't think this is guaranteed), it doesn't matter whether there's a boycott or anything else. Remember, satellite radio doesn't depend on advertising.

Yes it does matter. It's TOTALLY relevent. This deal needs FCC and Anti-Trust approval. Neither company will be able to sign him until their merger is declared dead by the feds (which I expect it to be). They can't hire a political hot potato like Imus now as the deal is being fought by many already. Don't give those fighting the deal another reason to kill it.

What Imus said was not indecent by FCC standards. Anti-Trust has nothing to do with it. And the deal is being "fought" by the NAB. Not "many".

 

[mostb1]

>>SIRIUS would not surviive an Al and Jesse boycott, especially with the merger going on<<

Totally irrelevent...Sirius, and XM, are both SUBSCRIBER-based services. As long as long they acquire enough new subscribers by hiring Imus(and, no, I don't think this is guaranteed), it doesn't matter whether there's a boycott or anything else. Remember, satellite radio doesn't depend on advertising.

Yes it does matter. It's TOTALLY relevent. This deal needs FCC and Anti-Trust approval. Neither company will be able to sign him until their merger is declared dead by the feds (which I expect it to be). They can't hire a political hot potato like Imus now as the deal is being fought by many already. Don't give those fighting the deal another reason to kill it.

What Imus said was not indecent by FCC standards. Anti-Trust has nothing to do with it. And the deal is being "fought" by the NAB. Not "many".

Next you'll be telling us Imus still has a job because he didn't break any laws.

Add Sharpton and Jackson into the satellite merger mix with the feds and you won't have a merger just like Imus doesn't have a job anymore. PERIOD.

You're wrong again. Not just the NAB. Consumers Union and The Consumer Federation of America, among others, along with The Consumer Coalition for Competition in Satellite Radio (C3SR) - an NAB funded group, are fighting the deal.

So please don't make another uninformed post on this again. Thank you.

 

[raydofan]

Re: It's official: CBS Radio has fired Don Imus

This is a sad day for free speech.

Free speech is one thing, making degrading comments about a women's college basketball team is another. These ladies are not public figures, so they should be immune from any talk show host's commentary - especially when the comments in question can be construed as racial.

Actually, they are public figures, but that does not make what he said right or even funny.

By the way, for all yous who are crying 'this is a sad day for free speech'-please. Defending someone's right to say something-to my mind-means something that can get you killed, i.e. speaking truth to power. These women, as far as I know, maybe had decent dunking skills, but they are not 'in power'. In fact, I would dare say that Imus was a cog in that lumbering political machine. If he challenged some politician, so what. There was no real difference made by that mumbling drunk.

 

[mostb1]

Bring back the Entertainment Code (of Ethics). Here's something I totally agree with http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=55163

 

[nhradiochild]

Re: It's official: CBS Radio has fired Don Imus

This is a sad day for free speech.

No, it is a great day for the marketplace deciding what is decent and what is indecent on the public airwaves...

I have only this to say. It's about time broadcasters noticeably policed up after themselves, instead of waiting for the FCC to step in.

 

[Tom Wells]

I remember back when Imus' show was run in Chicago, and I tried listening a few times.
This was the face I made... ???
I couldn't figure out why anyone would think there was any reason this show would travel well outside New York.

It is worth noting the difference in usage of the N word by blacks over the past 40 years.
When I was young and spent much time in Gary IN in the 60's, black people did not use this word in daily currency to each other.
It was specifically reserved for use to describe a ner'-do-well person, deliberate in their indolence.

It was not until the 70's-80's that the current usage was developed.
Older blacks are still respectful of the former meaning, and still avoid using the word.

Don Imus looks like he is old enough to understand such issues. He is either hopelessly out of touch or a bigot.
Either way, there is someone more deserving of the microphone.

 

[RadioStarOne]

If the people of the United States want to finally clean up the gutter talk on the radio just start license revocation proceeding against one of the top stations playing the garbage from each of the top broadcasting group owners. Or at a local level deny them a business license to operate in your city by declaring them to be a public nuisance! Send the County code inspectors out to their transmitter sites and find every little thing wrong and cite them, then condemn the facilities that will get their attention rather quickly. Just a little bit of public arm twisting by some of the larger church groups picketing the stations would go a long way to wake up the local program directors and general managers and sales managers in a heartbeat! I say shut them down by hitting them where it counts by also picketing the local advertisers by the same church groups.
This is of course "IF" your really serious about cleaning up the filth! Which I highly doubt! Because talk is cheap!

 

[nwoidaho]

After over 10 years of listening and watching Don, I'm sorry to say this but I think both the suits at CBS Radio and NBC are a "bunch of *******" who executed Don Imus for advertising dollars and ratings purposes.

Nothing more, Nothing Less.

I was watching MSNBC when the comments were made LIVE and what I didn't notice was ANY EFFORT by either broadcast companies, WFAN or the person running the production at MSNBC to DELAY the COMMENTS or Dump the comments on the air??

In this post,"Janet Jackson/Justin Timberlake boob slip on national TV during the Super Bowl" era of the FCC wasn't ALL BROADCAST COMPANIES supposed to adopt A POLICY AND BE ABLE TO delay and dump portions of the broadcast?? As far as I'm concerned, Imus SHOULD sue both NBC and CBS for not protecting the interest of the contracted broadcaster on the air. That includes editing or delaying a broadcast for content.

Even if Imus said something offensive to a specific racial group, Isn't the broadcasters responsibility to protect the public interest from those types of messages being passed on their airwaves?? Isn't that what standards and practices departments are for??? When does the responsibility of the broadcast company some into issue??

They have the power to control their broadcasts but choose to make Imus the scapegoat for their own technical mistakes.

This could have all been solved by a 7 second delay, a dump button and a network representative who has the balls to pull the plug somewhere down the line when something offensive happens on the air. Common sense! Come ON!

MSNBC looks like they are airing the issue for their own interests by using every black person they can find to put on the air to let "White America" know "One of you white people have upset us" and to let us know every 20 minutes that NBC is sorry for Don's comments. They come off acting like a bunch of Used Car dealers. They are hypocrites that continually prove MSNBC has very little grasp on reality in they year 2007.

 

[RadioStarOne]

I'm sure both companies are in for a bit of court room appearances because you make a great case! You are sure to be making Oliver Wendell "Douglas" proud of you for your insight. TIC......

 

[nwoidaho]

I'm sure both companies are in for a bit of court room appearances because you make a great case! You are sure to be making Oliver Wendell "Douglas" proud of you for your insight. TIC......

Maybe you could hold my hand in Hooterville the next time I form an opinion??

 

[Starscream]

>>SIRIUS would not surviive an Al and Jesse boycott, especially with the merger going on<<

Totally irrelevent...Sirius, and XM, are both SUBSCRIBER-based services. As long as long they acquire enough new subscribers by hiring Imus(and, no, I don't think this is guaranteed), it doesn't matter whether there's a boycott or anything else. Remember, satellite radio doesn't depend on advertising.

Yes it does matter. It's TOTALLY relevent. This deal needs FCC and Anti-Trust approval. Neither company will be able to sign him until their merger is declared dead by the feds (which I expect it to be). They can't hire a political hot potato like Imus now as the deal is being fought by many already. Don't give those fighting the deal another reason to kill it.

What Imus said was not indecent by FCC standards. Anti-Trust has nothing to do with it. And the deal is being "fought" by the NAB. Not "many".

Next you'll be telling us Imus still has a job because he didn't break any laws.

Add Sharpton and Jackson into the satellite merger mix with the feds and you won't have a merger just like Imus doesn't have a job anymore. PERIOD.

You're wrong again. Not just the NAB. Consumers Union and The Consumer Federation of America, among others, along with The Consumer Coalition for Competition in Satellite Radio (C3SR) - an NAB funded group, are fighting the deal.

So please don't make another uninformed post on this again. Thank you.

Wow, you're an arrogant one. Coming from me, that's saying something.

I'm not defending Imus. But remember, just because he doesn't have a mic in front of him doesn't mean he's getting paid. How's that feel? He basically got an early retirement package from CBS.

BUT BY THE FCC REGULATIONS, HE DID NOT COMMIT A VIOLATION. It's just like Brent Bozell trying to get whoever carried the Super Bowl this year in trouble for the Prince performance and the Snickers commercial.

Opie and Anthony and Stern, who are two much, MUCH worse offenders than anything Imus could have even DREAMED UP in the last five years are already on satellite radio. Hell, what O&A have been doing on Free-FM (specifically, the "My Baby is Black" bit comes to mind) makes what Imus did literal small potatoes.

How can you bring up the C3SR when it's a freakin' astroturfing front group for the NAB? That's what makes it so laughable. The NAB is trying to make as much noise as possible, but the simple economics is, the merger will go through. Because neither company is making money.

And MOST "mainstream" people would see Imus going to satellite radio an EXILE. Not a "celebration".

 

[Starscream]

never mind. don't feed the trolls.

 

[djj]

A thought occured to me last evening...
Ya think, with the likes of Laura Ingraham and Michael Savage already there,
that Talk Radio Network (TRN) will try getting Imus on its network, considering
whatever facilities are available in NYC (or elsewhere) for the I-man?


Sidebar: As I recall, Savage was also fired from his MSNBC weekend show
a few years back, for saying to a respondant, quote: "You homophobic -
I hope you get AIDS and die!"