Many of the news channels have been following the antics of Don Imus today, for calling a women's basketball team a racist term, which I will not post here.
CBS and MSNBC announced that they were suspending the Imus show for two weeks as a disciplinary action.
I have a question...why did CBS and MSNBC have this man on the air at all, given his prior controversies? He's been referred to as the "Howard Stern of intelligent people," though he's had a public feud with Stern for years--in particular a vicious exchange on the air in 2003.
The man is a lightning rod for controversy.
Yet the two companies had him on both radio and on TV in simulcast.
Imus went on Rev. Al Sharpton's radio program this morning (a huge mistake), but made little headway in calming the raging inferno, as Sharpton's thirst for revenge neutralized his efforts. Sharpton's now calling for a boycott of all advertisers who advertise on the Imus show.
Later on in the day, the networks suspended Imus.
Imus's comments WERE way over the line, but Sharpton's handling of the situation on his show made the situation worse; what happened to forgiveness of others?
All Sharpton wanted was to get Imus fired, or better yet, to have Imus sign a resignation letter in his presence and on the air. It didn't happen, so he decided to add his two cents (and more) to the controversy.
There's no winner in this controversy; not CBS, MSNBC, Imus, Sharpton, or the people who were insulted by the racist comments that Imus made.
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