For those of you who have managed to not hear about Don Imus’s comments on the Rutgers’ women’s basketball team, here’s a very brief recap. The famous radio shock jock referred to the women’s college team as “nappy headed hoes.” He said that the Tennessee women’s players were cute, but the Rutgers’ team was tattooed and tough looking.
MSNBC has suspended his simulcast for two weeks. His primary network, CBS, has yet to take any action. The media commentators have crawled out of the woodwork to rail against the use of racial slurs and “hate”. The majority of media channels are now embroiled in the debate of censorship vs. free speech. The question on NPR is: “Should censorship be allowed and under what conditions?”
Visit YouTube and judge for yourself. I personally listened to 30 minutes of NPR commentary and debate over the issue before hearing firsthand what Imus had actually said. Ahh, the miracle of YouTube!
One of the columnists talking on NPR this morning about the issue made a comment that continues to resonate within me: slurs and negative comments are more apt to cause a backlash today than 15 years ago due to social media sites like YouTube. In the mid-90s, a shock jock or commentator could say something derogatory and despite the gossip, the majority of public opinion would be based on hearsay. Today, YouTube catches nearly everything controversial said on television and anyone can hear what was said word for word. The public’s reaction is therefore more reactionary much faster than in days gone by.
Don Imus has been apologizing profusely throughout the past week. He is what he is - a shock jock - which means he is not someone I will ever waste time listening to. He is contributing to the popularity of slurs and slander, but he is and should be protected by free speech. He doesn’t need to worry much about reputation management because his job is to be controversial. In the end, he will only make more money and gain more fame from this incident. His future as a shock jock is not in any jeopardy (he can always join Stern on satellite radio).
Imus represents a microscopically small percentage of the population who has very little need for online reputation management. For Imus, bad press = more $$$. It is the nature of the beast.
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