[Marxism] FAIR on Imus

["Charles Brown" <cbrown@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=3082



Racism Is to Be Expected From Don Imus
CBS, NBC, media pundits complicit in talk host's bigotry

4/9/07

In the wake of the latest racial slur broadcast on Don Imus' show, the
question is not whether Imus is a racist-the man, after all, admitted to
hiring one of his co-hosts to do "nigger jokes" (60 Minutes, 7/19/98)-but
why CBS, NBC and top media pundits seem to feel no embarrassment over
associating with his racism.

The Imus in the Morning radio show is aired on CBS-owned radio station WFAN,
and is syndicated nationally by CBS-owned Westwood One. It is simulcast
daily on MSNBC, a cable news channel in which GE subsidiary NBC Universal
holds a controlling interest. Top media pundits like Tim Russert, Howard
Fineman, Frank Rich and Maureen Dowd are frequent Imus guests. The show has
also been a conduit for televised racism and other bigotry for years.

FAIR and others have documented numerous instances of Imus and his on-air
colleagues expressing overt racism and other forms of bigotry. Imus himself
has referred to African-American journalist Gwen Ifill as "a cleaning lady,"
to New York Times sports reporter Bill Rhoden as "quota hire" and to tennis
player Amelie Mauresmo as "a big old lesbo." Imus called Washington Post
reporter Howard Kurtz a "boner-nosed... beanie-wearing Jewboy," referred to
a disabled colleague as "the cripple," and to an Indian men's tennis duo as
"Gunga Din and Sambo." In Imus' words, the New York Knicks are
"chest-thumping pimps."

Imus' on again/off again sidekick Sid Rosenberg was temporarily fired in
2001 for calling tennis player Venus Williams an "animal" and remarking that
the Williams sisters-Venus and her tennis player sister Serena-would more
likely be featured in National Geographic than in Playboy. Rosenberg
insisted to New York's Daily News (6/7/01) that his comments weren't racist,
"just zoological." In 2004, MSNBC had to apologize when the rehired
Rosenberg referred to Palestinians as "stinking animals." 

In May 2005, MSNBC let Contessa Brewer out of her short stint as a news
reader on Imus' morning show after Imus had made a daily game of crude
personal attacks against her, calling her a pig, a skank, dumber than dirt
and other similar felicities, all on air. MSNBC claimed they "expressed
their displeasure" to the host (New York Post, 5/1/05), while noting that
his "humor" was "often brilliant and provocative." 

In his most recent racist outburst, on April 4, Imus called the Rutgers
women's basketball team "nappy-headed hos," just moments after sidekick and
executive producer Bernard McGuirk (the "nigger jokes" hire) called them
"hard-core hos." The Rutgers team, which recently played in the national
championship finals, is made up of eight African-American women and two
white women.

On April 6, Imus issued an apology for the slur of the Rutgers team. It was
the latest in a long line of apologies for bigotry on his show. Past
apologies have served to take pressure off Imus, but haven't resulted in a
change of behavior by the host or his colleagues. 

Niether has Imus' history of bigotry dissuaded prominent journalists and
pundits, more after publicity than principle, from appearing on Imus' show.
Friday's show, in addition to Imus' apology, featured an interview with
NBC's Meet the Press host Tim Russert. 

In an exceptional report on April 9, New York Times reporter David Carr
noted Imus' history of racism and the parade of media luminaries who have
appeared on his show, who have rarely raised questions about the show's
bigotry. Carr noted that, even in the aftermath of the latest Imus slurs,
Newsweek editor Evan Thomas defended appearing on the show, explaining: "I
am going on the show, though. I think if I didn't, it would be posturing. I
have been going on the show for quite some time and he occasionally goes
over the line."

It's time for CBS and NBC to acknowledge that Imus is unlikely to ever rein
in his bigotry, that the crude and hateful insults are a key part of his
routine: Like the cowboy hat, they provide an air of "edginess" to what is
often otherwise a dull exercise in Beltway insider back-scratching.

A media company that chooses to run such a show has two choices: It can
declare, explicitly or implicitly, that calling people "nappy-headed hos"
and "beanie-wearing Jewboys" is an acceptable part of the national
discussion. Or it can end its affiliation with said program.

The Russerts, Finemans and the like who elect to appear on Imus' show have a
similar decision: Are you down with "nigger jokes" or aren't you?

ACTION: Contact Westwood One president Peter Kosann and MSNBC general
manager Dan Abrams and ask whether, given the track record of empty
apologies from Don Imus, their companies have any problems with the hateful
slurs the talk host will predictably air in the near future.


MSNBC
General Manager
Dan Abrams
(201) 583-5000
jeremy.gaines@xxxxxxxxx

Westwood One
Peter Kosann
President and Chief Executive Officer
(212) 641-2037
peterj_kosann@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx



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