When CBS Radio fired Don Imus last week, it set the stage for limiting your freedom of expression.
If you were outraged by Imus and said so, you and Imus were enjoying the same freedom. Now that CBS has determined that irresponsibility has no place in broadcasting, a chill effect takes over.
Irresponsibility will not be allowed today. Tomorrow, there will be no room for the objectionable. And the next day, there will be no tolerance for something you just don’t want to hear.
The chill effect does not change the First Amendment, but it does change the way it is employed. It’s the difference between theory and application, and in this instance, the two are now oceans apart.
Now, what we could say and what we should say take on a new standard: Just because you could say something horrible, like Imus did, doesn’t mean you should.
But when you no longer can say something, what you should say loses all meaning.
On Thursday night, when Imus was told to shut up, an all-important first step was taken toward silencing a nation.
Imus apologized. But if apologizing suddenly becomes the norm, shock jocks will lose their edge and go the way of the dodo bird.
The media circus simply added fuel to the fire. Cable paraded a litany of talking heads across the screen. There were the people who supported Imus, all of whom have benefited personally or financially from being on his show. No credibility here. On the other side of the fence, there was Al Sharpton and Rev. Jesse Jackson, denouncing Imus for his actions yet heightening racial tensions with their airtime. No credibility there.
Most lacking in credibility was the news media itself, which had taken to repeating what Imus shouldn’t have said and saying it tenfold. Apparently, today’s journalistic standards have grown so lax that attributing Imus as the source of the quote now absolves them of responsibility.
Of course, old shock jocks never die, they just go to satellite. This one will most likely make a pit stop on Larry King Live, probably with his wife at his side, weeping on cue to questions decided in advance.
Imus shouldn’t have been fired. He could have been suspended and fined, then some of his show’s promotion schedule taken away. If he truly was sorry, he should have resigned.
People say there was too much money involved for him to walk away.
If that’s true, why wasn’t it enough money to keep him?
0 comments:
Post a Comment