Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Don Imus - Global Neighbourhoods

Ok so now that the Don Imus scandal has died down, I thought I would comment on Shel Israel's insight on the broad picture. On his blog Global Neighbourhoods (12 April 2007), Shel had a few words to say about the technological and cultural relations to this incident. I liked how he wished the outcome of the event would have happened in a simpler fashion: "I would have hoped that people would have listened to this shock jock for a minute or two and decide for themselves that this guy offers nothing but drivel and crap and would have walked away, making Imus lacking in value to sponsors and broadcast networks to begin with." His best line was,"Market revulsion is the best censor." Neglecting to draw attention to the act of ignorance WOULD have been the best way to react.

I believe that CBS had every right in letting Don go if he was not ethically and morally representing their company. However, he is known to be controversial and they should have seen this coming. On behalf of Don, what about his rights under the 1st amendment? I am by NO means defending his words, but every story has 2 sides.

2 comments:

Matt Corritori said...

On the Don Imus, issue. Yes he is a "shock jock" but there are certain things you can't say on the air. Especially with millions of listeners. Everyone knows what Imus said so there is no point of saying it again but how do those words come out of your mouth? Imus was very wrong and CBS had every right to fire him. Yes there is the 1st amendment but there are consequences for your actions. Thats all I have to say about this.

Jessica Lyn said...

I completely understand why CBS fired Imus. However, if we didn't allow those words to oppress us, then his comment would have never gotten the attention it totally didn't deserve. I also find it interesting that the "nappy headed" part of his comment is what brought such fire... what about the "hoes" part? Why was such a prejudice ignored? In my opinion, the women's rights issue shadowed the racial issue. Buuuuuutttttt… let’s focus on the worlds bigger problems!! Thanks for your comment Matt!! :)