The Media Drop

Just one day after his show was pulled from MSNBC, Don Imus was just fired by CBS for his racially insensitive remarks towards the Rutgers University women’s basketball team.

Imus’ show, which was nationally syndicated, was run out of WFAN in New York, and had been broadcasting out of MSNBC / CNBC’s studios in recent years. The show had been simulcast on MSNBC since 1996.

WFAN’s web team apparently hadn’t been aware of the dismissal, as Imus’ page is still up on the site (this isn’t the first time that’s happened after a firing), and there isn’t any final word as far as I can tell as to who will finish the WFAN Radiothon, which ends tomorrow morning after being kicked off by his show earlier on Thursday.

This morning, NBC’s Today Show had Matt Lauer doing an interview with Donny Deutsch and Michele Moore, who is an SVP at the National Urban League, about the decision for NBC to let go of Imus’ programming from its cable news station. One comment from Moore that was most notable to me was that she thought there should have been “more diversity on the Imus set.” She may be absolutely right there, but I think if anyone is going to discuss that being an issue, one of those players should be NBC itself. Lauer didn’t really get into it, and while time constraints were surely in effect, it should be noted that the Imus show, given that it is broadcast at the CNBC studios, is presumably staffed primarily by people that the network has hired to handle the show’s broadcast to television, not those that Imus or WFAN management have put in place. Imus’ regular production staff, namely Lou Rufino and Imus sidekick Bernard McGuirk, work out of the WFAN studios in Queens. McGuirk himself was called out earlier today in an NYT piece discussing how he wasn’t exactly innocent in this particular incident.

At the end of the day, however, McGuirk doesn’t get off easily as he might have thought, as his job has been, for the time being, eliminated along with Imus’ show.

As someone who’d been a longtime listener to Imus’ show, and someone who keeps WFAN tuned in a whole lot of the time due to my fervent sports interest, I’ve got to say that I’m not exactly shocked by the situation, though I guess I’m just finding it strange in that something I’ve listened to, (most mornings, at least) for a whole lot of years has vanished because someone was irresponsible and ignorant. I’m typically someone who is all up in arms about the “baby-ification” of this country, as people have gotten so out of hand as to what’s offensive and what’s not. In this case, I would say I completely see where everyone who has shared their opinions about what Imus said and how it affected them, their children, and how we as Americans (forget Americans, howabout just people) treat one another. The point, in some ways, is as much about *what* was said as it is about the fact that common sense didn’t take over.

As much as I’m one to normally not be so hot about my thoughts on the Today Show and how I think it treats real news, I have to say that this item from the show’s Al Roker pretty much sums it up. I think no matter what side you think you fall on, this is a pretty smart explanation of how this incident should be put into perspective, no matter what race, nationality, or whatever you are.