NBC and Imus Symbiosis

NBC is trying to rewrite "Imus in the Morning" show history.

Although NBC News has relied on the Don Imus program to showcase its on-air personalities and hawk their wares, you'd never know that such a close symbiotic relationship existed.

Listening to NBC executives, you'd think Imus wasn't an ally. It appears they simply ignored the inconvenient truth of the sort of garbage Imus dealt out on a daily basis.

I have to make clear that I am in no way defending Imus. I never listen to him on radio and I don't watch MSNBC. Frankly, Imus creeps me out. He's offensive.

It should be noted that his degrading and derogatory comments aren't a recent development. That's SOP for Imus.

So why has he been thrown under the bus by the NBC hypocrites now? You can add elected officials to the group of his betrayers, too.

Let's look at the Imus guest list.

Few politicians, big or small, pass up a chance to bump knees with Mr. Imus, in part because his show is one of the few places where they can talk seriously and at length about public issues. Senator John Kerry has stopped by. Senator John McCain is on frequently. And Senators Joseph I. Lieberman and Joseph R. Biden are part of a legion eager to sit in the guest chair.

NBC News uses “Imus in the Morning” to promote the brands of Tim Russert, Andrea Mitchell and David Gregory. Tom Brokaw was a frequent guest, and his replacement, Brian Williams, has been sanctified by the I-man, as they call him. Chris Matthews from MSNBC has appeared, as have anchors and journalists from CNN and CBS and, on the print side, by reporters and editors from Newsweek and popular opinion columnists from The New York Times.

Here's a reminder of those good old days when Imus was friend to the NBCers and they reciprocated.



Yes, famous libs loved to sit in the guest chair.

Now, under pressure, they've had to turn their backs on the I-man.

From The New York Times:

NBC News dropped Don Imus yesterday, canceling his talk show on its MSNBC cable news channel a week after he made a racially disparaging remark about the Rutgers University women’s basketball team.

The move came after several days of widening calls for Mr. Imus to lose his show both on MSNBC, which simulcasts the “Imus in the Morning” show, and CBS Radio, which originates the show.

CBS Radio, which is the main employer of Mr. Imus, said in a statement last night that it would stick by the two-week suspension of the show that it and NBC News announced earlier; the suspension begins Monday.

But CBS said it would, in the interim, “continue to speak with all concerned parties and monitor the situation closely.”

The demands that Mr. Imus’s show be canceled have grown in intensity every day since last Wednesday when he made the comments, in which he labeled the women “nappy-headed hos.”

Numerous advertisers said yesterday that they would refuse to sponsor the show in the future. Among the advertisers were General Motors, American Express, Sprint Nextel, GlaxoSmithKline, TD Ameritrade and Ditech.com.

NBC said the cancellation was effective immediately. Mr. Imus was scheduled to be the host of a telethon today and tomorrow on radio station WFAN and simulcast on MSNBC to benefit three children’s charities. The network will instead program three hours of news coverage.

Mr. Imus did not respond to telephone messages last night. But Bo Dietl, a security expert who is a frequent guest on Mr. Imus’s show, said last night that he had just talked by telephone with the host, and that his mood was “very down, very upset about what occurred with MSNBC.”

I suppose he felt he had a dodged a bullet, expecting the two week suspension to stick. Imus probably didn't think that arrangement would be tossed aside. He may have trusted NBC executives to stand by him as they have in the past in spite of controversy.

Wrong.

In its statement, NBC News said the decision “comes as a result of an ongoing review process, which initially included the announcement of a suspension.”

“It also takes into account many conversations with our own employees.”

The statement went on: “What matters to us most is that the men and women of NBC Universal have confidence in the values we have set for this company. This is the only decision that makes that possible.”

This makes no sense. Imus has been offensive for years.

Suddenly, NBC Universal cares about values?

BS.

NBC also apologized again to the Rutgers team for “the pain this incident has caused.”

NBC executives said last night that the decision had been made jointly by the NBC Universal president, Jeff Zucker, and the president of NBC News, Steve Capus.

What Imus said about the Rutgers team was horrible.

Personally, I think it's about time that Imus is held accountable for his disgusting rhetoric; but the Rutgers players are big girls. I'm sure they weren't emotionally destroyed by idiot Imus' remarks.

...Mr. Capus in an interview on MSNBC last night said that in his view, the comment Mr. Imus made was racist. He added that it was far from the first time Mr. Imus had made insensitive or offensive comments on his show.

“There have been any number of other comments that have been enormously hurtful to far too many people,” Mr. Capus said. “And my feeling is that there should not be a place for that on MSNBC.”

Why didn't Capus act sooner?

Why did the president of NBC News allow his on-air talent to be guests of the racist, insensitive Imus?

Capus is in CYA mode but he's actually exposing himself as a hypocrite.

...In an interview on MSNBC last night, Mr. Capus said advertising money was not a determining factor.

“What price do you put on your reputation?” Mr. Capus said. “And the reputation of the news division means more to me than advertising dollars. Because if you lose your reputation, you lose everything.”

What a load!

Money means everything. I'm amazed that MSNBC manages to get any sponsors at all. Its ratings are abysmal.

If Capus truly cared about the news division's reputation, then what were NBC News personalities doing with the despicable Imus?

Capus, NBC, and MSNBC come off looking as dirty as Imus.

Perhaps Sharpton should take them down, too.

Then, someone needs to take down Sharpton.