Comments on: Double Standard? http://www.steamingblog.com/2007/04/19/double-standard/ New! Improved! Swassy! Tue, 17 Nov 2009 13:18:47 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=abc hourly 1 By: Marv http://www.steamingblog.com/2007/04/19/double-standard/comment-page-1/#comment-36 Marv Wed, 25 Apr 2007 16:41:31 +0000 http://blog.autumn-fading.net/2007/04/19/double-standard/#comment-36 It was a slow news week when that happened. If there was some shooting that week or something else to cling to it would not have been an issue. News programs and channels try to sell the news. if they are not interesting enough no one will buy it. so on slow weeks you see stories on things blown way out of proportion. a few weeks ago while I was at work Fascist(Fox) news channel was running a story on how seggregated schools are. they were at a school in the buffalo area and they were asking the kids in the lunchroom why they were sitting in the groups they were in (mostly black kids together and mostly white kids together). the kids responded that they were sitting with their friends and that was the deciding factor but when you got back to the reporter it was suddenly the prejudice and racial tension that was driving our society to an end. Thats just the kind of stuff that happens when they don't have a pop celebrity to cover or someone going on a killing spree. It was a slow news week when that happened. If there was some shooting that week or something else to cling to it would not have been an issue. News programs and channels try to sell the news. if they are not interesting enough no one will buy it. so on slow weeks you see stories on things blown way out of proportion. a few weeks ago while I was at work Fascist(Fox) news channel was running a story on how seggregated schools are. they were at a school in the buffalo area and they were asking the kids in the lunchroom why they were sitting in the groups they were in (mostly black kids together and mostly white kids together). the kids responded that they were sitting with their friends and that was the deciding factor but when you got back to the reporter it was suddenly the prejudice and racial tension that was driving our society to an end. Thats just the kind of stuff that happens when they don’t have a pop celebrity to cover or someone going on a killing spree.

]]> By: Esther http://www.steamingblog.com/2007/04/19/double-standard/comment-page-1/#comment-33 Esther Thu, 19 Apr 2007 22:01:48 +0000 http://blog.autumn-fading.net/2007/04/19/double-standard/#comment-33 Were this an isolated incident, I would side with Imus. Free speech is one of the most valuable things that we, as Americans, possess. If every radio talk show host who offended someone, (or even a whole bunch of someones), was fired, we would soon have no more talk radio! Was this particular incident blown out of proportion? Yes. However, this was not an isolated incident. Imus has made many a racial slur towards many a racial group. (Some examples can be found <a href="http://slamonline.com/online/2007/04/enough-is-enough/" rel="nofollow">here</a>.) Simply put, the man is an both a racist and tactless individual. It's not difficult to figure out why his sponsors left. Without those sponsors, it's not difficult to understand why he was fired. Do I think that he should have been fired for the comment? No. However, looking at his history of insensitivity and racism, I do think that this backlash against him was pretty much inevitable. My views on free speech go hand in hand with those of Voltaire. He wrote, "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." Imus had the right to say whatever he damn well wanted to. He still has the right. However, people have a right not to listen to him, and that's what has happened. People have decided that they've heard enough. Were this an isolated incident, I would side with Imus. Free speech is one of the most valuable things that we, as Americans, possess. If every radio talk show host who offended someone, (or even a whole bunch of someones), was fired, we would soon have no more talk radio! Was this particular incident blown out of proportion? Yes. However, this was not an isolated incident. Imus has made many a racial slur towards many a racial group. (Some examples can be found here.) Simply put, the man is an both a racist and tactless individual.

It’s not difficult to figure out why his sponsors left. Without those sponsors, it’s not difficult to understand why he was fired. Do I think that he should have been fired for the comment? No. However, looking at his history of insensitivity and racism, I do think that this backlash against him was pretty much inevitable.

My views on free speech go hand in hand with those of Voltaire. He wrote, “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” Imus had the right to say whatever he damn well wanted to. He still has the right. However, people have a right not to listen to him, and that’s what has happened. People have decided that they’ve heard enough.

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