Imus Fired by CBS

[Thinker]

Just announced... CBS has fired Imus. No TV show, no radio show. Maybe time to ride off into the sunset as a very wealthy cowboy.

 

[dantheman]

Hello All,
Imus is Fired...SUCKS!!! We should turn off ALL TALK RADIO!!! We have no freedom of speech. Imus is a old man that was joking around on the radio. I think we are going back in time to the 1960's again!! I hate this ____________ radio today. We have networks with NO BALLS!!! They only want BIG MONEY!!!
I guess I will go play my ipod now.....NO MORE RADIO!!!

You SUCK CBS & NBC!!
Dan-The-MAN!!!
The NORTH TEXAS RADIO MAN!!!

 

[EbolaMonkey]

I think we are going back in time to the 1960's again!!

Nope. If it were the 60's, Imus's white boss would just wink at him in the hallway, pat him on the back for good ratings, and tell him to have fun tomorrow morning.

Is this a freedom of speech issue? Yes it is. There was a loud public outcry, and CBS Radio became extremely nervous about it.

So Imus said what he wanted. A vocal portion of the public responded. And Imus's bosses had a decision to make--based on what each side was saying. That's freedom of speech in action.

You're always free to say what you want. But, depending on where you are when you say it, there might be consequences.

 

[spymovie7]

My feeling on the Don Imus situation is that he may have done this on purpose in an effort to get fired.

In this way, he gets a lot of ATTENTION in the media, and now he's free to move right over to join fellow Shock Jock Howard Stern on Satellite Radio without defaulting on his contracts with CBS and NBC.

It's like that saying, "Any type of publicity is good publicity -- even if it's BAD publicity."

After all, what Imus said really isn't "HORRIBLE," and the vast majority of his fans are still rooting for him...

 

[rogergray]

Let me please understand what you just said. It isn't horrible? What planet are you living on? Let me tell you how it works in the real radio world. You say that, enough people get angry, sponsors get scared, you are fired...end of story. I was talking to friend on the Houston thread and here's what I told them. I was PD of Houston's first FM talker back in the late 90's and we brought Imus to Houston radio. Even though I am a fan, we ran him on delay. The delay helped us head off anything that might light up the phone, in the wrong way, or endanger license or income. And I think that’s what this boiled down to for MSNBC and perhaps CBS. When Proctor & Gamble and Staples said “no mas”, you knew the writing was on the wall. I hear GM and Ford were also antsy and on the verge, so NBC and CBS decided to stop the bleeding. This is a cold business and no matter how reprehensible his remarks were, like the mob, it’s just business, not personal. I have always liked Imus and knew full well he trampled all over the line. But times have changed.

I remarked to a friend the other day that Mel Brooks would have trouble making Blazing Saddles today. However you feel about the early 70’s being looser than now, that is the reality and we all live with it. There's still a team in Houston doing a stereotypical black character with exagerrated Amos & Andy inflection, which sounds career limiting in a big, fat, multi-cultural city like Houston. Do they do an Arab? Do they do a Jewish voice? Do they do a Spanish character? An Asian? If I were them, I’d rethink it. All this sounds very Kumbaya, I know, but in some cases guys, what we now like to call politically correct used to be called good manners. Imus picked a harmless and particularly sympathetic target this time, and screwed up. It doesn’t matter how annoying anyone finds Sharpton and Jackson; and their sanctimony is a always too much, Imus screwed up big time and he’s paying. Anyone making less than he does, which is all of us, and can’t afford to hang it up right now ought to reexamine our show characters and adjust accordingly. Times change.

 

[KPLEXCOMPLEX]

Sad day for radio. It has been said by many that a system of "double standards" exist. Its okay for a black host to imitate a white cowboy and use the cowboy slang, but a white guy just saying black slang is racist? Its okay for the loudmouth Sharpton to say Cracker, whitey,etc. yet he can keep his job,but Imus makes a stupid bad joke and he is fired,right aftr raising over a million dollars for a childrens chartity. How much has Sharpton raised for childrens charities ,other than to line his own pockets for a speakers fee? Sharpton will gloat,appear on Larry King,The Today show,etc. and write a book,plus raise his speaking fees,but will he ever raise funds for a childrens charity like Imus did? CBS has gone deeper into the abyss,and the the momentum is building on the slide down.

 

[BBontheRadio]

Never pass on another opportunity to rag on CBS.

 

[mustangsally]

CBS Radio made a difficult decision after several days of talking to various "interested parties." The decision had absolutely nothing to do with creative freedom or right-and-wrong. It was a business decision, pure and simple. That aside, there were no good options because of that double standard. Imus stepped over the line and got canned for it. Would Clear Channel, ABC or any other radio company have acted any differently? No.

 

[SeanRuadh]

I'm offended. I'm offended by Imus's remarks. I'm offended by rappers who put the words he used into the vernacular. I'm offended by Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson making a career off of telling people they are victims. I'm offended by priests molesting children. I'm offended by lawyers bankrupting churches over decades old incidents of abuse. I'm offended that Nazis massacred the jews. I'm offended that Herod had Christ killed. I'm offended by 500 years of British subjugation of the Irish. I'm so offended I think we ought to just go back up into the trees, and forget this human experiment. Then we can fling our poo in peace.

 

[Robert Bass]

Then we can fling our poo in peace.

I am offended by people flinging their poo... In peace or not.

R

 

[SeanRuadh]

Your offense offends me. Let he who is without offense fling the first poo.

I remember back in the '70s, every station had a copy of Imus's 120 Hamburgers To Go... It was brilliant!
Billy Sol Hargus was groundbreaking comedy. I don't think that grizzly-headed b*****d has made me laugh since.

 

[texasskywatcher]

For the love of peace, poo, and what can brown do for you

Imus is gone, I have Tears for Fears' Mad World queued up on the Ipod, and hoping that I don't get mugged on the Red Line :-\

 

[gordontalk]

I've heard Russ Martin do bits before which were far worse than what Imus said. But I guess that it was okay because he usually had Eddie on the phone when he did the bits. I'm refering to the Eddie who is black. So I guess that Imus would still be employed if he had someone who was black in the studio with him when he made that comment. Or is it that Dallas advertisers think that stuff is funny and would never stop advertising on the Russ Martin show?

 

[charles123]

My advice to all the talk radio shows in Dallas, they better watch what they say on the radio, because it could backfire.

 

[Musicradio]

Also, watch "double speak"....one thing meaning another. I would bet that will get you in trouble
now, too.

I thought he could have been suspended or fined....but firing him?

 

[TheRover]

Hello All,
Imus is Fired...SUCKS!!! We should turn off ALL TALK RADIO!!! We have no freedom of speech. Imus is a old man that was joking around on the radio. I think we are going back in time to the 1960's again!! I hate this ____________ radio today. We have networks with NO BALLS!!! They only want BIG MONEY!!!
I guess I will go play my ipod now.....NO MORE RADIO!!!

You SUCK CBS & NBC!!
Dan-The-MAN!!!
The NORTH TEXAS RADIO MAN!!!

I hear you ! ! Now that I clearly see the context of the remarks..... It's not as offensive as what the media has led me to believe. Even in it's context, the statements were tasteless.... but that is not something you should be fired for.... Bad Taste ! ! ! ! ! !

1. I just read the context in which Imus AND MCGuirk AND Rosenburg AND Ruffino made their comments on April 4, 2007.

2. Taking their comments "in context" http://mediamatters.org/items/200704040011 makes it all seem not so offensive. It's tasteless to me, and I would never listen to his show, anyway. But taken in context, I do not now believe he "crossed a line"...

3. But, taken out the context of http://mediamatters.org/items/200704040011, then it gets you fired. But what about what the other guys said?? Taken out of context, just as bad? ? ? ? ? Are they also getting the boot ??

People are often punsihed for they appeared to have said, and not what they actually said in context. http://mediamatters.org/items/200704040011

 

[gordontalk]

Well just like with the super bowl, it had to be some pissed off woman who hates football and was bitter because her husband was watching it. I mean what man would complain about Jannet Jackson showing what she showed? I'm just curious to see if this Imus thing will cause every radio station to pull anything that might be offensive to anyone? Russ Martin and Tom Leykis had better find another line of work.

 

[EbolaMonkey]

I hear you ! ! Now that I clearly see the context of the remarks..... It's not as offensive as what the media has led me to believe. Even in it's context, the statements were tasteless.... but that is not something you should be fired for.... Bad Taste ! ! ! ! ! !

We Texans believe you can be fired for no reason at all.

But back to the main topic: Like I said before, "what you say and where you say it" is the issue. You can say just about anything on a street corner. You can write just about anything in print. But the public airwaves have different rules. And companies with broad commercial interests have different rules as well. They are in the business of not insulting large swaths of consumers.

Imus used the public airwaves to insult a group of young athletic and academic success stories. It was an open and shut case.

And let's stop bringing Jessie and Sharpton into this. I mean, really! For years now, they've both been sidenotes. No one takes them seriously anymore. Jessie is known for corporate blackmail and marital infidelity. And Sharpton's laundry list of stupid quotes has marginalized him as an impotent hack.

This Imus thing was a slam dunk. Jessie and Sharpton are no longer capable of getting anyone fired. Imus got himself fired.

 

[KPLEXCOMPLEX]

Sharpton exagerated the event,Jackson exploited it with his 50 (paid acording to reuters) "volunteers to picket a cbs station in Chicago. Sharpton will make appearances on various shows for the next few days, Oprah even got into it by having the Rutgers team on her show,she exploited it. The "accusers" are profiting more "materially" than emotionally,and they know it. Meanwhile Imus's wife sat in for him on what was going to be his last show for the suspension and raised another million for childrens charities. Charities that serve children of all races btw. Has Sharpton raise charitable money without lining his own pockets in the process? Who is monitoring his show for his racist remarks?

 

[Steve Eberhart]

The environment is dramatically different from 1971 when this kind of comment would fly right by.

Imus had a very good run. His brand of humor entertains millions, offends some.
The motivation of those who oppose him is up for debate, but one thing is not. What he did was wrong, even he admitted as much. You simply cannot say things like that these days.

Accountability is what this is about. Everyone loses. Listeners who enjoy his program lose, NBC loses millions, CBS loses millions, local affiliates lose, Imus loses millions, and his childrens charities lose millions...but it is one person and only one persons fault.