Balkinization: Three Takes on Imus

Three Takes on Imus

Mark Graber

My first thought on the Imus case was that Imus clearly went over the line and deserved to be fired.

My second thought was that the matter was more complex. Imagine a law school dean instructs one young professor to make aggressive use of the Socratic method and tells another that class should consist almost exclusively of lecture. Both professors are accused of bullying students. We might give the first professor a bit more slack than the second. The first, after all, has been instructed to go as close as possible to the line that distinguishes challenging students from bullying students. The second has been instructed to remain far away from that line. We should not be surprised if the first professor, given the nature of the instructions, will cross over the line more than the second professor. Indeed, a professor instructed to aggressively challenge students is likely to do some bullying some of the time.

My sense of Imus (I have never listened) is that he was paid to make offensive remarks, to outrage persons on the basis of race, gender, and other characteristics. Given the nature of the shock/jock business, we might not be surprised if Imus or anyone else with similar job responsibilities once in a while crosses the line between acceptable and unacceptable offense. In this sense, Imus’s remarks seem more forgivable than if they were made by a law professor, who is not paid to make offensive remarks.

My third thought is the real scandal is the distinction between what is considered acceptable and unacceptable offense. As a result of some programming changes, the local sports talk show at the time I drive home features Steve Czabin and Andy Pollin. Their commentary on the Rutgers team runs the gamut from stupid to immature and offensive. The main topic of conversation seems to be the sexual attractiveness of women athletes. Not only do I not hear any calls that they be fired, but both seem to be getting more air time. They have not crossed the line. All I can do is change the station.

The best case for firing Imus is that the line between acceptable and unacceptable offensiveness on radio is clear and ought to be easy to follow. No epithets. Everything or almost everything else that is offensive is okay and probably desirable. Imus stepped over the bright line and so his actions merit firing. But we should be as disturbed about how "normal" sports talk hosts chat about women’s basketball as we have been about the one who went too far.

Posted 9:58 PM by Mark Graber [link]

Comments:

Only tangentially related to your comments, but I am wondering where the women's groups are in all this. He called them "ho's," too. Another tacit rule of shock radio (and I fear in much of life, too) is that while there's seemingly a bright line rule regarding any and all racial slurs, it's still perfectly acceptable to say anything you want, no matter how vile, about women.

And it will continue to be until women's groups stand for themselves.

# posted by

Unknown : 10:49 PM

"it's still perfectly acceptable to say anything you want, no matter how vile, about women."

and according to some commentators it's excusable because rappers use the same types of slang.

it's like that old childhood argument, "how come i don't get to -- billy's mom lets him!"

# posted by

Anonymous : 11:21 PM

Rappers only use that kind of slang on people who are ho's & bitches in the community, unfortunately that is how some females act. But Imus was wrong because these women were college educated women, not nappy headed ho's. And what's wrong with nappy heads.

# posted by

Anonymous : 12:01 AM

肺癌胃癌肝癌

# posted by

Anonymous : 5:40 AM

Don Imus' banishment from the public airwaves also deprives him of a critical platform to raise money for the sprawling Imus Ranch. http://www.hollywoodsquared.com/

# posted by

A bunch of crazy chickens : 9:29 AM

Boy! This one is a bit of a problem.

Don Imus was not the blind instrument of his superiors, even assuming that automatist young law professors might be (and might be forgiven for being so, a debatable proposition cf. E.g. Kyle .)

Don Imus was no automaton. Don Imus was a joint venturer and originator and developer and producer of a shtick that made him rich and famous, churning the dignity of others into dollars on a commercial bottom line.

It was the risk that Imus chose to run that made him, at the same time, both dollars and sacrificeable.

Imus apparently made a deal with the devil more than 40 years ago. Nothing happened here more than old pointy-tail cashed in.

Oh. And by the way, that doesn’t mean that others, like local, radio sports, drive-homers are immune either.

Perhaps – and one might hope there is – a kind of radio personality, drive home common law developing here that will end up sharpening up that line.

# posted by

Tantallonblog : 9:34 AM

I don't believe Imus deliberately made a racist comment. I think they thought they were just being witty and snarky and made the mistake of feeling too comfortable in their priviledged untouchable positions. Plus they snarked a politically protected minority - if it had been muslims all would be well because that's acceptable these days.

# posted by

nolocontendere : 10:26 AM

if it had been muslims all would be well because that's acceptable these days.

Lamentably so. I suppose if Bart can link to kos, I can link to Michelle Malkin, right?

# posted by

PMS_CC : 11:31 AM

Nolo,

I don't think Don Imus thinks he's a sexist or a racist. People who make sexist and racist comments rarely do and they are in the majority. It's the ones who know it and are proud of it that are in the minority and it's a constant struggle just to keep it that way.

# posted by

Anonymous : 12:36 PM

nolocontendere:

I don't believe Imus deliberately made a racist comment.

Strangely enough, the RW talk radio foamers were out in droves defending Imus, and spinning the meme that "nappy headed hos" was just 'satire' on what's (allegedly) regularly said by rappers. "See, it's just satire. And I'm just an entertainer (and a harmless little fuzzball) [which may be saying too much about the speaker of said phrases]"

Bosh and kibble, of course. What really salted it (and what the RW foamer folks leave out is: "...the girls from Tennessee, they all look cute..." You won't see that in the rapster repertoire.

Glad the market took care of it. Hope it does the same for Beck et.al.

Cheers,

# posted by

Arne Langsetmo : 12:54 PM

He's a shock jock, isn't he supposed to shock? At least, that's been my impression every time I've been involuntarilly exposed to the genre. This whole story is so stupid I can feel my IQ dropping every time somebody mentions it.

And the stupidest part has to be apologizing to Al Sharpton. Al Sharpton? How many murderous mobs has Imus whipped up?

# posted by

Brett : 5:14 PM

Brett... How many murderous mobs has Imus whipped up?

After 9/11? My guess would be quite a few. The problem is, he's an idiot like the rest and the mobs went into Iraq, even though wiser men and women were saying, "WTF!"

BTW, Howard Stern is shock jock. Imus is just an old jock.

# posted by

Anonymous : 7:25 PM

ok, you have heard from one graber. now here's the take from another.

i confess to being a diehard fan of imus, and a listener for the past twenty-five years or so. as such, and knowing that i will miss hearing the show at least for a little while, i am disappointed in what has happened.

i happened to have been listening when the incident in question took place, and did not think anything of it at the time. perhaps i was wrong not to think anything of it. maybe if i had a daughter, which i do not, i would have straightened up a little in my car seat. perhaps i would have paid more attention were i not a while male. i was frankly stunned when i returned home last sunday night, and heard for the first time about the firestorm that had erupted around the "nappy headed hos" comment.

what this comes down to is not only the context in which a statement is made, but the context in which it is heard. as i noted above, when i heard the statement live, it was just another (poor taste) bad joke that i have heard on the show many, many times before. i fully understand in retrospect that the statement is indefensible, probably on any level. because i am a white male, perhaps i was not as sensitive to the statement as i should have been. my lack of sensitivity to the statement is my fault.

i also understand and believe that the target of the comment, the rutgers women, are what made this different than the usual imus shtick. these young ladies are not public figures in the sense that hillary clinton, another frequent imus target, is. as such, they do not have a pulpit from which to defend themselves had they chosen to do so. as such, regardless of the language used, targeting these young women was wrong.

my beef with this whole thing is whether or not the punishment fits the crime. in this respect, the marketplace would be the proper vehicle for determining whether or not imus should have been removed from the airwaves. i don't believe the marketplace was given the chance to react in the rush to judgment. i fully believe that imus should have been suspended for his comments, knowing now how hurtful they were. i do believe, however, he should have been given the chance to show that he understood, and to come back on the air, with the tenor of his show changed, as he had vowed to do. if the tenor did not change, he could have been taken off the air at any time after that. i find it a shame that he was not allowed to get this chance. for all we know, he may have provided the forum for change in the discussion of race and race relations in this country that those screaming for his head now strive for.

i make no bold pronouncements that this puts all other shock jocks or "out there" commentators from either side of the political aisle on notice. that is an issue for the marketplace to decide. i would think, however, that for the moment, all commentators will watch what they say a little more closely, and that is probably a good thing. like all other things, this will probably die down in a month or so, even if the issues that it raised should not be allowed to creep away.

just so all will know, the grabers are a rather diverse group. mark has given you his take. i have given you mine. our mother simply thinks that imus should have been taken off the air as soon as the words came out of his mouth. the youngest brother has not yet been solicited of his opinion. i am sure that by now he is hiding from mark and i so that he doesn't get dragged into this.

# posted by

phg : 7:38 PM

Imus is on the record saying that he hired Bernard McGuirk "to tell the nigger jokes". Anyone who hires a designated nigger joker is a racist and has no place on the public airwaves.

I'm glad he got fired.

# posted by

The Fool : 9:30 PM

I don't hear too many people truly concerned about the feelings of the young women and the effect of the media microscope they're under.

I've heard many different arguments (some of Mark's are refreshingly new) but ultimately I end up usually replying: "how's that connected to the girls on the basketball team?"

Haven't heard an answer to that yet. The whole saga reminds me of a Tom Wolfe novel, with this incredible tapestry of cause and effect, right down to Governor Corzine almost being killed in a car accident on the way to a meeting between the team and Imus.

The media figures, Sharpton, Imus - I don't know else to say except it all made me feel disgust.

# posted by

J.C. : 10:38 PM

"In this respect, the marketplace would be the proper vehicle for determining whether or not imus should have been removed from the airwaves."

The marketplace did decide. As I said to my sister who tried to turn my belief in artistic expression against me - Imus can say whatever he pleases. And NBC and CBS can axe him for it. Or not.

The marketplace did work as it should. Ratings and viewership are only one part of the marketplace. Viacom and NBC Universal decided the continuing broadcast of Imus was not compatible with their business interests.

And I don't mean to sound shrill, but there are marketplaces for everything from books about angels to the most depraved and illegal garbage. "Let the marketplace decide" or "this is what the people want" are phrases that always scare me a little, because they are said by people rationalizing something...

# posted by

J.C. : 10:56 PM