[Vision2020] Imus Looses His Job

[lfalen]

Vary well said, as usual. I missed last nights debate. I was moving hay until 6:00. How did it go?

Roger
-----Original message-----
From: "g. crabtree" jampot at adelphia.net
Date: Thu, 12 Apr 2007 16:31:00 -0700
To: vision2020 at moscow.com,  "Mark Solomon" msolomon at moscow.com
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Imus Looses His Job

> 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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