Radio Host Is Suspended Over Racial Remarks

RADIO HOST IS SUSPENDED OVER RACIAL REMARKS
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Bill Carter]
The radio talk show host Don Imus was suspended for two weeks yesterday after the outcry over his racially disparaging remarks about the Rutgers University women’s basketball team. The suspension will begin Monday. NBC News, which does a simulcast broadcast of Mr. Imus’s radio program on its cable news channel MSNBC, was the first to act, suspending Mr. Imus and calling his comments “racist and abhorrent.” A short time later, CBS Radio, which is his chief employer, followed, saying it, too, would take Mr. Imus, 66, off the air for two weeks. NBC also served notice yesterday that it would not tolerate insensitive remarks in the future. Mr. Imus had promised to change the tenor of the show, NBC said in a statement, and had agreed that the suspension was appropriate. “Our future relationship with Imus is contingent on his ability to live up to his word,” NBC said. CBS made no statement other than that it was suspending Mr. Imus, who has been the host of “Imus in the Morning” for more than 30 years. But his job still appeared to be in jeopardy, with Rev Al Sharpton and other black leaders calling for Mr. Imus to be fired, threatening to initiate a boycott of sponsors and demanding that the Federal Communications Commission take action against him and radio stations that carry his program. The FCC may not have a direct means to address the issue. It was under a mandate from Congress to act against what was deemed indecency, but there is not a similar mandate against other types of speech by a broadcaster.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/10/business/media/10imus.html
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* Don Imus Is Punished With Two Weeks of Radio Silence
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/09/AR2007040901008.html

* Radio's Imus is suspended two weeks
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/life/20070410/d_topstrip10.art.htm

* Shocked Jock
Don Imus takes his lumps. He deserves every one of them.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/09/AR2007040901105.html

* Trash Talk Radio
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Gwen Ifill, PBS]
[Commentary] "This country will only flourish once we consistently learn to applaud and encourage the young people who have to work harder just to achieve balance on the unequal playing field. Let’s see if we can manage to build them up and reward them, rather than opting for the cheapest, easiest, most despicable shots."
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/10/opinion/10ifill.html
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