Imus and “I'm Us”

IMUS AND "I'M US"
[SOURCE: Center for American Progress, AUTHOR: Mark Lloyd]
[Commentary] Does his name say it all? Does Imus really reflect the views of us...or just middle age white men? Does the locker room banter of “I'm us” in the Morning reflect the way women and minorities, and especially minority women, are viewed by awakening white men? Is this, as some of us fear, what is said and thought when the rest of us are out of reach, where important decisions are sometimes made in the U.S.? It is important to point out that “I'm us” in the Morning was not on just any old soapbox. When CBS and NBC fired him, “I'm us” was carried by 61 radio stations and a cable service seen in every major market in the U.S. With roughly 1.6 million radio listeners per week and an average of 361,000 viewers, his was no small voice squeaking away someplace on the Internet. “I'm us” will likely find another soapbox, not because he is burning to do another interview, but because he made his patrons some $50 million dollars a year. Because there are so many people who include themselves in the “us” bit of “I'm us.” Because banter from the locker room sells. Because making money is what counts most in our regulation of media in America. Because profit has become the substitute for the public interest.
http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2007/04/imus.html