Tuesday, April 10, 2007

He's almost gone...maybe

Imus has been doing the apology tour. I have to say it's far more extensive than any other celebrity-says-something-bad apology binge. And his remarks about the Rutgers basketball team have earned him a two-week suspension. But there is speculation that when one is required to apologize repeatedly and for 13 minutes at a time, one is not long for the public airwaves.
So please keep (or start) writing letters. Create enough noise to show MSNBC and others that the privilege of speaking on the airwaves is not one that Don Imus deserves. As always the power is with those who hold the purse strings. If advertisers begin to pull their support of the show MSNBC may be forced to drop Imus. I have only found three of the show's sponsors: The New York Stock Exchange. Simon and Schuster, and Random House. The only contact information I could find for S&S is this link to a customer service form. At Random House you can try emailing customerservice@randomhouse.com.
[Ebuz noted the email for WFAN--the radio station that actually produces Imus's show: fanmail@wfan.com. ]
C. Vivian Stringer and the Rutgers team are scheduled to speak on the issue this afternoon.
Also of note is that the "ho" conversation was actually started by Imus's producer, Bernard McGuirk, who said "that's some rough girls from Rutgers. Man, they got tattoos...some hardcore hos." Sure, Imus took it to the next level but I think McGuirk should be fired too.

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