[Antiracism] Fw: Furor rages despite Imus' apology Sharpton, journalists call for radio personality's resignation for using slur

Sun Apr 8 13:27:30 EDT 2007

Furor rages despite Imus' apology Sharpton, journalists ca
Please write, call for Imus resignation....express your displeasure with
NBC for continuing to air the Imus show.

To contact MSNBC and NBC follow link:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10285339/

  MSNBC.com

Furor rages despite Imus' apology
Sharpton, journalists call for radio personality's resignation for using slur
The Associated Press

Updated: 4:39 p.m. ET April 7, 2007

NEW YORK - Unimpressed by his on-air apology or corporate promises of a tighter leash, angry critics of nationally syndicated radio host Don Imus called Saturday for his dismissal over his racially charged comments about the mostly black Rutgers women's basketball team.
"I accept his apology, just as I want his bosses to accept his resignation," said the Rev. Al Sharpton. He promised to picket Imus' New York radio home, WFAN-AM, unless the veteran of nearly 40 years of anything-goes broadcasting is gone within a week.
Sharpton was not alone in his anger over Imus' description of the Rutgers' women as "nappy headed hos" during a Wednesday morning segment of his show, which airs for millions of listeners on more than 70 stations and the MSNBC television network.
On Friday, after Imus delivered an on-air apology, both WFAN and MSNBC condemned his remarks. WFAN issued a statement promising to "monitor the program's content" but Imus, a member of the National Broadcasters Hall of Fame, was not publicly disciplined.
The National Association of Black Journalists, the editor-in-chief of Essence magazine and a New York sports columnist joined the chorus against Imus.
"What he has said has deeply hurt too many people - black and white, male and female," said NABJ President Bryan Monroe. "His so-called apology comes two days after the fact, and it is too little, too late."

'Imus spews hate'
Angela Burt Murray, of Essence magazine, called on Imus' bosses to take a harder stance over his "unacceptable" remarks. "It needs to be made clear that this type of behavior is offensive and will not be tolerated without severe consequences," Murray said.

Columnist Filip Bondy of the Daily News, in a column headlined "Imus spews hate, should be fired," said the radio star "should be axed for one of the most despicable comments ever uttered on the air."

The Rutgers team, which includes eight black women, lost the NCAA women's championship game Tuesday, and Imus was discussing the game with producer Bernard McGuirk.
"That's some rough girls from Rutgers," Imus said. "Man, they got tattoos ..."
"Some hardcore hos," said McGuirk.
"That's some nappy headed hos there, I'm going to tell you that," Imus said.
Karen Mateo, a spokeswoman for WFAN's parent company CBS Radio, said Saturday there was no additional comment on the Imus situation.
'This is not some unemployed comic'

Imus' success has often been a a result of his on-air barbs.
"That Imus is in trouble for being politically incorrect is certainly not new," said Tom Taylor, editor of the trade publication Inside Radio. "He's lived his life in and out of trouble ... This is something CBS will be watching very carefully."

Recent controversies involving Imus focused on a member of his morning team, Sid Rosenberg, who was fired two years ago after a particularly vile crack about cancer-stricken singer Kylie Minogue. Before that, a racially tinged comment by Rosenberg about Venus and Serena Williams stirred another controversy.

The NABJ cited two other incidents in which Imus himself insulted two black journalists. Imus has called PBS' Gwen Ifill a "cleaning lady" and described William Rhoden of The New York Times as "a quota hire," the group said.

Sharpton said he was writing to the Federal Communications Commission about Imus' remarks.
"This is not some unemployed comic like Michael Richards," Sharpton said, referring to the "Seinfeld" actor who used the N-word and referred to lynching in a rant last year. "This is an established figure, allowed to use the airwaves for sexist and racist remarks."

© 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17999196/

© 2007 MSNBC.com

New York Times
April 7, 2007

Networks Condemn Remarks by Imus
By DAVID CARR

On Wednesday morning, Don Imus called the students who play for the Rutgers University women's basketball team a bunch of "nappy-headed ho's."
Even for Mr. Imus, a nationally syndicated radio host who knows his way around an insult, it was a shocking remark, one that seemed to impugn both the physical and moral characteristics of a team composed mostly of black players.

What followed was a familiar dance for Mr. Imus and the media companies that profit from his ability to shock his way to big audiences: outrage, indignation and, eventually, the expression of deep regret.

And so on Thursday, Mr. Imus wondered aloud on his show what the big deal was, saying people should not be offended by "some idiot comment meant to be amusing."
But as often occurs in a modern media drama, Mr. Imus's remarks were picked up on the Web, in this case by the Media Matters for America site (mediamatters.org). And by Friday, both his radio and television outlets were getting out 10-foot poles.

MSNBC, which simulcasts Mr. Imus's show on cable television, issued an apology, noting that the program is not a production of the network; NBC, its parent company, called the comments "deplorable."

CBS Radio, which syndicates the radio show, was sorry as well: "We are disappointed by Imus's actions earlier this week which we find completely inappropriate," the company said in a statement. "We fully agree that a sincere apology was called for and will continue to monitor the program's content going forward."

For his part, Mr. Imus appeared doubly sorry: for a time on Friday, the printed version of his apology, made on Friday morning's show - he termed his remarks "thoughtless and stupid" - appeared twice on his home page at msnbc.com.

Mr. Imus is one of the most popular radio hosts in the country, with millions of daily listeners on more than 70 stations around the country. The television simulcast of his show on MSNBC is surging in the ratings - "Imus in the Morning," which the network simulcasts with the New York radio station WFAN, gained 100,000 viewers in the last year, for an average daily total of 358,000, according to Nielsen estimates.

But even with Mr. Imus's success, his comments gave NBC executives pause. "We take this matter very seriously," said Allison Gollust, senior vice president for news communications at NBC. "We find the comments to be deplorable, and we are continuing to review the situation."

This is hardly the first time Mr. Imus has made racially insensitive remarks during a broadcast. In a 1997 interview with "60 Minutes," he said he chose one white staffer to tell racial jokes on his show. He once referred to the PBS anchor Gwen Ifill as "a cleaning lady." And in 2001 he took a pledge, guided by the Chicago Tribune columnist Clarence Page, to refrain from making further racist comments on his program.

Mr. Imus's defenders say that he is actually an equal-opportunity offender: Jews, gays and Roman Catholics are also his frequent targets. Yesterday's show, on Good Friday, included a song couplet that managed to rhyme the words "resurrection" and "erection."

Both Senator Joseph I. Lieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, recently appeared on the show, and media figures including Frank Rich of The New York Times and Chris Matthews of MSNBC have also spent time with Mr. Imus. Senator Barack Obama, Democrat of Illinois, appeared on the show some time ago to promote his book "The Audacity of Hope."

Richard Prince, a columnist who writes a blog called Journal-isms about media and diversity, said that Mr. Imus was inoculated to some degree by his powerful relationships.
"One of the most offensive things about the whole episode is not just MSNBC playing ball with Imus," Mr. Prince said. "Not only is the network supporting this kind of program, but think of all the prominent journalists and politicians who are also enabling him and these kinds of comments."

Mr. Imus's radio show is idiosyncratic in tone, ranging from thoughtful discussions of politics to the kind of coarse talk that would turn heads in a locker room.
"That's some rough girls from Rutgers," Mr. Imus said on Wednesday. "Man, they got tattoos ..." The program's executive producer, Bernard McGuirk, agreed: "Some hardcore ho's," he said. Imus continued, "That's some nappy-headed ho's there, I'm going to tell you that."

Later in the show, Mr. McGuirk characterized the women's collegiate basketball championship Tuesday night, between Rutgers and the University of Tennessee, as "the Jigaboos versus the Wannabes."

In a joint statement, Myles Brand, the president of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, and Richard L. McCormick, the president of Rutgers, said Mr. Imus's attempt at humor represented an assault on human dignity. "The N.C.A.A. and Rutgers University are offended by the insults on MSNBC's Don Imus program toward the 10 young women on the Rutgers basketball team," they said. "It is unconscionable that anyone would use the airways to utter such disregard for the dignity of human beings who have accomplished much and deserve great credit. It is appropriate that Mr. Imus and MSNBC have apologized."

But for Bryan Monroe, the president of the National Association of Black Journalists and the editor of Ebony and Jet magazines, Mr. Imus's apology was not enough and called on journalists to boycott the show. "It was stunning, insulting and unbelievable that he went there," Mr. Monroe said. "But his apology was too little, too late. No matter how contrite, his words hurt so many so deeply that after 40 years in the radio business, it is time for him to go."

For the time being, though, the apology seemed to be sufficient.

Copyright 2007 The New York Times Company

-- 

     ''The history of our nation has demonstrated that separate is
          seldom,  if ever, equal.''

        Majority opinion, Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
                4 February 2004

l.baskin at comcast.net

Lisa Unger Baskin
The Gehenna Press
P. O. Box  314
Leeds, Massachusetts
01053
413-586-4127   413-586-6222 (fax)
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