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<DIV><FONT face=Times color=#000000 size=+1>Please write, call for Imus
resignation....express your displeasure with</FONT></DIV></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Times color=#000000 size=+1>NBC for continuing to air the Imus
show.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Times color=#000000 size=+1><BR></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Times color=#000000 size=+1>To contact MSNBC and NBC follow
link:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Times color=#000000 size=+1><A
href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10285339/">http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10285339/</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Times color=#000000 size=-4><BR></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Times color=#000000 size=+1> </FONT><FONT face=Times
size=+1><B> </B></FONT><FONT face=Arial
size=+1><B>MSNBC.com</B></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=+1><B><BR>Furor rages despite Imus'
apology</B></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=+1><B>Sharpton, journalists call for radio
personality's resignation for using slur</B></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Verdana><B>The Associated Press</B></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Verdana><B><BR></B></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial><B>Updated: 4:39 p.m. ET April 7, 2007</B></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial><B><BR></B></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Verdana><B>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.</B></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Verdana><B>"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.<BR>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.<BR>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.<BR>The National Association of Black Journalists, the
editor-in-chief of Essence magazine and a New York sports columnist joined the
chorus against Imus.<BR>"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."</B></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Verdana><B><BR>'Imus spews hate'<BR>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.</B></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Verdana><B><BR>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."</B></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Verdana><B><BR>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.<BR>"That's some rough girls from
Rutgers," Imus said. "Man, they got tattoos ..."<BR>"Some hardcore hos," said
McGuirk.<BR>"That's some nappy headed hos there, I'm going to tell you that,"
Imus said.<BR>Karen Mateo, a spokeswoman for WFAN's parent company CBS Radio,
said Saturday there was no additional comment on the Imus situation.<BR>'This is
not some unemployed comic'</B></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Verdana><B><BR>Imus' success has often been a a result of his
on-air barbs.<BR>"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."</B></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Verdana><B><BR>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.</B></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Verdana><B><BR>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.</B></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Verdana><B><BR>Sharpton said he was writing to the Federal
Communications Commission about Imus' remarks.<BR>"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."<BR><BR><I>© 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.</I></B></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Times><B>URL:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17999196/</B></FONT><BR><FONT face=Times
size=-4><B></B></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=-2><B>© 2007 MSNBC.co</B><FONT
color=#999999>m</FONT></FONT><BR><FONT face=Arial color=#999999
size=-2></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000000><BR></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Georgia color=#000000 size=-4><BR></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000000><B>New York Times</B></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000000><B>April 7, 2007</B></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#666666 size=-4><B><BR></B></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000000 size=+2><B>Networks Condemn Remarks by
Imus</B></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000000><B>By</B></FONT><FONT color=#0c0066><U><B> DAVID
CARR</B></U></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000000><B><BR></B></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000000>On Wednesday morning,</FONT><FONT color=#0c0066><U> Don
Imus</U></FONT><FONT color=#000000> called the students who play for
the</FONT><FONT color=#0c0066><U> Rutgers University</U></FONT><FONT
color=#000000> women's basketball team a bunch of "nappy-headed ho's."<BR>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.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000000><BR>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.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000000><BR>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."<BR>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 (</FONT><FONT color=#0c0066><U>mediamatters.org</U></FONT><FONT
color=#000000>). And by Friday, both his radio and television outlets were
getting out 10-foot poles.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000000><BR></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000000>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."</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000000><BR>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."</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000000><BR>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</FONT><FONT color=#0c0066><U> msnbc.com</U></FONT><FONT
color=#000000>.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000000><BR></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000000>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.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000000><BR>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."</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000000><BR>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</FONT><FONT color=#0c0066><U> PBS</U></FONT><FONT
color=#000000> 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.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000000><BR></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000000>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."</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000000></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000000><BR>Both Senator</FONT><FONT color=#0c0066><U> Joseph
I. Lieberman</U></FONT><FONT color=#000000>, Democrat of Connecticut, and
Senator</FONT><FONT color=#0c0066><U> John McCain</U></FONT><FONT
color=#000000>, 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</FONT><FONT color=#0c0066><U> Barack
Obama</U></FONT><FONT color=#000000>, Democrat of Illinois, appeared on the show
some time ago to promote his book "The Audacity of Hope."</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000000><BR>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.<BR>"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."</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000000><BR>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.<BR>"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."</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000000><BR>Later in the show, Mr. McGuirk characterized the
women's collegiate basketball championship Tuesday night, between Rutgers and
the</FONT><FONT color=#0c0066><U> University of Tennessee</U></FONT><FONT
color=#000000>, as "the Jigaboos versus the Wannabes."</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000000><BR>In a joint statement, Myles Brand, the president of
the</FONT><FONT color=#0c0066><U> National Collegiate Athletic
Association</U></FONT><FONT color=#000000>, 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."</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000000><BR>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."</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000000><BR></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000000>For the time being, though, the apology seemed to be
sufficient.</FONT><BR><FONT color=#000000></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000000><BR></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#0c0066><U>Copyright 2007 The New York Times
Company</U></FONT></DIV>
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