In Three Words, Imus Changed The Future

As this rainy Sunday morning progressed into a predicted Nor'easter, I hydroplaned over to the Connecticut School of Broadcasting in Westbury to be a guest on the Steve and Carmelo radio show.

As you might expect, they wanted to chat about Imus.

Why, though, was something of a surprise.

I was introduced to Carmelo when I spoke to a journalism class run by The New York Times' David Winzelberg at Five Towns College. David wanted to me to talk reality to students interested in a glamorous career in the media. I was only too happy to do it, not only because I consider it my job, but because I'd worked for newspapers since I was a kid, which means I've spent a lot of time with line tape stuck to my clothes. Ah yes, the glamour.

Do I think Imus should've been fired? Absolutely not. Firing him does not undo the damage of his derogatory comments; what it does is weaken the foundation of a country built on the premise of freedom of speech. Now, the entire broadcasting industry stands to lose because CBS Radio made the easy decision instead of the right decision.

On the show, we talk about how such a decision ushers in a chill effect, which means shock jocks and, by extension, all media will rethink what its says now. First, they'll be afraid to be irresponsible, then they'll shy away from saying something to which you might object. Finally, they won't say anything they think you won't want to hear. Shutting up Imus was the first step toward silencing a nation.

People often forget to look at the other side of freedom of speech, usually because they're so mad about something that's just been said their initial reaction is to call for the demise of the person who said it.

This is where Newton's Third Law comes into play: For every action, there's an equal and opposite reaction. If Imus said something to make you mad, you get to say so. When Imus' right to speak is taken away, so is yours. Sorry about that, but that's the way it works. We don't get to pick and choose who gets to have a particular freedom. Either we all have it, or no one has it. Which would you prefer? How interesting that the greatest asset of our country is also our greatest liability.

For Steve and Carmelo, they don't really see what was so offensive with what Imus said. After all, it was just street talk. To them, he was just being himself. Their viewpoint is partially colored by the their age: Shock jocks have been in existence for their entire lives.

So what's the big deal?

To Steve and Carmelo, the big deal is they hope to get jobs in the radio industry. One day, perhaps to be shock jocks, too.

It's a career that may, given the events of the past week, simply be a dream.