http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070413/ap_on_en_ot/imus_protests_355
L’affaire Imus continues, as the American media prefers castigating easy targets to taking on the difficult ones. The double-take of the day originates in this article:
On Wednesday, a week after the remark, MSNBC said it would no longer televise the show. CBS fired Imus Thursday from the radio show that he has hosted for nearly 30 years.
“He has flourished in a culture that permits a certain level of objectionable expression that hurts and demeans a wide range of people,” CBS Corp. chief executive Leslie Moonves said in a memo to his staff.
No mention from Les Moonves that Imus flourished in that culture because CBS was perfectly happy with the ratings based on said objectionable expression. Objectionable expression often being the basis of American media success – cf. Coulter, O’Reilly, Limbaugh, Stern, etc.
Here’s hoping this overblown mess of a media frenzy starts the pendulum swing away from the shock jocks, reality voyeurism and meanspiritedness that currently pervades the “entertainment” industry. Sniping narcissists don’t make for pleasant downtime company.