Welcome to my first post on The Word on Words. My hope is that you'll be entertained and enlightened -- and perhaps incensed -- by my take on the world of communications...
Well, I can't say that I was ever a big fan of shock jock Don Imus. Hard to be when you never listen(ed) to his radio show or watch(ed) his TV show. After he made a fool of himself on the air with his remarks regarding the Rutgers University women's basketball team, CBS and MSNBC did the right thing by pulling the plug on this bozo.
It's one thing to express your constitutionally protected opinions. It's quite another to trash an entire group of innocent women in one fell swoop.
As a journalist, I'm all for upholding the First Amendment right to free speech. But speech isn't so free when it comes at the expense of insulting a group of people who did nothing to deserve such a mini-tirade.
Mr. Shock Jock shouldn't be shocked that CBS and MSNBC yanked him from the airwaves. In the end, Imus choked on his own vile words. Let this be a lesson to other talking heads on radio and TV: Measure your words carefully, or you may lose your electronic soapbox.
Until next time...
John
About Me
- John Egan
- Austin, Texas, United States
- John Egan is editor in chief at Austin, Texas-based SpareFoot, which makes it easy to find and book self-storage units online, offline and via mobile. John's specialties include brand journalism, content marketing, blogging, writing, editing, public relations, media relations, online content and research. He is former editor and managing editor of the Austin Business Journal, and former editor in chief at Bankrate Insurance. John contributes to The Huffington Post, Austin CultureMap and Allvoices.
2 comments:
Well said. I couldn't agree more!
I've never been a fan of "shock jock" radio either, and I'm glad to see one of them called on their disgusting antics. Anything that nudges our society toward some civility is certainly welcome.
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