[Vision2020] Imus Looses His Job

[Mark Solomon]

Gary,

It's always an interesting day when you and I agree down the line on 
something, although I wouldn't put Jackson in the same boat as 
Sharpton.

m.

At 4:31 PM -0700 4/12/07, g. crabtree wrote:
>Imus has every right to say what he will. Advertisers have every 
>right to recoil from what they perceive as negative image. CBS and 
>MSNBC, sensing a potential decline in revenues, has the right to 
>give afore mentioned shock jock the heave-ho. (juvenile snickering 
>ensues)
>
>This whole debacle strikes me as much ado about nothing but does 
>stand as an example of a free market working perfectly. Following 
>with that model Imus should be on the public speaking/talk show 
>circuit in about a week, have a book out in aprox. three months and 
>have a gig on Sirius/XM before the end of the year. The only real 
>question is whether it will be an aw shucks, I'm sorry Imus or the 
>belligerent, in your face Imus. Personally, I couldn't care any less 
>as I won't be listening either way, but given my druthers I'd choose 
>the later. Everyone (and by everyone I mean me, of course) despises 
>a contrite sniveling punk who bends over for manufactured public 
>outrage and the shrill exclamations of race hustlers like Jackson 
>and Sharpton.
>
>g
>----- Original Message ----- From: "Mark Solomon" <msolomon at moscow.com>
>To: <vision2020 at moscow.com>
>Sent: Thursday, April 12, 2007 3:30 PM
>Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Imus Looses His Job
>
>
>This is corporate America talking. The
>advertisers pulled their ads for the show based
>on their reading of whether or not they would
>receive a good return for their advertising
>dollar by spending it on Imus. They obviously
>decided "no" and when the lack of financial
>support reached a critical point, CBS pulled the
>plug. Like what he said or not, corporate America
>is not usually known for making decisions that
>negatively effect their bottom lines. If they
>could still have made money off Imus, they would
>have. I see this as a refreshing dose of good
>news regarding the American public.
>
>m.
>
>>This is what happens when all that is done is a
>>comment is made.  I am NOT saying the comment
>>was a good one or should be allowed; but this
>>guy should NOT have lost his job over it,
>>especially given rappers, actors, and other
>>blacks/negros/"African Americans" use even worse
>>terms and language and THEY ARE PAID for it.
>>
>>This is just wrong!  Suspend the guy for a
>>couple of weeks without pay, but taking his job
>>away is just not right.
>>
>>
>>
>>NEW YORK - CBS fired Don Imus from his radio
>>program Thursday, the finale to a stunning fall
>>for one of the nation's most prominent
>>broadcasters.
>>ADVERTISEMENT
>>
>>Imus initially was given a two-week suspension
>>for calling the Rutgers women's basketball team
>>"nappy-headed hos" on the air last week, but
>>outrage continued to grow and advertisers bolted
>>from his CBS radio show and its MSNBC simulcast.
>>
>>"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," CBS President and
>>Chief Executive Officer Leslie Moonves said in
>>announcing the decision. "That consideration has
>>weighed most heavily on our minds as we made our
>>decision."
>>
>>Rutgers women's basketball team spokeswoman
>>Stacey Brann said the team did not have an
>>immediate comment on Imus' firing.
>>
>>Time Magazine once named the cantankerous
>>broadcaster as one of the 25 Most Influential
>>People in America, and he was a member of the
>>National Broadcaster Hall of Fame.
>>
>>But Imus found himself at the center of a storm
>>as protests intensified. On Wednesday, MSNBC
>>dropped the simulcast of Imus' show.
>>
>>Losing Imus will be a financial hit to CBS
>>Radio, which also suffered when Howard Stern
>>departed for satellite radio. The program is
>>worth about $15 million in annual revenue to
>>CBS, which owns Imus' home radio station WFAN-AM
>>and manages Westwood One, the company that
>>syndicates the show across the country.
>>
>>The Rev.
>>Al Sharpton and
>>Jesse Jackson met with Moonves on Thursday to
>>demand Imus' removal, promising a rally outside
>>CBS headquarters Saturday and an effort to
>>persuade more advertisers to abandon Imus.
>>
>>Sumner Redstone, chairman of the CBS Corp. board
>>and its chief stockholder, told Newsweek that he
>>had expected Moonves to "do the right thing,"
>>although it wasn't clear what he thought that
>>was.
>>
>>The news came down in the middle of Imus'
>>Radiothon, which has raised more than $40
>>million since 1990. The Radiothon had raised
>>more than $1.3 million Thursday before Imus
>>learned that he lost his job.
>>
>>"This may be our last Radiothon, so we need to
>>raise about $100 million," Imus cracked at the
>>start of the event.
>>
>>Volunteers were getting about 200 more pledges
>>per hour than they did last year, with most
>>callers expressing support for Imus, said Tony
>>Gonzalez, supervisor of the Radiothon phone
>>bank. The event benefited Tomorrows Children's
>>Fund, the CJ Foundation for SIDS and the Imus
>>Ranch.
>>
>>Imus, whose suspension was supposed to start
>>next week, was in the awkward situation of
>>broadcasting Thursday's radio program from the
>>MSNBC studios in New Jersey, even though NBC
>>News said the night before that MSNBC would no
>>longer simulcast his program on television.
>>
>>He didn't attack MSNBC for its decision - "I
>>understand the pressure they were under," he
>>said - but complained the network was doing some
>>unethical things during the broadcast. He didn't
>>elaborate.
>>
>>He acknowledged again that his comments about
>>the Rutgers women's basketball players a day
>>after they had competed in the
>>NCAA championship game had been "really stupid."
>>He said he had apologized enough and wasn't
>>going to whine about his fate.
>>
>>Sharpton and Jackson emerged from a meeting with
>>Moonves saying the corporate chief had promised
>>to consider their requests.
>>
>>"It's not about taking Imus down," Sharpton
>>said. "It's about lifting decency up."
>>
>>Sheila Johnson, owner of the WNBA's Washington
>>Mystics and, with her ex-husband Robert,
>>co-founder of BET, called Imus' comments
>>reprehensible in an interview with The
>>Associated Press. She said she had called
>>Moonves to urge that CBS cut all ties with the
>>veteran radio star, and was worried that what he
>>said could hurt women's sports.
>>
>>"I think what Imus has done has put a cloud over
>>what we've tried to do in promoting women's
>>athletics," she said.
>>
>>Several sponsors, including American Express
>>Co., Sprint Nextel Corp., Staples Inc., Procter
>>& Gamble Co., and General Motors Corp., have
>>said they were pulling ads from Imus' show
>>indefinitely. Imus made a point Thursday to
>>thank one sponsor, Bigelow Tea, for sticking by
>>him.
>>
>>The list of his potential guests began to shrink, too.
>>
>>Newsweek Editor Jon Meacham said the magazine's
>>staffers would no longer appear on Imus' show.
>>Meacham, Jonathan Alter, Evan Thomas, Howard
>>Fineman and Michael Isikoff from Newsweek have
>>been frequent guests.
>>
>>Imus has complained bitterly about a lack of
>>support from one black politician, Harold Ford
>>Jr., even though he strongly backed Ford's
>>campaign for Senate in Tennessee last year.
>>Ford, now head of the Democratic Leadership
>>Council, said Thursday he'll leave it to others
>>to decide Imus' future.
>>
>>"I don't want to be viewed as piling on right
>>now because Don Imus is a good friend and a
>>decent man," Ford said. "However, he did a
>>reprehensible thing."
>>
>>Imus' troubles have also affected his wife,
>>author Deirdre Imus, whose household cleaning
>>guide, "Green This!" came out this week. Her
>>promotional tour has been called off "because of
>>the enormous pressure that Deirdre and her
>>family are under," said Simon & Schuster
>>publicist Victoria Meyer.
>>
>>People are buying it, though: An original
>>printing of 45,000 was increased to 55,000.
>>
>>Imus still has a lot of support among radio
>>managers across the country, many of whom grew
>>up listening to him, said Tom Taylor, editor of
>>the trade publication Inside Radio.
>>
>>Yet he's clearly became a political liability
>>for a major corporation - CBS. (General Electric
>>Co. owns NBC Universal, of which MSNBC is a
>>part.) NBC News said anger about Imus among some
>>of its employees had as much to do with ending
>>the MSNBC simulcast as the advertiser defection.
>>
>>Bryan Monroe, president of the National
>>Association of Black Journalists and vice
>>president and editor director of Ebony and Jet
>>magazines, met with Moonves on Wednesday. It
>>seemed clear Moonves and his aides were
>>struggling with a difficult decision, he said.
>>He urged them to take advantage of an
>>opportunity to take a stand against the
>>coarsening of culture.
>>
>>"Something happened in the last week around
>>America," Monroe said. "It's not just what the
>>radio host did. America said enough is enough.
>>America said we don't want this kind of
>>conversation, we don't want this kind of
>>vitriol, especially with teenagers."
>>
>>Rutgers' team, meanwhile, appeared Thursday on "The
>>Oprah Winfrey Show" with their coach, C. Vivian Stringer.
>>
>>At the end of their appearance, Winfrey said: "I
>>want to borrow a line from Maya Angelou, who is
>>a personal mentor of mine and I know you all
>>also feel the same way about her. And she has
>>said this many times, and I say this to you, on
>>behalf of myself and every woman that I know,
>>you make me proud to spell my name W-O-M-A-N.
>>You've really handled this beautifully."
>>
>>Imus said earlier Thursday he still wants to meet with the team.
>>
>>"At some point, I'm not sure when, I'm going to
>>talk to the team," he said. "That's all I'm
>>interested in doing."
>>
>>Rev. DeForest Soaries, who is Stringer's pastor
>>and has been helping negotiate the terms of the
>>meeting with Imus, said he had not yet talked
>>with Imus or coach Stringer but said: "Right
>>now, as far as I know, the meeting is still on."
>>
>>Soaries said the fact that Imus was off the air
>>on both MSNBC and CBS took some pressure off of
>>the upcoming meeting with the Rutgers women.
>>
>>"This removes the burden from Rutgers women to
>>determine the status of Imus' employment,"
>>Soaries said in a telephone interview.
>>
>>___
>>
>>Associated Press correspondents Karen Matthews,
>>Warren Levinson, Seth Sutel, Tara Burghart and
>>Hillel Italie contributed to this report.
>>
>>
>>J  :]
>>
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