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IMUS GROWLS

Great... go Imus! Although I've never heard his show, this seems to be a very important case that may determine the future of radio. We don't need people getting fired for such reasons (or there would be many more to come)... he went overboard and wasn't really thinking of what he was saying, but an apology and a fine is close to enough.
 
Imus should accept his firing and try to exit the radio business with what little dignity he can possibly salvage. Hiring a "first amendment lawyer" is just hilarious to me--CBS Radio had every right to fire him. Admittedly, I can't stand Imus, I don't believe he should have been fired though--that said, he was fired and that is the right of the employer.

The First Amendment doesn't apply here; congress didn't force 'the I-man' off the air, nor did they make a law precluding him from using the term "nappy headed hoes". Just when you thought our business couldn't sink any lower--it manages to amaze you.
 
This may become a law suit with unintended consequences. If Imus is demanding the right to speak, then why shouldn't any caller, screener be damned, then be allowed to have their say on the air. Would the traditional call time limit then become void. Would hosts be allowed to cut off a caller on a rant and move on, or would, as I believe this could turn out, mandate that a foolish caller be allowed to have their say.
 
Your radio does have a dial or push buttons, doesn't it? Try using it, nobody had to listen to Imus unless they wanted to.

I frankly liked him; better than listening to Bruce Jacobs or Charles Goyette or Air America. He was entertaining, had a good mix of news, politics, music, comedy. I particularly liked his fake interviews with the mayor of New Orleans, Bill Clinton, and Ted Kennedy. Sort of reminded me of Phil Hendrie. There were serious parts, such as his calls from Tim Russert and other commentators or reporters, discussing current events, that were very informative.

I didn't find his comments that offensive, and he certainly didn't say them with malice. He basically was fishing for a segway, as all jocks have to do most of the time. It was much the same as if he had called a gay, a "***." Had he done that, would he have gotten fired? I doubt it. Probably not even suspended.

Too many public figures are looking for publicity, and set themselves up as self-proclaimed authorities. They are like a set mouse trap, just waiting to latch on to the next victim. I doubt if Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson even listen to Imus, they just latched onto the commotion several days after the actual event. Again, for the publicity.....IMO.

I haven't found anything as entertaining on morning radio since Bob Boze Bell and David K. Jones.
 
pberger said:
Your radio does have a dial or push buttons, doesn't it? Try using it, nobody had to listen to Imus unless they wanted to.

I frankly liked him; better than listening to Bruce Jacobs or Charles Goyette or Air America. He was entertaining, had a good mix of news, politics, music, comedy. I particularly liked his fake interviews with the mayor of New Orleans, Bill Clinton, and Ted Kennedy. Sort of reminded me of Phil Hendrie. There were serious parts, such as his calls from Tim Russert and other commentators or reporters, discussing current events, that were very informative.

I didn't find his comments that offensive, and he certainly didn't say them with malice. He basically was fishing for a segway, as all jocks have to do most of the time. It was much the same as if he had called a gay, a "------." Had he done that, would he have gotten fired? I doubt it. Probably not even suspended.

Too many public figures are looking for publicity, and set themselves up as self-proclaimed authorities. They are like a set mouse trap, just waiting to latch on to the next victim. I doubt if Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson even listen to Imus, they just latched onto the commotion several days after the actual event. Again, for the publicity.....IMO.

I haven't found anything as entertaining on morning radio since Bob Boze Bell and David K. Jones.
Click to expand...
Imus is no Phil Hendrie. Phil Hendrie has amazing talent and is a pioneer, Imus is an extremely poor Stern clone who never innovated anything in this business. He mumbles, says unintelligible things and is a disingenuous pain the ass to everyone he ever worked with--trust me on this one... why do you think that no one came to his defense in the biz when he got in trouble?

His ratings are microscopic--in Phoenix well under a 1 share... his racism has been well documented on and off the air in years past. While I think it was a joke that he got fired for THIS incident, he should have been fired years earlier.
 
What part of 'Nappy Headed Hoe' translates to 'black woman?'

Imus was plucked off the radio by people who look to turn any publicly stated remark into a battle they can use to promote their own political agenda. It is nothing more than that.


And, like was said before, if you don't like it - turn it off. We now live in an age where off buttons and radio dials are no longer enough. Now we have to 'take down' what ever offends us or we think might be offensive to others. IMO we are turning into a bunch of panzies and this is why RADIO IS GOING TO SUCK in the following years. Nobody will want to do anything or say anything different and we will be stuck with the MOViN's, KOOLS, and KTARs of the world.
 
KMGX said:
His ratings are microscopic--in Phoenix well under a 1 share... his racism has been well documented on and off the air in years past. While I think it was a joke that he got fired for THIS incident, he should have been fired years earlier.
Click to expand...

He should be paid off for the remainder of his contract. CBS knew what they were getting. The problem with most radio execs is they want guys like Imus to be as outrageous and controversial as can be - thats why they're hired. Then the execs run like cowards when a talent causes an uproar. They can't have it both ways.
 
amnesia440 said:
What part of 'Nappy Headed Hoe' translates to 'black woman?'

Imus was plucked off the radio by people who look to turn any publicly stated remark into a battle they can use to promote their own political agenda. It is nothing more than that.


And, like was said before, if you don't like it - turn it off. We now live in an age where off buttons and radio dials are no longer enough. Now we have to 'take down' what ever offends us or we think might be offensive to others. IMO we are turning into a bunch of panzies and this is why RADIO IS GOING TO SUCK in the following years. Nobody will want to do anything or say anything different and we will be stuck with the MOViN's, KOOLS, and KTARs of the world.
Click to expand...

Well, he said it about a basketball team that was primarily (but not all) Black. While I am not an Al Sharpton fan, I defend his right to object to that remark. What everyone should be asking is why the media turned the whole thing into a circus? I thought that I was seeing the OJ trial all over again. Furthermore, someone -- other than a weak attempt by Matt Lauer -- should have asked the Reverends why they weren't willing to FORGIVE when someone apologized very sincerely. In the end, I believe that Imus understood that he had gravely offended some people and was truly sorry about that. So where was the Christian concept of forgiveness???
 
IMUS will be laughing all the way to the bank.I can promise you he'll get the last laugh.He may just stay home and throw darts at that CBS EYE...
 
From a previous post;
Imus is no Phil Hendrie. Phil Hendrie has amazing talent and is a pioneer, Imus is an extremely poor Stern clone who never innovated anything in this business. He mumbles, says unintelligible things and is a disingenuous pain the ass to everyone he ever worked with--trust me on this one... why do you think that no one came to his defense in the biz when he got in trouble?


Calling the I-Man a Stern clone shows a startling ignorance about the radio business. Imus was doing his act over a decade before Stern, in fact paving the way for Stern, and all the Stern wannabes (mancow, O &A, etc.). Imus, love him or hate him, was the original shock jock.
Phil Hendrie pioneered what?
 
manwhore said:
From a previous post;
Imus is no Phil Hendrie. Phil Hendrie has amazing talent and is a pioneer, Imus is an extremely poor Stern clone who never innovated anything in this business. He mumbles, says unintelligible things and is a disingenuous pain the ass to everyone he ever worked with--trust me on this one... why do you think that no one came to his defense in the biz when he got in trouble?


Calling the I-Man a Stern clone shows a startling ignorance about the radio business. Imus was doing his act over a decade before Stern, in fact paving the way for Stern, and all the Stern wannabes (mancow, O &A, etc.). Imus, love him or hate him, was the original shock jock.
Phil Hendrie pioneered what?
Click to expand...
Don Imus was a "DJ" playing 12 songs/hour in the 70s/80s, while Stern was creating the Hot-Talk format in Detroit, Washington and eventually New York, and what a surprise, in about 1986 Don Imus decided to start to do a "talk show". He never did on-air bits--try listening to old tapes of his airshifts sometime, you'll understand. It is you that has ignorance of the radio industry and it's past to suggest Imus is anything more than a wannabe who never garnered substantial ratings in any market he was on--example, Phoenix where KXAM wasn't even showing up in the book! The very premise for your argument is therefore false.

Phil Hendrie took the talk radio forum and turned it into a parody. His characters and original satire while duping callers into believing their antics were real was an ORIGINAL concept--creating real radio theater. His impersonations of other radio personalties was also amazing.
 
Cute but not accurate. I-man was doing bits in the early 70's, had his first greatest bits album out then also. Got fired from NY,for outrageous on air behavior, exiled to Cleveland, went back to New York til now.
When Stern came to DC he was still playing music in his show. Didn't totally drop music till after he went to NY. I used to listen to him on DC-101 when I lived there in the early 80's.
 
Minor corrections...Imus wasn't fired for outrageous behavior at WNBC in '77...the new PD, Bob Pittman, canned the entire airstaff and took a less talk, soft A/C approach. Imus went to afternoons at WHK, Cleveland, playing country and being, if anything, the most outrageous he has ever been. 18 months later, Pittman was gone and Imus, with no restraints, was back at WNBC.

You're right, it was NYC where Stern dropped music...but he did it gradually while at WNBC. He was still a DJ for the first couple of years...playing about half the number of records the format called for each hour.

Airchecks of Pittman's version of WNBC, of Imus in afternoons at WHK and of Imus first hour back at WNBC (with comments by "WNBC General Manager Carlos Santanabanana") exist.

---Michael Hagerty
 
michael hagerty said:
Minor corrections...Imus wasn't fired for outrageous behavior at WNBC in '77...the new PD, Bob Pittman, canned the entire airstaff and took a less talk, soft A/C approach. Imus went to afternoons at WHK, Cleveland, playing country and being, if anything, the most outrageous he has ever been. 18 months later, Pittman was gone and Imus, with no restraints, was back at WNBC.
Click to expand...

That was it. Ellie Dillon brought in from WMAQ for mornings. In fact, an aircheck of the format change was floating around on the web not too long ago.

michael hagerty said:
You're right, it was NYC where Stern dropped music...but he did it gradually while at WNBC. He was still a DJ for the first couple of years...playing about half the number of records the format called for each hour.
Click to expand...

I think Dale Parsons allowed the format to loosen a bit - with the hiring of Soupy for 10-3, it seemed to be more personality oriented. I seem to remember Joey Reynolds playing records (replaced Stern), but by 1986, Imus might have been down to one record per half hour, middays was all oldies, and PM drive (Alan Colmes by then) was strictly talk.

Tom
 
Regardless of Imus sucking or not, and he definitely does suck, what killed him was the lack of any other news story whatsoever - they'd still be talking about the nappy headed hoes if it wasn't for the massacre at Vtech.
 
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