Posted on 04/11/2007 5:17:31 PM PDT by rocksblues
NEW YORK (AP) - MSNBC said Wednesday it will drop its simulcast of the "Imus in the Morning" radio program, responding to growing outrage about the radio host's racial slur against the Rutgers women's basketball team.
"This decision comes as a result of an ongoing review process, which initially included the announcement of a suspension. It also takes into account many conversations with our own employees," NBC news said in a statement.
The announcement also was made on air.
Talk-show host Don Imus triggered the uproar on his April 4 show, when he referred to the mostly black Rutgers women's basketball team as "nappy-headed hos." His comments have been widely denounced by civil rights and women's groups.
The decision does not affect Imus' nationally syndicated radio show, and the ultimate decision on the fate of that program will rest with executives at CBS Corp. In a statement, CBS reiterated that Imus will be suspended without pay for two weeks beginning on Monday, and that CBS Radio "will continue to speak with all concerned parties and monitor the situation closely."
MSNBC's action came after a growing list of sponsors—including American Express Co., Staples Inc., Procter & Gamble Co., and General Motors Corp.—said they were pulling ads from Imus' show for the indefinite future.
But it did not end calls for Imus to be fired from the radio portion of his program. The show originates from WFAN-AM in New York City and is syndicated nationally by Westwood One, both of which are managed by CBS Corp.
Bruce Gordon, former head of the NAACP and a director of CBS Corp., said before MSNBC's decision Wednesday he hoped the broadcasting company would "make the smart decision" by firing Imus.
"He's crossed the line, he's violated our community," Gordon said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. "He needs to face the consequence of that violation."
Gordon, a longtime telecommunications executive, stepped down in March after 19 months as head of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, one of the foremost U.S. civil rights organizations.
He said he had spoken with CBS chief executive Leslie Moonves and hoped the company, after reviewing the situation, would fire Imus rather than let him return to the air at the end of an unpaid two-week suspension beginning next Monday.
A CBS spokesman, Dana McClintock, declined comment on the remarks by Gordon, who is one of at least two minorities on the 13-member board.
The 10 members of the Rutgers team spoke publicly for the first time Tuesday about the on-air comments, made the day after the team lost the NCAA championship game to Tennessee. Some of them wiped away tears as their coach, C. Vivian Stringer, criticized Imus for "racist and sexist remarks that are deplorable, despicable, abominable and unconscionable."
The women, eight of whom are black, agreed to meet with Imus privately next Tuesday and hear his explanation. They held back from saying whether they'd accept Imus' apologies or passing judgment on whether a two-week suspension imposed by CBS Radio and MSNBC was sufficient.
Stringer said late Wednesday that she did not call for Imus' firing, but was pleased with the decision by NBC executives.
Imus has apologized repeatedly for his comments. He said Tuesday he hadn't been thinking when making a joke that went "way too far." He also said that those who called for his firing without knowing him, his philanthropic work or what his show was about would be making an "ill-informed" choice.
At the Rutgers campus in New Brunswick, N.J., about 300 students and faculty rallied earlier in the day to cheer for their team, which lost in the national championship game, and add their voices to the crescendo of calls for Imus' ouster. One of the speakers was Chidimma Acholonu, president of the campus chapter of the NAACP.
"This is not a battle against one man. This is a battle against a way of thought," she said. "Don Imus does not understand the power of his words, so it is our responsibility to remind him."
Though I disagree with his firing from PMSNBC, I do agree that his show is not as popular and other than his flagship station in NY, most of the stations around the country (Including here in Atlanta) that carry his show are on low-wattage 1K stations that can be interfered with police-band radio.
the lacrosse team, you mean?
Imus is now bigger than sliced bread. He is going to make more money now then he ever did. He is thanking everyone for the free publicity.
Isn't a prerequisite to be an a-hole to work at MSNBC?
I predict an Air America host will be offered the MSNBC timeslot. Randi Rhodes being most probable Sam Seder second choice.
Right. Imus raked Trent Lott over the coals for days after the fact, calling Lott a "racist pig".
Imus was a total moron to go on Sharpton’s show. Why bother? He still got sh*t canned.
I HATE to agree with Howard Stern, but Imus should have to told Sharpton to F off. Who died and made Sharpton king of all blacks?
Will anyone notice?
I dooooon’t think so. As Phil Donohue and Connie Chung are finding, once you’re fired from MSNBC there’s really no lower you can go.
They *had* to do this since they fired Savage in an "easy decision" for using the term "sodomite."
I doooo think so. Imus' is immensely popular and is especially so to those who enjoy his tirades and nasty humor. I look for the networks to sneak him back into play the moment they think they can get away with it. Free speech liberals are already getting op-eds in major papers supporting him. One was in the L.A. Times today by a major black lib.
I'll bet you a dollar he is back and bigger than ever inside of 12 months.
yes sorry. i don’t care what team it was, the poverty pimps along with the NY Times crucified these kids and won’t apologize.
I agree 100%. What I can’t believe is that so many at FR are defending his comments. I would expect that from liberals. The Rutgers basketball players did nothing to deserve such an offensive comment. There was nothing even remotely funny about it.
I thought I'd look it up...
"I Wish"
by Stevie Wonder
Looking back on when I
Was a little nappy headed boy
Then my only worry
Was for Christmas what would be my toy
Even though we sometimes
Would not get a thing
We were happy with the
Joy the day would bring
I do, as do many others. But those who follow and support $harpton and jack$on do not.
Immensely popular? Not even close.
http://radio.about.com/b/a/165454.htm
I don’t think that what Imus did was so terrible (certainly compared to Howard Stern, who I will absolutely never listen to again), but people are in a punitive mood and no one’s safe.
“Most all of television has gone to sh*t in my view. I watch a bit of news and that’s about it. I’m not interested in watching liberals lie, queers decorate, “reality” shows, or Jerry Springer. That doesn’t leave much.”
Amen to that! The network shows are sewers of depravity, political correctness, gay focussed dreck. The shows are boring, annoying, offensive, trite, shallow, stupid, and mind-and-soul DESTROYING. Oh, and that’s the so-called ‘good ones’ (like the awful Boston Legal). Ever since Depraved Housewives or whatever-it-was-called the hollywood jihad against normalcy has accelerated. Everything has been queered up to the n-th degree. Not a single real decent Christian or wholesome family is depicted in the cultural desert of network soaps/dramas/sitcoms.
The news is nothing but liberal spin, but I haven’t watched that since sometime in the previous millenium.
Good. I’m glad they dropped him. That’s what he gets for calling a bunch of college girls whores. Too bad for him.
Your dollar is safe. He will be back within 2 months though. (Laughs). Reverend Sharpton will get voice weary, even he will run out of steam. What next? Someone else down the line will get caught.
Orwell would have had a field day.
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