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<DIV>Pardon me if I disagree a tad with the collective wisdom from such diverse
sources and viewpoints as Mark, Gary, and Warren.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>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.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>However, I really, really hope that a little bit more was involved.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>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.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>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.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>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.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>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.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>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.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>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.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>W. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>----- Original Message -----
<DIV>From: "Warren Hayman" <<A
href="mailto:whayman@adelphia.net">whayman@adelphia.net</A>></DIV>
<DIV>To: <<A
href="mailto:vision2020@moscow.com">vision2020@moscow.com</A>>; "Mark
Solomon" <<A
href="mailto:msolomon@moscow.com">msolomon@moscow.com</A>></DIV>
<DIV>Sent: Thursday, April 12, 2007 4:44 PM</DIV>
<DIV>Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Imus Loses His Job</DIV></DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>> Hello Folks,<BR>> <BR>> I have to agree with Mark
here. Who pays how much drives our economy to <BR>> quite an extent.
Moreover, corporate US does not necessarily enfranchise <BR>> public belief
or sentiment. That advertisers may have pressured the pull may <BR>> not have
arisen from outcry. Damage control, for example, could explain a <BR>>
lot.<BR>> <BR>> Also, I'd like to back up. The initial post involved the
use of the word <BR>> "Nigger." Imus never used it. "Nappy-heded hos" is a
different N-word usage <BR>> altogether. He was describing a team of young
student athletes who played <BR>> their way to the top. I don't know, but I
imagine they were far too busy <BR>> practicing and studying to be turning
tricks. He did not know them. How <BR>> would any of us feel if ourselves, or
wives, or daughters were referred to <BR>> as such on a personal, let alone
national level?<BR>> <BR>> I am a white male, and I feel lessened by such
a comment within our culture. <BR>> I hang my head that this questioning
originates from the same state that <BR>> said "No" to Butler.<BR>>
<BR>> Finally, from experience, I lived a long time in the South. I heard the
word <BR>> "Niggah" many times within the Black community. Never heard
"Nigger" except <BR>> among racists. Niggah was/is a word expressing
familiarity, communality, <BR>> bonding and humor within the subculture. I've
used it as a self-deprecating <BR>> joke among my friends therein, and the
context was understood. That is to <BR>> say, words and phrases can come to
be owned by users in a given cultural <BR>> context. By the same token, my
brother has often greeted me with "Hey, you <BR>> ugly sonuvabitch." Within
this subcultural context, I have yet to feel <BR>> offended. Were someone to
call me that in the Rosaurer's parking lot, it <BR>> would be a different
question.<BR>> <BR>> I'm confident Imus will, uh, rebound. Can't say I'm
sorry for him, though.<BR>> <BR>> Warren Hayman<BR>> <BR>> -----
Original Message ----- <BR>> From: "Mark Solomon" <<A
href="mailto:msolomon@moscow.com">msolomon@moscow.com</A>><BR>> To: <<A
href="mailto:vision2020@moscow.com">vision2020@moscow.com</A>><BR>> Sent:
Thursday, April 12, 2007 3:30 PM<BR>> Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Imus Looses
His Job<BR>> <BR>> <BR>> This is corporate America talking. The<BR>>
advertisers pulled their ads for the show based<BR>> on their reading of
whether or not they would<BR>> receive a good return for their
advertising<BR>> dollar by spending it on Imus. They obviously<BR>>
decided "no" and when the lack of financial<BR>> support reached a critical
point, CBS pulled the<BR>> plug. Like what he said or not, corporate
America<BR>> is not usually known for making decisions that<BR>>
negatively effect their bottom lines. If they<BR>> could still have made
money off Imus, they would<BR>> have. I see this as a refreshing dose of
good<BR>> news regarding the American public.<BR>> <BR>> m.<BR>>
<BR>>>This is what happens when all that is done is a<BR>>>comment
is made. I am NOT saying the comment<BR>>>was a good one or should
be allowed; but this<BR>>>guy should NOT have lost his job over
it,<BR>>>especially given rappers, actors, and
other<BR>>>blacks/negros/"African Americans" use even
worse<BR>>>terms and language and THEY ARE PAID for
it.<BR>>><BR>>>This is just wrong! Suspend the guy for
a<BR>>>couple of weeks without pay, but taking his job<BR>>>away is
just not right.<BR>>><BR>>><BR>>><BR>>>NEW YORK - CBS
fired Don Imus from his radio<BR>>>program Thursday, the finale to a
stunning fall<BR>>>for one of the nation's most
prominent<BR>>>broadcasters.<BR>>>ADVERTISEMENT<BR>>><BR>>>Imus
initially was given a two-week suspension<BR>>>for calling the Rutgers
women's basketball team<BR>>>"nappy-headed hos" on the air last week,
but<BR>>>outrage continued to grow and advertisers bolted<BR>>>from
his CBS radio show and its MSNBC simulcast.<BR>>><BR>>>"There has
been much discussion of the effect<BR>>>language like this has on our
young people,<BR>>>particularly young women of color trying to
make<BR>>>their way in this society," CBS President and<BR>>>Chief
Executive Officer Leslie Moonves said in<BR>>>announcing the decision.
"That consideration has<BR>>>weighed most heavily on our minds as we made
our<BR>>>decision."<BR>>><BR>>>Rutgers women's basketball team
spokeswoman<BR>>>Stacey Brann said the team did not have
an<BR>>>immediate comment on Imus' firing.<BR>>><BR>>>Time
Magazine once named the cantankerous<BR>>>broadcaster as one of the 25
Most Influential<BR>>>People in America, and he was a member of
the<BR>>>National Broadcaster Hall of Fame.<BR>>><BR>>>But
Imus found himself at the center of a storm<BR>>>as protests intensified.
On Wednesday, MSNBC<BR>>>dropped the simulcast of Imus'
show.<BR>>><BR>>>Losing Imus will be a financial hit to
CBS<BR>>>Radio, which also suffered when Howard Stern<BR>>>departed
for satellite radio. The program is<BR>>>worth about $15 million in annual
revenue to<BR>>>CBS, which owns Imus' home radio station
WFAN-AM<BR>>>and manages Westwood One, the company
that<BR>>>syndicates the show across the
country.<BR>>><BR>>>The Rev.<BR>>>Al Sharpton
and<BR>>>Jesse Jackson met with Moonves on Thursday to<BR>>>demand
Imus' removal, promising a rally outside<BR>>>CBS headquarters Saturday
and an effort to<BR>>>persuade more advertisers to abandon
Imus.<BR>>><BR>>>Sumner Redstone, chairman of the CBS Corp.
board<BR>>>and its chief stockholder, told Newsweek that he<BR>>>had
expected Moonves to "do the right thing,"<BR>>>although it wasn't clear
what he thought that<BR>>>was.<BR>>><BR>>>The news came down
in the middle of Imus'<BR>>>Radiothon, which has raised more than
$40<BR>>>million since 1990. The Radiothon had raised<BR>>>more than
$1.3 million Thursday before Imus<BR>>>learned that he lost his
job.<BR>>><BR>>>"This may be our last Radiothon, so we need
to<BR>>>raise about $100 million," Imus cracked at the<BR>>>start of
the event.<BR>>><BR>>>Volunteers were getting about 200 more
pledges<BR>>>per hour than they did last year, with
most<BR>>>callers expressing support for Imus, said
Tony<BR>>>Gonzalez, supervisor of the Radiothon phone<BR>>>bank. The
event benefited Tomorrows Children's<BR>>>Fund, the CJ Foundation for SIDS
and the Imus<BR>>>Ranch.<BR>>><BR>>>Imus, whose suspension was
supposed to start<BR>>>next week, was in the awkward situation
of<BR>>>broadcasting Thursday's radio program from the<BR>>>MSNBC
studios in New Jersey, even though NBC<BR>>>News said the night before
that MSNBC would no<BR>>>longer simulcast his program on
television.<BR>>><BR>>>He didn't attack MSNBC for its decision -
"I<BR>>>understand the pressure they were under," he<BR>>>said - but
complained the network was doing some<BR>>>unethical things during the
broadcast. He didn't<BR>>>elaborate.<BR>>><BR>>>He
acknowledged again that his comments about<BR>>>the Rutgers women's
basketball players a day<BR>>>after they had competed in
the<BR>>>NCAA championship game had been "really stupid."<BR>>>He
said he had apologized enough and wasn't<BR>>>going to whine about his
fate.<BR>>><BR>>>Sharpton and Jackson emerged from a meeting
with<BR>>>Moonves saying the corporate chief had promised<BR>>>to
consider their requests.<BR>>><BR>>>"It's not about taking Imus
down," Sharpton<BR>>>said. "It's about lifting decency
up."<BR>>><BR>>>Sheila Johnson, owner of the WNBA's
Washington<BR>>>Mystics and, with her ex-husband
Robert,<BR>>>co-founder of BET, called Imus'
comments<BR>>>reprehensible in an interview with The<BR>>>Associated
Press. She said she had called<BR>>>Moonves to urge that CBS cut all ties
with the<BR>>>veteran radio star, and was worried that what
he<BR>>>said could hurt women's sports.<BR>>><BR>>>"I think
what Imus has done has put a cloud over<BR>>>what we've tried to do in
promoting women's<BR>>>athletics," she
said.<BR>>><BR>>>Several sponsors, including American
Express<BR>>>Co., Sprint Nextel Corp., Staples Inc.,
Procter<BR>>>& Gamble Co., and General Motors Corp.,
have<BR>>>said they were pulling ads from Imus'
show<BR>>>indefinitely. Imus made a point Thursday to<BR>>>thank one
sponsor, Bigelow Tea, for sticking by<BR>>>him.<BR>>><BR>>>The
list of his potential guests began to shrink,
too.<BR>>><BR>>>Newsweek Editor Jon Meacham said the
magazine's<BR>>>staffers would no longer appear on Imus'
show.<BR>>>Meacham, Jonathan Alter, Evan Thomas, Howard<BR>>>Fineman
and Michael Isikoff from Newsweek have<BR>>>been frequent
guests.<BR>>><BR>>>Imus has complained bitterly about a lack
of<BR>>>support from one black politician, Harold Ford<BR>>>Jr.,
even though he strongly backed Ford's<BR>>>campaign for Senate in
Tennessee last year.<BR>>>Ford, now head of the Democratic
Leadership<BR>>>Council, said Thursday he'll leave it to
others<BR>>>to decide Imus' future.<BR>>><BR>>>"I don't want
to be viewed as piling on right<BR>>>now because Don Imus is a good friend
and a<BR>>>decent man," Ford said. "However, he did
a<BR>>>reprehensible thing."<BR>>><BR>>>Imus' troubles have
also affected his wife,<BR>>>author Deirdre Imus, whose household
cleaning<BR>>>guide, "Green This!" came out this week.
Her<BR>>>promotional tour has been called off "because of<BR>>>the
enormous pressure that Deirdre and her<BR>>>family are under," said Simon
& Schuster<BR>>>publicist Victoria
Meyer.<BR>>><BR>>>People are buying it, though: An
original<BR>>>printing of 45,000 was increased to
55,000.<BR>>><BR>>>Imus still has a lot of support among
radio<BR>>>managers across the country, many of whom grew<BR>>>up
listening to him, said Tom Taylor, editor of<BR>>>the trade publication
Inside Radio.<BR>>><BR>>>Yet he's clearly became a political
liability<BR>>>for a major corporation - CBS. (General
Electric<BR>>>Co. owns NBC Universal, of which MSNBC is
a<BR>>>part.) NBC News said anger about Imus among some<BR>>>of its
employees had as much to do with ending<BR>>>the MSNBC simulcast as the
advertiser defection.<BR>>><BR>>>Bryan Monroe, president of the
National<BR>>>Association of Black Journalists and
vice<BR>>>president and editor director of Ebony and
Jet<BR>>>magazines, met with Moonves on Wednesday. It<BR>>>seemed
clear Moonves and his aides were<BR>>>struggling with a difficult
decision, he said.<BR>>>He urged them to take advantage of
an<BR>>>opportunity to take a stand against the<BR>>>coarsening of
culture.<BR>>><BR>>>"Something happened in the last week
around<BR>>>America," Monroe said. "It's not just what
the<BR>>>radio host did. America said enough is enough.<BR>>>America
said we don't want this kind of<BR>>>conversation, we don't want this kind
of<BR>>>vitriol, especially with
teenagers."<BR>>><BR>>>Rutgers' team, meanwhile, appeared Thursday
on "The<BR>>>Oprah Winfrey Show" with their coach, C. Vivian
Stringer.<BR>>><BR>>>At the end of their appearance, Winfrey said:
"I<BR>>>want to borrow a line from Maya Angelou, who is<BR>>>a
personal mentor of mine and I know you all<BR>>>also feel the same way
about her. And she has<BR>>>said this many times, and I say this to you,
on<BR>>>behalf of myself and every woman that I know,<BR>>>you make
me proud to spell my name W-O-M-A-N.<BR>>>You've really handled this
beautifully."<BR>>><BR>>>Imus said earlier Thursday he still wants
to meet with the team.<BR>>><BR>>>"At some point, I'm not sure when,
I'm going to<BR>>>talk to the team," he said. "That's all
I'm<BR>>>interested in doing."<BR>>><BR>>>Rev. DeForest
Soaries, who is Stringer's pastor<BR>>>and has been helping negotiate the
terms of the<BR>>>meeting with Imus, said he had not yet
talked<BR>>>with Imus or coach Stringer but said: "Right<BR>>>now,
as far as I know, the meeting is still on."<BR>>><BR>>>Soaries said
the fact that Imus was off the air<BR>>>on both MSNBC and CBS took some
pressure off of<BR>>>the upcoming meeting with the Rutgers
women.<BR>>><BR>>>"This removes the burden from Rutgers women
to<BR>>>determine the status of Imus' employment,"<BR>>>Soaries said
in a telephone
interview.<BR>>><BR>>>___<BR>>><BR>>>Associated Press
correspondents Karen Matthews,<BR>>>Warren Levinson, Seth Sutel, Tara
Burghart and<BR>>>Hillel Italie contributed to this
report.<BR>>><BR>>><BR>>>J
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