About Don Imus

[Rasputin]

Broadcasting legend Don Imus no longer has a platform. A day after MSNBC dumped him from television, CBS has fired him from the radio. Last week Imus called the Rutgers women's basketball team "nappy-headed hos," and this week one of the most influential broadcasters in history is out of work.

CBS President and Chief Executive Officer Leslie Moonves released a statement saying,


"From the outset, I believe all of us have been deeply upset and revulsed by the statements that were made on our air about the young women who represented Rutgers University in the NCAA Women's Basketball Championship with such class, energy and talent.... Those who have spoken with us the last few days represent people of goodwill from all segments of our society – all races, economic groups, men and women alike. In our meetings with concerned groups, 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. That consideration has weighed most heavily on our minds as we made our decision."

This morning, on what would turn out to be his last show, Imus raised nearly $1 million for charity in the first five hours of his annual radio fundraiser.

Although Imus no longer has a radio show, that certainly does not mean his career is over. His show was enormously popular, and he can attract enough listeners that some station will give him a second chance. The most likely venue for Imus is satellite radio, which is less reliant on advertisers and therefore less susceptible to boycotts.

Don Imus continued his relentless attack on New Jersey yesterday during a meeting originally thought to be simply a meeting between the Rutgers' women's basketball team and Imus.

On the way to moderate the meeting, New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine was seriously injured in a hit-and-run car accident. A red pickup truck cut off a Dodge Ram, which swerved in front of Corzine's vehicle. Police are looking for the driver of the red pickup, and are suggesting N.J. residents go on a vigilante spree of citizen justice against anyone driving a red pickup truck.

Corzine suffered a multitude of broken bones, and his femur apparently broke through his skin, but he's expected to be okay. Dick Codey is the acting N.J. governor, ah, again, until Corzine is recovered enough to get back to governin'.

Meanwhile, police are investigating how much culpability Don Imus has in the situation, working on the theory the meeting with the Rutgers' women's team was a setup in order to get to Corzine and injure him for perceived injustices against Imus. Police are also looking into theories that Imus is the real, real father of Anna Nicole Smith's baby and he has been posing as various members of the Philadelphia Phillies bullpen in the first nine games of the season.

For a moment, I was willing to give radio personality Don Imus the benefit of the doubt. I felt sorry for the 66-year-old shock jock who suddenly found himself caught up in a storm of controversy.

But the more I listened to Imus offer an explanation for why he would refer to the mostly black Rutgers University women's basketball team as "nappy-headed hos," I realized I had temporarily lost my mind in feeling an ounce of sympathy for this millionaire talk-show host.

It didn't take much longer for me to regain my senses and join the chorus of activists, such as the revs. Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson, in calling for the talk-show host to be fired.

No justification

The most troubling aspect of Imus's apology was his attempt to link his comments to the language that some African Americans, notably rappers, use in their lyrics.

For days, he had tried to convince us that he was simply mimicking the way that African Americans talk to one another and got caught up in the moment. A defiant Imus went even further to suggest he was being singled out in a culture that allowed entertainers in movies, songs and music videos to joke about and disparage black women in far harsher terms.

The reality is that most black folks whom I know don't call their mothers, daughters and sisters "nappy-headed hos." But even when such deplorable language has been used by African Americans in certain quarters, it has routinely been criticized and called into question by black political and civil rights leaders and prominent entertainers such as Bill Cosby.

Imus is sophisticated enough to know his use of such racially charged language would undoubtedly elicit outrage.

On Wednesday, MSNBC said it was dropping its simulcast of the Imus in the Morning radio show and several sponsors, such as American Express and Staples, pulled ads from the show.

On Thursday, CBS fired Imus for his racist remarks about the Rutgers' women's basketball team as more advertisers backed out of supporting his radio show.

The larger issue is much deeper than Imus or his radio show.

Not funny

At Tarleton State University, in Stephenville, Texas, a group of white students decided earlier this year to spend the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday mocking black people. These students ate fried chicken, drank malt liquor from bottles wrapped in brown paper bags, dressed as Aunt Jemima and portrayed other stereotypical images of African Americans during an off-campus party.

And who can forget former U.S. Sen. George Allen, R-Va., use of "macaca" to describe an Asian-American campaign worker from an opponent's staff or comedian Michael Richards' angry use of the N-word?

At the end of the day, maybe the Imus debacle has taught us all a lesson. It has made public the racist sentiments that many secretly express behind closed doors. Unless we are seriously proactive as a nation in changing racist mind-sets, the bigoted remarks will continue to get hurled.

The writer is a professor of journalism and African American Studies at the State University of New York. He lives in Cherry Hill.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has refused to comment on whether or not CBS should have fired Don Imus for his racist comments, but she has gone on the record saying that she found his comment “disgusting”.

In a transcript of an interview with Michael Medved released by the State Department, she frankly discussed her feelings about the Don Imus matter.

“Well, I’m not going to comment on what CBS should or shouldn’t have done. I’m very glad that there was, in fact, a consequence. I think that this kind of coarse language doesn’t belong anywhere in reasonable dialogue between reasonable people. And you do have to remember these are young women,” Rice remarked.

“These are the ages of people’s young daughters. They’re 18 and 19-year-old women. And what were they doing except, showing that they’re really fine athletes, playing under extraordinary pressure in which for them was a dream season. And it gets ruined by this disgusting — and I’ll use the word “disgusting,” — comment which doesn’t belong in any polite company and certainly doesn’t belong on any radio station that I would listen to.”

Mr. Imus was fired by CBS radio on Thursday.

[Rasputin]

Finding a Replacement

The demise of disgraced radio host Don Imus would appear to create a prime opportunity for some other eager talent to rise up and claim his microphone. But in the troubled radio industry, finding popular new voices to fill the airwaves -- and attract advertisers in multiple markets -- has become a tough challenge.

CBS Corp.'s CBS Radio, where Mr. Imus was based before his firing last week, was already struggling to fill the void left by Howard Stern, the controversial host who left last year for a lucrative new gig at Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. Even with more than a year to prepare for Mr. Stern's departure, CBS's attempts to develop hit shows in his old time slot have fallen so flat that some of his replacements have already been replaced.


Host Howard Stern left a void at CBS Radio.
Meanwhile, the airwaves are filled with hosts who have made outrageous comments; paid for them with suspensions or firings; and then returned after a suitable cooling-off period.

Take Bob Lonsberry, a Rochester, N.Y.-based host who in 2003 compared the city's African-American mayor to a monkey and an orangutan. Station manager Clear Channel quickly fired him. But after months of lackluster ratings, the company thought better of the move and brought him back. In 2005, New York morning show host Miss Jones landed a suspension after airing a song mocking tsunami victims, but was soon back in her perch at her Emmis Communications Corp.-owned station.

In another instance, controversial hosts Opie and Anthony were fired from a Boston radio station in 1998; rehired at CBS Radio in New York; but again fired for airing a stunt involving a couple having sex in St. Patrick's Cathedral. They eventually won a gig on then-fledgling XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc., which later made a deal to return them to the CBS broadcast airwaves they had been banished from.

The shortage of bankable hosts couldn't come at a worse time for the radio industry, which is fighting to beef up the $20 billion or so in advertising revenue the industry garners each year, which has been flat in recent years. Broadcasters face competition that didn't exist a few years ago -- from the Internet to satellite radio -- and some ad dollars are being drained away by old media that have suddenly become more attractive, like outdoor advertising.

One problem is radio remains a largely local medium in the eyes of advertisers, who often place their commercials on radio to reach specific groups of people in a single location.

"There are thousands of radio stations across the country, hundreds if not thousands of people who are on-air talent, as well as dozens and dozens of formats," says Sue Johenning, executive vice president and director of local broadcast at Initiative, a media-buying firm owned by Interpublic Group of Cos. "It's very difficult to find anybody that's going to cut across all of that spectrum," she says. One exception: public radio programming, which has found success selling underwriting to some of the country's biggest companies.

Radio also seems limited compared with glitzier rivals. Creating a powerful media property "is easier to do when you have sight, sound and motion working for you" as is the case with Web video and other emerging media formats, says Chris Boothe, a president at Publicis Groupe SA's Starcom USA, a media-buying firm. "When you have just one of these -- sound -- it's a much more challenging proposition to build a personality."

Radio has tried to combat that problem recently by becoming more multimedia, with live Web simulcasts of their shows and video clips that can be played online. Many popular radio shows run on cable television as well as on radio; video podcasts of shows are increasingly commonplace.


Regardless, the hosts who usually prove the biggest draws are often the ones who are most controversial. "If you are vanilla, you're not going to get ratings, so you've got to push the envelope," says Ira Berger, director of national broadcast at the Richards Group, an independent Dallas agency. But such personalities often attract only "the smaller, entrepreneurial kind of companies that couldn't care less if cards and letters come in," he says. Vermont Teddy Bear Co., for example, has advertised on Mr. Stern's show for years. "I like the loyal audience," says Gerry Howatt, the company's media manager.

Still, amid the dearth of radio stars, some marketers have found big names among niche audiences. To reach more African-American consumers, Procter & Gamble Co. three years ago began sponsoring host Tom Joyner's nationally syndicated show, which draws approximately eight million listeners every week in 120 markets, according to a spokesman for Mr. Joyner's media company, Reach Media Inc. His show features PG-rated humor, R&B music and socially conscious feature stories. He's an ardent supporter of African-American causes. P&G also has sponsored many of Mr. Joyner's philanthropic efforts, including "Take a Loved One to the Doctor Day," college scholarships and "Tom Joyner's Family Reunion," an annual three-day weekend of entertainment and seminars on health and business.

P&G has used Mr. Joyner's morning-show programming to promote several of its brands, including CoverGirl's Queen collection, which targets women with dark skin tones. The makeup line was written into the script of the show's mini soap opera, dubbed "It's Your World."

Whether Mr. Imus will get his return ticket punched is hard to say. XM and Sirius, which are in the midst of an attempted merger that faces a difficult regulatory path, are unlikely to court him before government regulators rule on their proposed combination. But some believe a more sensitive Mr. Imus is likely to resurface, says Tom Taylor, editor of Inside Radio, perhaps on cable television, perhaps on another radio network, or perhaps on video on demand.

"The sinners are always more interesting than the saints," says Mr. Taylor. "America is a place of redemption."