April 11, 2007

Nashville -

Through the clouds a little sun shines...hockey, and school, and journalism are my life right now.

Just wondering why it takes a week for the brass at CBS and NBC to deal with Don Imus. It doesn't take much contemplation - it's all about the money.  There's a long-standing relationship in American media, especially Big Media, between how much rope is given to talent and how much money they generate for the corporation.

Imus has spewed forth racist and misogynist dialogue for decades, in the name of humor and radio presentation, of course. He is also a cash-generating machine for both CBS Radio, which owns his radio program and NBC, which owns his MSNBC TV simulcast of the radio show.

There is clearly a need for political satire, but making fun of Bill Clinton and a dalliance in the White House isn't quite the same as off-handedly ripping into college students from Rutgers; young ladies who represented themselves and their school in the NCAA basketball title game.

I have a high regard for freedom of speech, and a broad threshhold when it comes to what may or may not be acceptable. But, Don Imus's remarks about the "nappy-headed hos" on the Rutgers team crossed the line, which for Imus is pretty blurry most of the time.

It's the people who oversee Imus at both CBS and NBC who should have been fired first, for not dealing with the Imus problem for about 48 hours.

Ironically, Imus and his producer Bernard McQuirk uttered some dialogue from Spike Lee's movie, Do the Right Thing.

It's too late for anybody in this drama to do the right thing.

Imus survives, the corporation thrives and a handful of fine young people are pulled into a controversy they don't deserve.

But, anybody who knows anything about Imus knew that this day would come, sooner or later.

You might want to read this from Eugene Robinson in the Washington Post, April 10:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/09/AR2007040901003.html