Imus Fired: latest news…
In your total must read of the week, the Wall Street Journal’s Brooks Barnes, Emily Steele, and Sarah McBride write about the firing of Don Imus with a very detailed “behind the scenes”…
On Thursday, at about 3 p.m., NBC News President Steve Capus was conducting a routine planning meeting in his third-floor offices at Rockefeller Center when an assistant interrupted him to take an urgent phone call, according to a person at the meeting. On the other line: MSNBC General Manager Dan Abrams. Mr. Abrams said MSNBC executives were fielding complaints from viewers and employees who had seen a video clip of Mr. Imus’s remark on the Media Matters site, this person says.
The group is a Web-based nonprofit organization devoted to monitoring “conservative misinformation” in print, broadcast, cable, radio and Internet media outlets. It frequently complains about Rush Limbaugh and Bill O’Reilly. Although the Imus show isn’t generally considered conservative, some of its guests are.
Mr. Capus called an emergency meeting with MSNBC’s management team, the producers for the TV version of “Imus in the Morning” and the head of public relations for NBC News. Among other decisions, Mr. Capus asked his PR team to draft a statement apologizing on behalf of MSNBC but clearly pointing out that “Imus in the Morning” was a CBS Radio production. MSNBC and NBC are owned by General Electric Co.’s NBC Universal.
The New York Times Bill Carter and Jacques Steinberg also write about the firing of Imus from CBS Radio…
Mr. Imus received the news at home in a telephone call. Many of his listeners learned of it during the afternoon radio show “Mike and the Mad Dog,” which announced it on WFAN, the CBS-owned New York station that also carried Mr. Imus’s program.
The CBS chief executive, Leslie Moonves, met yesterday afternoon with the Rev. Al Sharpton and the Rev. Jesse Jackson, leaders in what became a national movement to remove Mr. Imus from the air in the wake of his comments disparaging members of the Rutgers women’s basketball team. On April 4, Mr. Imus referred on the air to the Rutgers athletes as “nappy-headed hos.”
The dons of “La Black-a-nostra”, Al $.$. Sharpton and Jesse $.$. Jackson have claimed another scalp for their belts by destroying a man who has “seriously” supported the black community in many areas while only “satirically” chiding them as part of his radio “performance”.
Comment by Roger C. — April 13, 2007 @ 9:26 am
Well, I think it’s very, very difficult to feel sorry for Imus.
But I also think it says a lot that MSNBC “viewers and employees who had seen a video clip of Mr. Imus’s remark on the Media Matters site.” A certain evening “news” host on MSNBC uses their material on a regular basis, normally without attribution. Maybe MSNBC should just cut out the middle man, and give its 8:00 slot to David Brock!
Comment by William — April 13, 2007 @ 11:12 am
I believe Imus would still be working today if MSNBC handled this issue and other issues they have had with Imus in the past sooner. That is the problem. No one ever called out Imus on his deplorable remarks. He talked on air about MSNBC and their employees all the time in a bad light and no one stopped him. He should of been talked to earlier regarding what he says. So not only is Imus to be blamed but also MSNBC. BAD MANAGEMENT is the problem here!
Comment by Noelle — April 13, 2007 @ 11:37 am
Well as the article points out, Media Matters sent an email to members of the media informing them of the video. I’m sure that’s how the majority of the MSNBC staffers came across it.
Comment by lightswitch — April 13, 2007 @ 11:37 am
Maybe they’ll now give the vacant three-hour timeslot to Amy Robach and Contessa Brewer.
Comment by Bob — April 13, 2007 @ 11:40 am
*****Although the Imus show isn’t generally considered conservative, some of its guests are.*****
That’s laugh out loud hilarious. Akin to saying that since Limbaugh debates with some liberal callers, his show isn’t generally considered liberal but some of its guests are. Imus wasn’t a moonbat dailykos leftist, but he was OBVIOUSLY left of center. And his guest list was OBVIOUSLY liberal. You cannot have 98% of your guests being anti-war Kerry voters & then declare that the show wasn’t liberally tilted because he had on John McCain & JD Hayworth. Well, unless you’re a propagandist liar, like the folks at media matters are.
Man, they didn’t take long in attempting to rewrite history, did they?
Comment by RW — April 13, 2007 @ 11:48 am
It is very difficult to feel sorry for Imus; especially after seeing the clip of him “getting out of the back door of his limo after the door is opened for him to go into the Governor’s mansion” played over and over all morning.
Imus is a public figure with all of the perks. But I also think it is hypocritical to say the Rutger’s women’s basketball team members are not public figures. I have always considered male college basketball and football players to be public figures; especially the starters. When a game is broadcast on TV, there is no hesitation when the announcers critique their performance. For women’s basketball to become mainstream, the players need to be scrutinized. They shouldn’t ever be called “hos,” but we need to be careful and think about what we are objecting to.
Comment by erljr — April 13, 2007 @ 12:00 pm
Is it some sort of weird coincidence/irony that NJ Democratic Governor Jon Corzine, on his way to the Imus meeting at Rutgers to make some political brownie points, is injured in an auto accident by a hit and run driver and is in the hospital in serious condition?
Comment by Ira — April 13, 2007 @ 12:46 pm
The meeting wasn’t at Rutgers Ira. It was at the Governor’s mansion. The footage has been shown repeatedly all day.
Comment by erljr — April 13, 2007 @ 1:32 pm
erljr: Thanks for the correction.
I believe that Corzine used to call Imus regularly when he was a Senator.
Comment by Ira — April 13, 2007 @ 1:50 pm
lightswitch said: “Well as the article points out, Media Matters sent an email to members of the media informing them of the video. I’m sure that’s how the majority of the MSNBC staffers came across it.”
And if you do a google search on “imus video hos”, the MM site comes up first. That’s how I and probably lot of other people first viewed the video.
I don’t find it a weird coincidence/irony that Gov. Corzine was critically injured on his way to host the meeting at the NJ Governor’s mansion. After all, he had offered the mansion as a place for both sides to meet in private. That and the fact that he does live there. I do find it terribly tragic that he was hurt so bad and will have to have further surgery. Hopefully he and the other who were hurt will have speedy recoveries. The way some people drive on the GSP, it’s amazing that more people are seriously hurt in accidents. Hopefully the police can find the truck driver who was the cause.
Comment by STP — April 13, 2007 @ 2:18 pm
STP: IMO, It would have been more appropriate for Imus to meet with the team on their home turf, the Rutgers campus in New Brunswick, rather than in Trenton.
Comment by Ira — April 13, 2007 @ 3:35 pm
I don’t think Imus had received any real warnings over the years by MS or CBS to change the tenor of his show. They all knew of his constant racial remarks. At least they could have put him on a 5 second or even 5 minute delay on MS if they wanted to monitor his show. I think that his how they resolved the MTV and VH1, etc. awards shows, among others.
Comment by Jim — April 13, 2007 @ 3:49 pm
Ira,
Maybe yes, maybe no. It doesn’t necessarily matter to me I suppose…it’s where the 2 sides involved feel they could have the privacy they wanted. A Governor’s mansion would already have a very high level of security to aid in that privacy that public university buildings might not be able to offer. The Governor’s mansion is actually in Princeton just 15 or so miles down the road from Rutgers.
Since it was late afternoon/early evening when the accident happened, it’s no coincidence or ironic that he was heading to the mansion where he lives (and the meeting was being held). Trying to connect the accident to “irony and brownie points” seems really odd and a bit harsh to me.
Comment by STP — April 13, 2007 @ 4:22 pm
I don’t think Imus had received any real warnings over the years by MS or CBS to change the tenor of his show.
I know he got chewed out pretty good by Rick Kaplan over the Contessa Brewer incidents…
Comment by Spud — April 13, 2007 @ 8:17 pm