Modified On April 13, 2007
The other corporate shoe dropped yesterday– CBS axed “shockjock” Don Imus’ radio show. We haven’t commented on it until now because a.) we knew it wasn’t anywhere near over and b.) Imus is not a standup comic.
Well, it’s over. And Imus is still not a standup comic.
His remarks were, however, intended to amuse. And, more and more in the past 48 hours, various commentators and columnists have been blurring the line between what Imus does (or did) and what we comedians do.
Time magazine has a sprawling mess of a cover story by James Poniewozik on the Imus affair that manages to invoke Sarah Silverman, Dick Gregory, Dave Chappelle and Lenny Bruce. (Read the whole thing only if you’d like to be more confused about the issues and the people involved.)
Other writers and publications have weighed in, conflating standup comedy and Imus’ schtick, but they’re too numerous to cite and the points are all rather fuzzy anyway.
Then there are the folks who are trying to couch it as a First Amendment/Free Speech issue, which we like to keep an eye on. But we’re fairly certain that there hasn’t been much of that to consider in this mess.
As the dust settles, the big losers are:
Imus Of course, no further explanation required. Although we predict he’ll sign with XM or with Sirius, the home of his arch-rival Howard Stern.
Politicians (mostly Dems) The various (mostly New England-centric) politicians frequently guested on the show and they valued Imus’ platform– NYC and 61 stations nationwide– as a way to get their message to a coveted demographic. Read the LAT piece for an analysis of the fallout for this group.
Media people Particularly NBC folks like Tim Russert, David Gregory and others. They were frequent Imus guests and they provided listeners with sometimes raucous commentary on breaking political news. (Particularly bizarre was the time David Gregory called in and the host and crew speculated as to whether Gregory was drunk!)
Imus listeners See above.
Kids with cancer and blood disorders CBS should be ashamed of themselves. They might have waited until this week’s Imus radiothon to benefit childrens’ charities was over before bringing the hammer down. Somewhere along the way, Bruce Gordon and Les Moonves lost perspective: Championing dying children over your embattled DJ is a no-brainer. The firing could have waited until Monday.
Vivian Stringer and the Scarlet Knights They played this one badly– All their whining about how they’ve been “permanently scarred” seems pitiful when compared to the folks whose lives have been affected by SIDS and heinous, fatal childhood diseases. They might have been advised to cut a large check for Tomorrows Children, shut their yaps about their own “scarring” and opened up a can of private whoopass on the I-Man, rather than do it the way they did. (For a fascinating perspective from the POV of a sports columnist, read Jason Whitlock’s Kansas City Star column, it’s worth five minutes.)
Gov. Jon Corzine The New Jersey gov lays crumpled in critical condition from injuries sustained in a hit-and-run accident while headed to the photo op at the Governor’s Mansion in Princeton. He was on his way to the Historical Meeting between the offended basketball squad and the shamed radio host. He’s looking at six months of rehab. Prediction: Resignation– It’ll afford him the necessary time to recover from his broken bones and maybe spare him from the perp walk for his shaky deals with (and diddling of) a powerful Jersey union boss. (Perhaps he’s the big winner in all this!)
Free Speech Sure, we said earlier that, up until now, free speech wasn’t threatened. But recent comments by folks like Al Sharpton and other columnists give us pause.
The usual “villain” in matters such as this, the FCC, is on record as saying that Imus speech is protected.
The FCC is barred from trying to prevent the broadcast of any point of view. The Communications Act prohibits the agency from censoring broadcast material, in most cases, and from making any regulation that would interfere with freedom of speech. (So says Reuters)
Folks like Sharpton and Jesse Jackson, however, are not convinced. Sharpton has gone so far as to say that “I think we also have to have now a broad discussion on how the music industry allows this to be used. … I don’t think that we should stop at NBC, and I don’t think we should stop at Imus” (WABC-NY) Anyone else feel a breeze? (Let’s all do our best Tim Robbins impression: “A… chill… wind… is blooooowinnnng…”)
And while we’re on the subject of censorship, does anyone else find it creepy that someone running for President of the United States of America would call for someone to be fired? That’s precisely what Barack Obama (D-IL) did. He’s entitled to weigh in on the relative propriety of Imus’ remarks, but call for Imus to be fired?
There’s been much talk of “priveleged white men” and the “locker room atmosphere” and folks “looking the other way” when Imus engaged in “racist, misogynist” banter. But these priveleged white men were trained media professionals and career politicians, nearly all at or near the top of their chosen professions. Are we to believe that they were “looking the other way?” That’s just preposterous. But the opposite choice– that they are equally as racist and misogynist as the host– is equally preposterous.
The third, unspoken, most likely scenario is that all who appeared on Don Imus’ show (and, we must add, nearly all who listened to his show) were quite aware that Imus was kidding. That his gibes, his ranting, his talk of “tight-fisted, money-grubbing Jews” and his branding of John Kerry as “a moron” and his seemingly off-handed labelling of the Rutgers womens’ team as “nappy-headed hos” were all… just… jokes. Humor. Admittedly rough, raw, vicious humor, but humor nonetheless.
The idea that these media types and pols were duped, were unaware or were sharing in the deepest darkest sentiments from the fat, dark heart of craggy old Don Imus doesn’t hold up for one nanosecond. These folks have made million by not looking the other way, they’ve gotten to where they are by sticking their noses into the business and the minds and the hearts of others. The idea that they were guests on the Imus show, while being even the slightest bit suspicious that Imus actually harbored dark and hateful feelings about any of the people he slammed is just too ridiculous to contemplate.