We're blazing through the plains of Indiana at top speed. It's the final day of our cross-country road trip and the CD player has become our best friend — a vital link to staying awake and keeping sanity.

My roommates and I just picked up Eminem's latest album, The Marshall Mathers LP, in Chicago.

His first single seemed catchy enough — I never listened to his first album — but as the tracks piled up after "The Real Slim Shady," my stomach started to turn.

The song "Kim" in which Eminem raps with bloody realism about killing his then-girlfriend finally made me stop the disc. His other songs were no better. With lyrics like, "Bitch I'm gonna kill you; you ain't nothin but a slut to me," it wasn't catchy anymore.

The car was quiet for awhile, and I quickly figured out that Eminem isn't the lovable knave the media tell me he is.

Maybe I'm cynical, but I wasn't shocked that his album topped the charts; people can be stupid.

They don't realize that Eminem's songs and his persona glorify violence against gays and especially against women. There is a brutal irony when young girls nonchalantly sing and dance to Eminem's songs.

I was shocked, however, when Eminem began wining awards and started becoming a media darling.

I understand free speech; I'm a journalist. Eminem has the right to produce the music he wants — you can even call him an artist, if you want; I won't.

But we as a society should have a conscience not to endorse his message. Giving Eminem awards says, in effect, his hateful lyrics are valued and they are accepted.

First came MTV. At their music awards in September, Eminem racked up awards and performed live.

This month, it was the Grammys. The academy nominated him for album of the year.

Yet Michael Green, president of the National Academy for Recording Arts and Sciences, defended the nomination.

"There is no question about the repugnance of many of his songs. They are nauseating in terms of how we as a culture like to view human progress. But it's a remarkable recording," he said.

You're wrong, Mr. Green. There is nothing remarkable about hate. There is nothing remarkable about songs that trivialize the death of women. When you give out an award or a nomination, you endorse the work as a whole. You don't overlook the "uncomfortable" songs.

The problem seems to be that the media conglomerates want to have it both ways. They want be seen as shining bastions of enlightenment, yet still want to be part of music that sells.

Think about it: In recent years, award shows have degraded into nothing but product placement — the winners, for the most part, are the top sellers.

Eminem is just one part of a mass commercial machine, which usually pushes a relatively benign ideology, but in this case, it is succeeding in promoting and reinforcing hate.

MTV is starting to have pangs of guilt. This week, they ran a low-budget TV movie about Matthew Shepard's death followed by 18 commercial-free hours of celebrities reading accounts of hundreds of hate crimes.

It's part of an ongoing campaign throughout the year. It's a nice gesture, but it's too little, too late.

Now MTV's 18-hour hate crime marathon is over, but Eminem will be back on the channel again and again.

Is this flashy, over-promoted piece of programming penance for making Eminem a star? I don't think so. It's kind of like going to a unity rally, then going home and telling racist jokes to your roommates.

Be honest, MTV. Be consistent.

If you really want to "Stop the Hate," you have to mean it every day, not just when it's convenient.