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Should CBS Radio fire Don Imus

J

Jul

Guest
Should CBS Radio fire Don Imus and end his "Imus in the morning" program. Yes or No?
 
If Imus gets fired from CBS radio and westwood one then I want the same for the rap artists and all the stations that play that music. I'm sure this is not going to be a popular post. This still has to do more with gender then anything else. If you ask most of the white public out there they really don't care. But the PC police are back and I think that's were CBS radio will make there decision. One thing is I'm proud about is he's doing great with the radiothon. I think that the idiot sharpton should make a donation. Anyways I'll be waiting for the attack posts from the likes of TowerBuzz.
 
The question isn't SHOULD they, it's THEY HAVE TO.

Let's see, If they didn't, I'd love to be at the shareholders meeting. Those protests inside and outside will be unbearable. And how many CBS shows, stations and networks would CBS like to have boycotted? Imus would be just the start if he wasn't fired. I hope the execs at CBS could survive a sinking stock price and loss of tens of millions of dollars in revenue not only from Imus. He'll be sacraficed. Mark my words.

Get real people. He's gone. He doesn't have any protection in the executive ranks of CBS anymore, either.
 
Get real people. He's gone. He doesn't have any protection in the executive ranks of CBS anymore, either.

I have a question then. Once you're gotten Imus's head, and he's fired...what's next then. Are all of the problems caused by his words just going to magically go away? Will race relations in America be immediately, and permanently, resolved such that much hand-holding and daisies in tow will be spread across this fruited plain?

Or will the activists like yourself then turn their attention to Charles McCord, Bernard McGuirk, the WFAN program director, CBS Radio management, and CBS executives themselves?

Or will you merely pat yourselves on the back for getting someone fired and wait for the next guy to "slip up"--while staying eerily silent on national race relations in the meantime?
 
CBS may, unfortunately, crumble under presure from the rabble-rousers and protests of people who most likely never listen to Imus anyway.
Imus, however, has won more publicity for his Radiothon today, which I predict will bring in record numbers of donations. The results will, in turn, insure Imus will be back on the air after a suspension whether he's later fired or not.

Advertisers may initially back down to the bullying of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition and the National Action Network, but there will still be more potential sponsors waiting in line to take those spots, justifying their decisions by realizing the Imus audience is large, active and high-income. If CBS fires him, someone else will pick him up when the smoke clears.

Another thought to consider: Who will take Imus' place on WFAN or Westwood One network? WFAN will lose people to WEPN or WABC quickly without the anchor personality who reaches the stations desired demos... This is no lowest common denominator "Opie and Anthony" show we are talking about (you can find other lowbrow "personalities" to take over for them), Imus brings big money listeners to his advertisers... it will be a long time before finding a "new" Imus guy to keep up station billing. As for Westwood One, they can drop Imus, but the stations that subscribe may defect to Mancow and possible adopt more TRN programs, which could hurt WW1...

The Imus firing fallout may be much worse than the knee-jerk reactions of some companies afraid of the dreaded "R-Word."
 
When you really examine his comments that led to all this? Nope...he was making a joke about a basketball team, NOT THE ACTUAL INDIVIDUALS ON THAT TEAM.
The problem is he is a satirist working for a news organization.
God knows that stern and others (not even to mention black standups) have said even worse without being removed from the airwaves.
The real joke is how Sharpton and Jackson and others have used this as a platform for there own causes.

Jackson was on MSNBC this morning demanding more blacks be given prime time news spots.

I thought people were rewarded with better time slots in larger markets by PERMORMANCE IN RATINGS AND REVENUES. So, if blacks have not excelled to these slots whose fault is it but there own?

And who are they going to ban next? Don Rickles?

I hope don walks and moved to XM or another network.
 
Johnny Morgan said:
Get real people. He's gone. He doesn't have any protection in the executive ranks of CBS anymore, either.

I have a question then. Once you're gotten Imus's head, and he's fired...what's next then. Are all of the problems caused by his words just going to magically go away? Will race relations in America be immediately, and permanently, resolved such that much hand-holding and daisies in tow will be spread across this fruited plain?

Or will the activists like yourself then turn their attention to Charles McCord, Bernard McGuirk, the WFAN program director, CBS Radio management, and CBS executives themselves?

Or will you merely pat yourselves on the back for getting someone fired and wait for the next guy to "slip up"--while staying eerily silent on national race relations in the meantime?

Why some of you people try to spin this to me, I have no idea. Is it that you have to pick on me because you know I'm right? This is about Imus and how he IMPLODED. How badly he handled himself in this situation and how broadcast execs, politicans and other newsmaker regulars on his show gave him a "pass" for his racist/sexist comments for so long. It's about HYPOCRICY, GREEN and RACISM primarily. And I've called it all pretty well from my first post on the subject. Some of you are just so out of touch with reality. Learn something from it especially if you are on the air or are in a management position in the media.

I'm not an activist other than being a "Minuteman" and conservative "Reagan Republican" who has mostly "liberal" Latino, Black and gay friends (who I have defended from racist and homophobic remarks many times). If you think comments hurled at me on this board are anything, you should hear my friends and me talk politics...but we all "get along" very well.
 
Lando Griffin said:
CBS may, unfortunately, crumble under presure from the rabble-rousers and protests of people who most likely never listen to Imus anyway.
Imus, however, has won more publicity for his Radiothon today, which I predict will bring in record numbers of donations. The results will, in turn, insure Imus will be back on the air after a suspension whether he's later fired or not.

Advertisers may initially back down to the bullying of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition and the National Action Network, but there will still be more potential sponsors waiting in line to take those spots, justifying their decisions by realizing the Imus audience is large, active and high-income. If CBS fires him, someone else will pick him up when the smoke clears.

Another thought to consider: Who will take Imus' place on WFAN or Westwood One network? WFAN will lose people to WEPN or WABC quickly without the anchor personality who reaches the stations desired demos... This is no lowest common denominator "Opie and Anthony" show we are talking about (you can find other lowbrow "personalities" to take over for them), Imus brings big money listeners to his advertisers... it will be a long time before finding a "new" Imus guy to keep up station billing. As for Westwood One, they can drop Imus, but the stations that subscribe may defect to Mancow and possible adopt more TRN programs, which could hurt WW1...

The Imus firing fallout may be much worse than the knee-jerk reactions of some companies afraid of the dreaded "R-Word."

And who is going to pay for Imus staff and Imus himself when he has NO REVENUE from advertisers?

If you think Sirius or XM will touch him, get with reality. They're trying to merge and get the FEDS approval. NOT A CHANCE.

He's an old man. His days in broadcasting are OVER. This is a young persons business not for those only able to relate to the Sen. Robert Byrd KKK crowd.

Get real. He won't be back. He's damaged goods for quite sometime. And by the time the "heat" wears off, he'll be in a rest home. No company can or will touch him.
 
I'm not spinning anything to you. I am asking questions that come directly from the position(s) you are advocating. I don't know that you are right, in fact quite the opposite, I believe you and Sharpton, et al. are incorrect on this issue.

I'm a conservative, too (see the Off-Air board for more of that, and see how far it's ggotten me over there)--one who values the course of open dialogue and don't seek to have anyone who disagrees with me silenced simply for uttering (or even having a course of uttering) impolite words. I refuse to see race as the great overarching issue that colors everything in our lives, and seek out racial tension in every single comment. Nor do I find racism to be as prevalent in society, culture, etc. as activists make it out to be.

I'm also aware of how politics works in this country, and that media politics in particular are beasts with their own rules. Media perception is important, and the media perception of this is that no station dare have a racist on their staff...if that racist is white and makes impolite comments about anything.

What I don't understand are the changing reasons for firing Don Imus. Is it the words he spoke? Is it because he's a racist? Is it money? When will it end? Who is next?

And how does his firing at all affect the purported race issue in the country as a whole?

Quite aside from being out of touch with reality, I think both you and I are very in touch with reality. It just happens that we are on different sides of the issue. Being subjectively incorrect on an issue doesn't make either of us "out of touch". It makes us subjectively incorrect.

Does anyone really, honestly believe that any of the Rutgers' players are "nappy headed hos"? If anyone honestly does think that, THERE is your race issue. THAT person needs to be talked to, and talked about, to find out why it is he thinks that. If that person is Don Imus, then so be it.

Chopping off the head in a quest for blood to appease some inner feeling of dominance is not solving anything other than the blood letting. And that never stops. It just goes into remission.
 
Johnny Morgan said:
I'm not spinning anything to you. I am asking questions that come directly from the position(s) you are advocating. I don't know that you are right, in fact quite the opposite, I believe you and Sharpton, et al. are incorrect on this issue.

I'm a conservative, too (see the Off-Air board for more of that, and see how far it's ggotten me over there)--one who values the course of open dialogue and don't seek to have anyone who disagrees with me silenced simply for uttering (or even having a course of uttering) impolite words. I refuse to see race as the great overarching issue that colors everything in our lives, and seek out racial tension in every single comment. Nor do I find racism to be as prevalent in society, culture, etc. as activists make it out to be.

I'm also aware of how politics works in this country, and that media politics in particular are beasts with their own rules. Media perception is important, and the media perception of this is that no station dare have a racist on their staff...if that racist is white and makes impolite comments about anything.

What I don't understand are the changing reasons for firing Don Imus. Is it the words he spoke? Is it because he's a racist? Is it money? When will it end? Who is next?

And how does his firing at all affect the purported race issue in the country as a whole?

Quite aside from being out of touch with reality, I think both you and I are very in touch with reality. It just happens that we are on different sides of the issue. Being subjectively incorrect on an issue doesn't make either of us "out of touch". It makes us subjectively incorrect.

Does anyone really, honestly believe that any of the Rutgers' players are "nappy headed hos"? If anyone honestly does think that, THERE is your race issue. THAT person needs to be talked to, and talked about, to find out why it is he thinks that. If that person is Don Imus, then so be it.

Chopping off the head in a quest for blood to appease some inner feeling of dominance is not solving anything other than the blood letting. And that never stops. It just goes into remission.

Although the RACISM debate is one that is needed in America, after Imus is fired from CBS and a few weeks past, I can tell you EXACTLY what else will happen. NOTHING (you might see a few more black faces on NBC or CBS for a while, though, since Jackson and Sharpton are negotiating that now). I've seen this too many times.

Sean Hannity has been trying to add the "Fairness Doctrine" into all of this debate. A call, from liberals, to bring it back to stop conservative talk radio and that the Imus thing is just a beginning for its return. I think he's stretching it a bit although I have heard a few liberal looney "Media Matters" people trying to move it that way as well.
 
NO! But CBS probably will because of the money issue and trying to appease Sharpton and Jackson. Although I have never listened to Imus, I respect him for his tenure and stature in the broadcasting business. People who do listen to him and have done so over the years know his type of 'shock jock' programming. Though his comments about the Rutgers girls basketball team was out of line, he should ONLY need to apologize to the team. From what I've heard, there are many in the black community who resent having Sharpton and Jackson speak for them. It appears that anytime someone says anything out of line, they have to get their forgiveness for one or both. It's about time that these corporations get a backbone. What ever happened to disclaimers? How many times does the man have to apologize? A standup comedian friend of mine told me many years ago that "PC is BS". There have been a lot worse things said over the air waves and there, also, appears to be a double standard. What Imus said was demeaning to a group of college girls that deserve respect for their efforts on the court. But this should be between him and them. There are those who always see an opportunity to further themselves and become part of a bigger problem. Maybe it is time for Imus to step down and leave his chair to someone else, but this is not the way it should happen. A person's career should not be ended because of one stupid mistake in judgement.
 
Things aren't looking so good for Imus.

Advertisers are dropping their ads from Imus' show and MSNBC left and right and I hear there are CBS Radio board members who wants Imus terminated.
 
MSNBC needed a change in their morning presentation. Imus was just not working for them! It also hurt the performance of his radio show - particularly in syndicated markets.

I don't think CBS will fire Imus. My guess is he will be back on the radio in two weeks and back stronger than even for the publicity.
 
Let's try this:

Bob Grant was fired from WABC for making a comment wishing DNC Chair ROn Brown dead in a plane crash (although in fairness to Grant, the new SAFE generis talk Disney crowd was looking for a reason to can him)... He wound up on WOR making big $$$ less than a month later...

Opie and Anthony were on satellite shortly after being unoficially sentenced to a year off the air.

Personalities have constantly said things to anger some kind of group and lose ad revenue... Soon after, the money comes back from somewhere else who sees the boon of a large audience...

Imus may be old, but he's still respected in the business and a revenue-generating host. We have not seen the last of a man who slipped up and made fun of people who shouldn't have been ridiculed but still a man sho has odne some great charitable deeds and provided high-income earners with entertainment and information at a level far above the lowest common denominator.

Imus deserves to be back and will be around -- despite the rabble.
 
radioman1380 said:
A person's career should not be ended because of one stupid mistake in judgement.

Ha yeh tell that to Jimmy the Greek, Al Campanis, Doug Tracht (yeh he's still working but where?), Michael Richards, etc.

As for Imus, his days are done. Buried in my gargage are about 10-12 cassettes of Don Imus WNNNNBC circa 1972-74 ... His shtick about Rev Billy Sol Hargis and other bits were good at the time, he had a DJ friend from Houston (?) call in regularly and do great imitations of Nixon, Kissinger, et al. It was funny then, today is a new World.
 
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