Off the Air: The Light Goes Out for Don Imus

OFF THE AIR: THE LIGHT GOES OUT FOR BON IMUS
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Bill carter & Jacques Steinberg]
CBS brought a weeklong confrontation over a racial and sexual insult by the radio host Don Imus to an end yesterday when it canceled the “Imus in the Morning” program, effective immediately. The move came a day after the cable television network MSNBC, a General Electric unit that has simulcast Mr. Imus’s radio program for the last 10 years, removed the show from its morning lineup. The two moves, taken together, mean that Mr. Imus, who has been broadcasting the program for more than 30 years, no longer has a home on either national radio or television. It is possible, though, that he could re-emerge on satellite radio. 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 made on April 4. Both CBS and MSNBC had been under pressure from black leaders and women’s groups, then advertisers began abandoning the Imus program and its networks this week, pulling out the financial underpinnings from the show.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/13/business/13imus.html
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* Flying Solo Past the Point of No Return
The toxicity of Mr. Imus’s remark, the innocence of his targets, and his refusal to put down the shovel — he dug himself deeper just about every time he opened his mouth — made last night’s decision by CBS to end his show seem almost inevitable. Disparate media imperatives were at work, but they converged and whipsawed into a self-sustaining frenzy.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/13/business/media/13carr.html

* Behind the Fall of Imus, A Digital Brush Fire
Watchdogs, blogs and emails helped spur the firing.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB117641076468168180.html?mod=todays_us_pa...

* Don Imus Is Fired by CBS Radio
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/12/AR200704...

* Why Imus Had to Go
[Commentary] The First Amendment notwithstanding, it has always been the case that some speech has been off-limits to some people.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/12/AR200704...

* Static Gets Louder for CBS Radio
CBS Radio's firing of disgraced host Don Imus yesterday is the latest blow for a company stung by multimillion-dollar indecency fines, poor financial performance and the loss of top-tier talent in recent years.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/12/AR200704...

* Imus' firing costs CBS
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/money/20070413/1b_imus-biz13.art.htm

* Outrage over Imus shows societal shift
Now that radio's Don Imus has been fired for using a racist, sexist slur on the air, what about all the other entertainers who regularly utter similar words in music, movies and comedy routines? If it's not OK for an old white guy to say "nappy-headed ho," is it OK for young black guys?
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/life/20070413/wk_imus13.art.htm

* CBS Radio drops the Imus show after 'much discussion' of remarks
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20070413/1a_bottomstrip13x_dom...

* A talk powerhouse is shut down
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-na-imus13apr13,1,36508...

* Imus' sin: He's stupid
[Commentary] The shock-jock's firing unmasks him for what he truly is: an angry adolescent playing adult pundit.
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-oe-stein13apr13,1,2...

* Democratic politicians lose a soapbox with Imus
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-na-imuspol13apr13,1...

* CBS fires Imus
http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN1128303020070412

* CBS Cancels Imus in the Morning
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6433090.html