[Vision2020] Imus Loses His Job

[Art Deco]

Pardon me if I disagree a tad with the collective wisdom from such diverse sources and viewpoints as Mark, Gary, and Warren.

First, I generally agree that financial considerations played a significant, if not determining role in the decision to fire Imus and the dropping of commercial sponsorships involved.

However, I really, really hope that a little bit more was involved.

Generally, there are few decisions of any momentous kind that are made solely on the basis of one consideration.  My experience in the business world has always been this.

My experience is also that there are some businesspersons in the corporate world whose principles sometimes take precedence over mere profit.  I hope that least some consideration of the unfairness, libelousness, and impact of Imus's remarks on those insulted and negatively impacted, directly and indirectly, played at least some role in the decision to fire Imus and drop sponsorships.

It is one thing to make unkind remarks about politicians, pundits, so-called experts, religious polemics, misbehaving celebrities, etc.  Such remarks are part of public discourse, like it or not.  When you enter an opinion in the marketplace of ideas or misbehave according to the mores of society, you are not always going to be treated kindly by some who remark upon such.

The Rutgers women's basketball team offered no social or controversial commentary nor did they behave in any inappropriate manner.  Their sin referred by Imus's remarks was that they were mostly black, some had natural hair, and it was alleged that they were whores, apparently based solely on their blackness.

To those of us who watched the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament, the Rutgers team were heroines.  They played with fire, with determination, and as a team.  Given where they started from this season and having 5 out the 10 players being freshmen, their accomplishment was truly commendable and set a positive, inspirational example for all of us.

There are all kinds of insults.  They vary greatly in intensity, truthfulness, and appropriateness.  I really hope that the reasons that the corporate world dropped Imus included the realization and resulting moral outrage that his insult was on the extreme end of high intensity, falseness, and inappropriateness, and directed toward non-controversial persons that are to be especially lauded, not denigrated for their accomplishments.

W.  


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Warren Hayman" <whayman at adelphia.net>
To: <vision2020 at moscow.com>; "Mark Solomon" <msolomon at moscow.com>
Sent: Thursday, April 12, 2007 4:44 PM
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Imus Loses His Job


> Hello Folks,
> 
> I have to agree with Mark here. Who pays how much drives our economy to 
> quite an extent. Moreover, corporate US does not necessarily enfranchise 
> public belief or sentiment. That advertisers may have pressured the pull may 
> not have arisen from outcry. Damage control, for example, could explain a 
> lot.
> 
> Also, I'd like to back up. The initial post involved the use of the word 
> "Nigger." Imus never used it. "Nappy-heded hos" is a different N-word usage 
> altogether. He was describing a team of young student athletes who played 
> their way to the top. I don't know, but I imagine they were far too busy 
> practicing and studying to be turning tricks. He did not know them. How 
> would any of us feel if ourselves, or wives, or daughters were referred to 
> as such on a personal, let alone national level?
> 
> I am a white male, and I feel lessened by such a comment within our culture. 
> I hang my head that this questioning originates from the same state that 
> said "No" to Butler.
> 
> Finally, from experience, I lived a long time in the South. I heard the word 
> "Niggah" many times within the Black community. Never heard "Nigger" except 
> among racists. Niggah was/is a word expressing familiarity, communality, 
> bonding and humor within the subculture. I've used it as a self-deprecating 
> joke among my friends therein, and the context was understood. That is to 
> say, words and phrases can come to be owned by users in a given cultural 
> context. By the same token, my brother has often greeted me with "Hey, you 
> ugly sonuvabitch." Within this subcultural context, I have yet to feel 
> offended. Were someone to call me that in the Rosaurer's parking lot, it 
> would be a different question.
> 
> I'm confident Imus will, uh, rebound. Can't say I'm sorry for him, though.
> 
> Warren Hayman
> 
> ----- 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  :]
>>
>>_________________________________________________________________
>>Interest Rates Fall Again! $430,000 Mortgage for
>>$1,399/mo - Calculate new payment
>>http://www.lowermybills.com/lre/index.jsp?sourceid=lmb-9632-18679&moid=7581
> 
> 
> =======================================================
> List services made available by First Step Internet,
> serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.
>               http://www.fsr.net
>          mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
> =======================================================
> 
> =======================================================
> List services made available by First Step Internet, 
> serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.   
>               http://www.fsr.net                       
>          mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
> =======================================================
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/vision2020/attachments/20070413/bdba7c31/attachment-0001.html