If you've had any access to the media over the last week, you have no doubt heard or seen coverage of Don Imus and the fallout after his racist and sexist comments regarding the Rutgers women's basketball team.
In fact, the news was so pervasive, results of who Anna Nicole's baby's daddy is (it's the photographer guy, by the way) couldn't knock the I-Man off the front page. And while we can certainly argue whether Imus should have been fired from MSNBC and CBS Radio, what can't be argued is the identity of the true perpetrator -- companies like CBS and NBC that choose to employ personalities like Don Imus.
Long before Don Imus called the Rutgers women's basketball team "nappy-headed hos," there had been a long history of sexist, racist and overall shocking comments coming from him and his show Imus in The Morning, which at the time of his firing had been broadcast on more than 60 radio stations across the United States and simulcast on cable's MSNBC. It has been documented that Imus called onetime New York Times reporter Gwen Ifill, who is black, "a cleaning lady" and while referring to New York Times columnist William C. Rhoden, who is also black, a "quota hire."
In his statement after the firing on MSNBC, NBC News President Steve Capus acknowledged as much: "I can't ignore the fact that there is a very long list of inappropriate comments, of inappropriate banter, and it has to stop."
So, if Imus' behavior has been so well known, if NBC has known about the "long list of inappropriate comments," why did they hire him in the first place, and why only now have they chosen to fire him?
Whether it's Don Imus, Ann Coulter, Howard Stern, Rush Limbaugh, or any number of talking heads who are broadcast to us over television, radio or Internet, the "shock value" is primarily what their audiences tune in for and the reason companies like CBS and NBC hired them in the first place. If someone gets up in front of the Conservative Political Action Conference and makes a reference to presidential candidate John Edwards as a "faggot," it's shocking to say the least. But is it really that shocking when it comes from someone like Ann Coulter? Coulter, like Imus, has built a reputation on saying things that are shocking, and with each passing incident her outbursts become more and more outrageous. But this is why she has a syndicated column, gets various book deals, appears on numerous television and radio shows and speaks at conferences like CPAC. These companies know what they are getting themselves into when they hire people like Don Imus. But when the Imus's of the world say something that touches a nerve in the American consciousness, these companies attempt to act high and mighty.
In their response to the firing, CBS President and CEO Leslie Moonves pubicly said, "There has been much discussion of the effect language like this has on our young people, particularly young women of color trying to make their way in this society." But why only now are these "discussions" taking place? If Imus' recent comments hadn't appeared on media watchdog Media Matters for America's Web site, if the people who viewed it on that site hadn't complained, if black leaders like Al Sharpton and Jessie Jackson hadn't become involved, I think it's clear that these "discussions" wouldn't have happened. So, why is it that this comment, over all the others, caused people to call for and succeed in firings?It is clear that Don Imus is not the sole proprietor of shock on the nation's airwaves. Last November, while conducting an interview on his CNN Headline News show, Glen Beck said to Minnesota Representative Keith Ellison, who is the first Muslim elected to Congress, "Sir, prove to me that you are not working with our enemies." In September of 2005, only days after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, Beck, while on his radio show, referred to the survivors of the storm as "scumbags." While many pointed out the racist aspect of his comments, Glen Beck can still be heard on the radio and seen nightly on CNN Headline News.
In January of this year, while hosting The O'Reilly Factor on Fox News, Bill O'Reilly claimed Shawn Hornbeck -- who had been kidnapped at age 11, held for four years and sexually assaulted -- enjoyed his situation, saying "there was an element here that this kid liked about his circumstance." Although O'Reilly was replaced as keynote speaker for a National Center for Missing and Exploited Children dinner weeks later, he is still the host of his radio and television programs. These are only a handful of examples, and by no means am I saying that O'Reilly, Beck, or any others should be fired for expressing their opinions -- that is what they are paid for. These people are hired, and often paid a lot of money, because they are shocking and they get attention. So, how can you fire someone for doing their job?For companies like NBC and CBS to pretend they are offended when (and only when) the public voices their outrage is ridiculous. In the future, if these media outlets are so concerned over the speech that is coming from the mouths of their on-air personalities, perhaps they will act before people call for firings and companies pull their advertising dollars. But, as usual, I suspect this is only hot air, and in a few months Don Imus and all the "discussions" this incident has brought about will be long gone from our memories.
