Aftermath In The Wake Of Imus!

[DiaryOfAMadman]

I don't want the mods to merge this thread with any other Imus thread because it's totally different and I'm curious to hear responses to this question.

What is the Aftermath following CBS's discission to fire Don Imus?

I have no problem with the man being fired at all. Anyone in his position who said what he said deserves to be fired. If I said at work, what he had I would have been fired on the spot. I do however feel that the timing of MSNBC and CBS's discission were in poorer taste then the Imus comments themselves. He should have been fired the day after it happened, or starting this coming Monday. The fact that both companies choose to fire him during the 2 day annual childerens fundraiser was deplorable in my opinion, and causes much more tangible effects on the lives of people the the comments that Imus made.

Rev Jesse Jackson called the firing "a victory for public decency. No one should use the public airwaves to transmit racial or sexual degradation."

Now does this mean that EVERYTHING transmitted over the airwaves (TV and Radio) should be blocked from transmitting racial or sexual degradation? If so we're talking about 25%-70% of all music currently on the radio being banned. Same with television. Should songs, movies, tv shows, and radio hosts be pulled or fired with the complaint of only one person? If one person is offended I belive its no worse that offending 1,000 people.

"Imus in the Morning" was no different then "The Howard Stern Show" both are classified as Comedy Radio Broadcasts. So people who tuned in knew exactly that the shows are there for entertainment purposes only. So therefore I've made this post asking:

MUST ALL FORMS OF ENTERTIMENT BE CENSORED OVER THE AIRWAVES?

or maybe............

Maybe if there was a warning every 15 seconds turing movies, songs, and shows stating that nothing was to be taken seriously and it's for entertainment purposes only then that satisfy most people.

What do you guys think?

 

[slobone]

I think it's up to MSNBC and CBS to decide what's in their own best interests. There have been plenty of times in the past when people have been yanked off the air for saying offensive things (usually sportscasters).

In other words, it's not a censorship issue. It's a question of a broadcaster being responsible for what goes out on their station. If Imus can find somebody else who will sponsor him, that's his right.

As for Howard Stern, obviously he's even more offensive every day than Imus ever was. But people know that going in. Imus had a much higher level of respectability, with all the politicians and network newsmen that appear on his show. Which only makes it the more shocking to find out what he's really been saying all this time.

 

[DiaryOfAMadman]

Slowbone but the question remians flollowing the statement of Jesses Jackson and the head of CBS who stated someting very similar.

MUST ALL FORMS OF ENTERTIMENT BE CENSORED OVER THE AIRWAVES?

 

[Kulindahr]

Jackson has always favored censorship, as long as it's in his favor.
I personally think Imus shouldn't have been fired; it's a bad precedent: if someone screams loud enough, a person can be silenced. The fallout will be that groups who like to play victim will feel encouraged to bring down others they don't agree with.
The whole point of having free speech is to protect speech people don't like, or find offensive. The growth in the number and variety of news outlets is a good thing for that; this firing is bad.

 

[slobone]

Well, they're already doing it, aren't they? Even Howard Stern has a five-second tape delay on his show (or did before he went to Sirius). The only difference here is that they're reacting to racial offensiveness rather than sexual content.

How would you feel if he'd said something like, "That faggot Elton John just married his boyfriend in England. Hey, thweetheart, why wasn't I invited?". Would you be offended or would you think it was an appropriate remark?

 

[dj415]

I've seen things you people wouldn't believe.
Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion.
I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate.
All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain.
Time to die.

 

[DiaryOfAMadman]

Well, they're already doing it, aren't they? Even Howard Stern has a five-second tape delay on his show (or did before he went to Sirius). The only difference here is that they're reacting to racial offensiveness rather than sexual content.

How would you feel if he'd said something like, "That faggot Elton John just married his boyfriend in England. Hey, thweetheart, why wasn't I invited?". Would you be offended or would you think it was an appropriate remark?

I'll always stand by that nothing that a person can ever say (unless some from of physical action is involved) can or will ever hurt me.

Call me a faggot call anyone a faggot I belive its wrong but I'm not going to go home and cry about it.

Call my mother or sister a whore or cunt (you're going to have your ass kicked) but I'm not going to go home and cry because you insulted them.

Now if a bank calls me and tells me they're "taking my house" that will bother me, but that requires the physical action of taking my house.

I think people (Americans more then anyone else) take to much offense to the spoken word. In the US there will be more done about ME using the word nigger, then there will be done about the continual mass murder taking place in Africa.


For answering my original question:

MUST ALL FORMS OF ENTERTIMENT BE CENSORED OVER THE AIRWAVES?

The question really isn't about radio talk shows but about entertainment in general.

 

[Orlandude]

First off...I do not condone what Imus said. It was wrong. It is one thing to say something about a public figure or other celebrity who is in the public discourse and can respond easily or ignore it. It comes with their territory. These innocent, young women did not deserve this. That said....

CBS, MSNBC and NBC Universal are hypocrites. Their rationale for the firings is totally bogus. They knew what Imus was like, allowed him total freedom over 11 years (where was the alleged outrage of their employees for 11 years??) and made tons of money off Imus. I'm sure, if he wants to, Imus could have another job tomorrow. The decision of the networks was purely a business one, regardless of what they claim. If the advertisers dumped the show, there is no reason to keep the show. It's that simple.

Jackson and Sharpton are hypocrites as well. They used this entire fiasco as a photo-op and the publicity card that had them in the limelight all week on their crusade. Both have done and said far worse in the past than Imus ever thought about.

Overall, I don't think Imus should have been fired. He brought that on himself. The moment after he foolishly insulted those women, he should have immediately apologized....profusely. He didn't. He waited till the crap hit the fan. This is similar to Pat Robertson shooting his mouth off blaming gays for Hurricane Katrina as "the wrath of God" and later apologizing. Much later...AFTER the damage was done. Imus waiting for the "fallout" is what riled up Sharpton and Jackson.

 

[pisces_ken02]

White people just don't get it.. You don't call a team with the majority of the players being blacks "jigaboos" and "nappy headed hos".. It was wrong and stupid. He said those words because he truly believed in what he was saying.. hell Imus and his partners were even laughing about it. He even through a Spike Lee comment in there for good measure.

I can't stress this enough... It hasn't been 50 years yet since the Civil Right Act was passed. You expect a black person to just ignore a white man calling a black person on the air "jigaboos" and "nappy headed hos" and don't face the consequences?? Hell No!! No one should even be surprised that his racist ass is gone.

 

[Kulindahr]

I've seen things you people wouldn't believe.
Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion.
I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate.
All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain.
Time to die.

I LOVE that flick!
Any idea where I can get a copy of the theater version, not the lame Director's Cut?

 

[Kulindahr]

White people just don't get it.. You don't call a team with the majority of the players being blacks "jigaboos" and "nappy headed hos".. It was wrong and stupid. He said those words because he truly believed in what he was saying.. hell Imus and his partners were even laughing about it. He even through a Spike Lee comment in there for good measure.

I can't stress this enough... It hasn't been 50 years yet since the Civil Right Act was passed. You expect a black person to just ignore a white man calling a black person on the air "jigaboos" and "nappy headed hos" and don't face the consequences?? Hell No!! No one should even be surprised that his racist ass is gone.

Your first paragraph contradicts itself -- if he was truly serious, why were they laughing? I think it was his version of humor.

In answer to the question in the second paragraph -- actually, yes. It's called being an American. Being an American includes an understanding of free speech and considering it precious. Getting all bent out of shape over someone else's words and attitudes is not only childish, it's rather down on free speech when your response is to rally "the community" and call for the speaker to be fired.

Calling for an apology is one thing -- to the people who were insulted, and neither Jackson nor Sharpton were; the girls, and only the girls, were insulted. Demanding that the man's employers dispatch him posthaste to meet those girls in person, get down and apologize on his knees, would have been appropriate. Letting each of them slap him might even have been appropriate, if they were that enraged.

The guiding principle here, as in all things, has to be "You own yourself". Demanding an apology to "the black community" insults that, because it's a claim to ownership of something that isn't "the community's", namely, the insulted dignity. Solidarity is all well and good, but demanding something not rightly yours isn't solidarity -- solidarity is standing by your own and demanding that they get what is theirs. Demanding an apology for a broader community than the girls insulted is robbing them -- it was their selves that were insulted, and any sharing of the apology demeans them.
And it was insulting, even if it was his sorry form of humor. To own himself, Imus shouldn't have needed pressure from his employer; the moment he realized how he'd insulted the girls, he should have been on a plane to go apologize in person -- and on the air, because the insult was on the air. But he clearly doesn't understand self-ownership any more than anyone else shooting off at the mouth in all this; he apologized to the wrong people, which is a second insult on top of the first.

Aftermath? Until people learn that "You own yourself" is the guiding principle of civilization, this kind of crap will go on. Censorship? It's a violation of that principle, because it says that the censor owns the censoree, in the matter of the material subject to censorship -- and it further says that the censor owns the audience, because he/she decides what they get to hear.

I sincerely hope Imus gets back on the airwaves, somewhere -- somewhere that will let him sound off as he pleases, and not have to kowtow to the politically correct thought-police.
Not that I approve of him, or like him -- before this I'd never heard of the man, but now I've heard more than enough. But then next time he mouths off and insults someone, just maybe people can tell him to be a grown-up, to stand up and take responsibility, to get his cheap white ass in his superiorly expensive suit over to his victims and lay down some honest, truthful ownership of his own brain and lips.




Yeah, right.... <sigh>

 

[Just_Believe18]

I'm all for freedom of speech but "nappy headed hos" is a horrible, disgusting thing to say about accomplished black, athletic women.

If a man could blurt that out in public, it is a reflection of his own inner feelings and heart. A racist, bigot of a shameful age. Good riddance to a bad man.

 

[pisces_ken02]

Kulindahr I'm not going to quote your entire post.. but I do agree with some of what you stated.

He did apologize to the wrong people... Infact Imus could have avoided all of this.. if he apologize the next day.. and flew to meet the women in person and apologize directly to them. So I agree totally with that. And also should have voluntarily took the whole month off to show that he is taking personal responsibility and regrets what he stated.

But after he met with Sharpton instead of the girls(which was just STUPID, stupid move)... he signed his own fate. And he waited to long to apologize as well. He should have apologized immediately...

So I do agree.. Personal Responsibility!! I think we should all learn that.

But I still think he's racist.. and you just don't come up with that stuff, unless its truly in your heart.

 

[NickCole]

But I still think he's racist.. and you just don't come up with that stuff, unless its truly in your heart.

Of course he's racist.

Most in America are. The difference, one to the next, is the level and nature of the racism. Or sexism or ageism all the other-isms like religion and looks and weight and sexual orientation and social and financial distinctions, etc. Just because a person doesn't use language like "nappy headed ho" doesn't mean he isn't racist at all.

What Imus did was commit the cardinal sin: he said into a microphone the kind of thing a lot of Americans say in the privacy of their living rooms every day. For all our melting pot history, Americans do not, by and large, think very respectfully of "the other."

Black Americans say terrible things about white Americans, white Americans say terrible things about blacks, they both say terrible things about Hispanics, young against old, beautiful against homely, thin against fat -- we are not very nice about one another behind closed doors. Everybody's busy keeping secrets everybody else has got.

I'll say one thing for Imus: he's a straight-shooter.

 

[DiaryOfAMadman]

Well I'm sorry but almost everyone avoided answering the question I asked. The difference of this thread and the other 3 Imus threads was that this was a question about "Where do we go from here" in terms of general censorship? Do we now increase the list of words that people can't say on the airwaves to include nappy, ho, bitch, or any other word that offends women or anyone in general?

Unfortunaly everyone who responded to this thread continues to talk about racism. This has nothing to do with racism, this is much bigger. Yes Imus is a racist, yes he made raciest comments. There's no argument there. This is bigger then racism.

I would love for the American Media and Public to stop looking at race and look at this is a question about censorship. What exactly are people allowed to say and what are we not allowed to say? Where are we allowed to say ceratin things and where are we not allowed to say ceratin things? That's what this whole debate should be about.

 

[Kulindahr]

I've been addressing it, though not as directly as you want, I guess.

A man should be free to call someone a "nappy-headed ho".
He should not be free to say, "Git them nappy-headed hos out of our good schools! Do it now!"

 

[DiaryOfAMadman]

So we should be allowed to say anything we want, anytime we want as long as there are no physical repercussions to those we're talking about? As long as it dosen't harm anyone physically in any way, its all good.

I like that idea, thats basically the way I am in the real world.

 

[JackFTwist]

Well, dude, I guess it depends on what you mean by censorship. There is government censorship, network censorship and self censorship. They should be used sparingly and increase in the order which I listed them. I'm not a big fan of govt. censorship at all. That whole First Amendment thing. As for network censorship, that's basically what happened to Imus, in an extreme way. Self censorship is what we all do daily, and Imus should have done.

I think the marketplace is where these things should be decided, and I suppose it was in this instance.

And, I know what you mean about the "Curse of Imus", Holland. I just bit my tongue while reading this post about Imus. Freaky.

I am specifically agreeing with the bold stuff and it worries me to agree with you!

I'd agree with the whole post other than the government censorship thing gives me pause.

But this is the marketplace at work - and something else. Radio broadcasts are regulated by the government becauser the air waves belong to the people and the government works on our behalf. We can debate the limits of what FCC control should be, but amazingly in all this, it has not been an issue - and I am glad of that.

The sponsers have decided that they do not want to sponser a man who makes racist and sexist comments on the air. That is their right as Americans in a free enterprise system - go America go!

Imus has ever free speech right he always had. He can walk up and down the street and talk about nappy headed hos all he wants. He can write a book (bet he does!) and go on talk shows (bet he does!) and cry on a website (bet he does!) and make lots of money off of this as he has when he has been fired for the same type of things previously.

Funny that when some serial tv actor called someone a faggot in private lfe we had petitions on JUB to get the guy fired but to support the firing of Imus for his on air comments is an affront to free speech. Maybe it was because the actor that JUBers wanted fired was black and the talk show host who should be protected is white. But there is no racism here! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!

 

[NickCole]

Well I'm sorry but almost everyone avoided answering the question I asked. The difference of this thread and the other 3 Imus threads was that this was a question about "Where do we go from here" in terms of general censorship? Do we now increase the list of words that people can't say on the airwaves to include nappy, ho, bitch, or any other word that offends women or anyone in general?

This whole issue is not about censorship. I mean I'm happy to answer your question (it will all stay the same, okay?) but you miss what happened.

What happened is a slow news cycle, the Imus story caught hold because too many Americans had nothing better to do, a lot of blacks used their frustration and anger and the internet and phones to put pressure on big corporations and because those corporations are run by immature babies with the integrity of diarrhea, Don Imus got fired.

If something like the tsunami in Sri Lanka had been happening, Don Imus would still have his job and those four ugly little words would just be another on the list of everything else he's said.

Donald Trump can still call Rosie fat; fat people won't rise up to get his tv show cancelled. Glenn Beck can still call Hillary a shrill bitch or call Cindy Sheehan a prostitute; women won't rise up and get his ass canned. Fox News can say Barak Obama was schooled to be a terrorist and Muslims won't protest to hold Fox News accountable. It will all go on and nobody will be fired for it again -- until it's another slow news day and some group is bored or in a bad mood and decides to try to destroy someone's professional life.

Now that we've had our little orgasm --he was fired-- the whole Imus story will fade away and MSNBC and CBS and CNN and Fox News will careen on to their next exploitation. And meanwhile a whole lot of folks who used to work for the Don Imus show are now out of work. And racism will be exactly as it was last week. What an accomplishment for the black community, eh? What a great use of a huge opportunity. They got a guy fired. Hooey.

It's a very sorry affair and it makes Americans look like big fat vengeful idiots.

 

[JackFTwist]

And racism will be exactly as it was last week. What an accomplishment for the black community, eh? What a great use of a huge opportunity. They got a guy fired. Hooey.

It's a very sorry affair and it makes Americans look like big fat vengeful idiots.

Funny that when some serial tv actor called someone a faggot in private lfe we had petitions on JUB to get the guy fired but to support the firing of Imus for his on air comments is an affront to free speech. Maybe it was because the actor that JUBers wanted fired was black and the talk show host who should be protected is white. But there is no racism here! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!