Tune In, Tune Out
Murray Sabrin
I was a regular Imus listener for many years after he first hit the airwaves in New York more than 30 years ago. One of the reasons I tuned in to Imus is because I loved hearing frequent guest Rob Bartlett do his hilarious routines that had me in stitches. I stopped listening to “Imus in the Morning” about 15 years ago, when he was doing his shtick one day. When I was driving to Ramapo College one morning Imus said something (I do not recall the specific statement he made) that caused me to tune him out. Nevertheless, I have tuned in to his MSNBC simulcast occasionally to listen him interview Tim Russert and other political commentators.
Imus got axed because he did not pick on someone his own size. In this case, mostly black female college athletes. A double no-no. If Imus had just kept picking on the rich, famous and powerful, he and his staff could have continued making funny, satirical and, yes, crude remarks to their hearts’ content. However, he crossed the line. Imus had a big microphone and made a really dumb remark about the Rutgers women’s basketball team after it had been defeated in the NCAA championship game. He could have been gracious and congratulated the coach and the team for their outstanding season, and that would have been the end of the story. Regrettably, Imus made an insulting remark for which he apologized. That should been the end of it. But “Reverends” Jackson and Sharpton smelled blood and got their pound of flesh, the firing of Imus by CBS.
When Imus was dissing individuals from other groups, i.e., women, Jews, gays, Muslims, Catholics, Latinos, and others, he was on relatively safe ground. I don’t recall if any protests were organized against him or MSNBC or CBS. People who have been offended by Imus probably did not listen to him in great numbers, and as far as I know the multitude of the offended parties never got an apology from the I-Man.
Yesterday’s Wall Street Journal chronicles how Imus’s remarks on April 4th became a national cause for Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton. The “thought and sensitivity police” are in full force, and Imus became the largest—and easiest-- target for the likes of Jackson and Sharpton.
Both “reverends” were quick to rush to judgment in the Duke no rape case. Have they apologized? I don’t think so. Where is the outrage about their behavior that could have resulted in long prison terms for three innocent white athletes who were alleged to have raped a black stripper at a fraternity party? Rather than wait for the facts and evidence to be gathered, the rush to convict the three athletes in the court of public opinion was one of the most despicable episodes in recent judicial history. And the prosecutor, who probably will be disbarred for his misconduct, should be imprisoned for the time the athletes could have served if they had been convicted.
It is time both Jackson and Sharpton are ignored by the media for their grandstanding, but that will not happen. Media executives will now probably give them more air time to promote racial “diversity” goals for the media.
On another front, I stopped listening to both Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity after they became cheerleaders for Bush’s invasion of Iraq. I found their incessant drumbeat for war offensive and dangerous. Their defense of the lies by Bush, Cheney, Rice and others are indefensible. Limbaugh and Hannity betrayed their audiences by not seeking the truth. Instead, they became apologists for the lies, deceit and deception of the power elite. And they call themselves “conservatives” –skeptics of big government. Yet, they support the biggest of big government’s policies, war---an unjustifiable war to boot.
Consumers have the ultimate power. They can tune in, and then tune out radio and television shows they find offensive. They can boycott businesses that sponsor these shows. Both Jackson and Sharpton should not be America’s moral consciences. Imus and other “shock jocks” now know apologies are not enough, if they utter a short stupid—especially a racially charged—comment on the “public” airwaves.
We are in a new era in America. What you say on radio and television could destroy your career. Yet rap “artists” spew vile lyrics and they have been getting a get a pass from most corporate sponsors and the Sharptons of America. To counteract the cries of hypocrisy, Sharpton now is calling for an end to the misogyny and racial epithets in rap music.
A libertarian today who challenges big government on all fronts is the most politically incorrect individual in American. All I can say is thank God for tenure.
Murray Sabrin, Ph.D., is professor of finance in the Anisfield School of Business, Ramapo College of New Jersey, where he is executive director of the Center for Business and Public Policy.