April 12, 2007
Shutting Them Up
I'm sure Don Imus is shocked by the burgeoning response to what he would consider just a run-at-the-mouth remark. After all, talk shows like his abound, racist, sexist insults fly. and the vitriolic Ann Coulter (no cllickie for that harridan, we are actively ignoring her) has deliberately used many more incendiary phrases than "nappy headed ho's".
Marty Kaplan, currently the Associate Dean of the Annenberg School for Communication at USC, writes about Imus as the tool of the corporatocracy:
The most important thing to know about Don Imus is that he's a cash cow for Viacom and General Electric. Or was, until his advertisers began peeling away. The only reason that shock jocks are on the air in the first place is that people pay attention to them. They - we - lend our ears and eyeballs to Imus and his ilk because their outrageousness amuses us.A merely curmudgeonly cowboy would not pull big numbers, and neither the political class nor the punditocracy would return his bookers' calls. What makes the powerful kiss his ring, and what makes people tune in, is how badboy - how rude, disrespectful, licking-the-razor - Imus is. Clearly, large audiences like to gasp at what he gets away with, and CBS and NBC have been champs at spinning those OMG's into ka-ching.
The same could be said of the envelope-pushing by Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, Michael Savage and the dozens of other circus acts in the infotainment freak show. Their effect may be to debase discourse, inflame prejudice, sow ignorance, exculpate criminality, incite rancor, ruin reputations, and stoke the right-wing base - but their effect is not their job. Their job is to make money for the corporations that employ them. We may revile them for being Rove's toadies, but we're chumps if we ignore how relentlessly the companies that employ them monetize their noxious shtick.
Imagine if the audience's appetite for outrage extended to the dying of American democracy. Imagine if media bosses believed that we're insatiable for information about the Republican attempt to rig the '08 election by politicizing the Justice Department and prosecuting phony voter fraud. Imagine if the same kind of blanket coverage that's currently conferred on loopy astronauts, bratty rehaboholics, and, yes, outrageously slandered basketball teams, were afforded instead to the slow-motion fascism now on the move in America. Would we watch it the same Pavlovian way we watch tits, twits and tornadoes? [emphasis mine]
If honor and shame can drive programming decisions as decisively as Nielsens and ad dollars, maybe there's a way to convince media executives that the venom of Coulter et al is just as toxic to their corporate reputation, and just as unacceptable to Americans, as Imus's ho-talk.
Hear hear. And for those of you who minimize Imus's behavior, and that of the other hatemongers of the air, we are here to remind you of the role hate radio played in the genocides of Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia.
Sanctioning open bigotry in the media supports the malignant neoconservative agenda in this country. As the Justice Department scandal unfolds, we begin to see that the illusion of eliminating "voter fraud" is a thinly disguised plot to place obstacles between the underprivileged and their vote, thus thinning the ranks of those who might vote in their best interests against the Republican elite in the next presidential election. The Federalist Society (Alito and Roberts are both members) openly and regressively works against affirmative action, reproductive choice, employment and environmental regulation, all of which benefit minorities in this country. Nothing to joke about.
So when we hear blatant bigotry, let's turn it off and let it shrivel into oblivion from lack of attention. That's what all of us here at Dakota are doing toAnnie C. As Ismail Serageldin , suggests in his essay "Accumulated Fuel and Dangerous Sparks":
I do not seek legislation, but social consciousness. For it is social consciousness that establishes the norms of acceptable behavior. Freedom of expression remains our most precious right, and how we practice it tends to be conditioned more by social consciousness than by legislation. In the US, where stereotypes were widespread, and epithets for the various ethnic groups that make up the American population were commonplace, it is no longer admissible to mock the Jews or to make racist remarks about the blacks, or to show native Americans as bloodthirsty savages. Movies and shows that featured “Steppin Fetchit” and “Amos and Andy” have given way to shows like “Roots” and to films that show blacks as well-rounded human beings. Gradually, every group is allowed to keep its dignity, and children are taught to exercise mutual respect when talking of or to others. Stereotyping and derogatory remarks based on race, religion, or national origin are rejected by society as unacceptable.… when will the norm of unacceptability of such behavior towards Arabs and Muslims become widespread in Western societies?....In these redoubled efforts, as we drain the cumulated combustible fuel, we should be wary of the sparks, especially when they have no socially redeeming value commensurate with the harm that they do … We should look at those who initiate the sparks, those who would light the fires, recognize them for what they are and use the words of the Prophet Muhammad when he was being stoned and insulted by the non-believers, “God guide them to the right path, for they know not what they do”… almost the same words that Jesus used before him.
We should move from confrontation to dialogue, and from dialogue to understanding, and from understanding to a working alliance for the common good of all humanity. Let the constraints on our speech be those of self-imposed civility and honesty. Let us dismiss and ignore those who will not adhere to that minimum of decency that all societies demand towards their minorities. Let us together “fashion those wise constraints that make people free”.
Phew, that probably required too much attention. Nap and try again.
Photo note: Yet another Hong Kong billboard. A bimetaphorophoto -- many things coming out of the mouth in an uncontrolled manner, and too much stuffed into this entry.
Addendum: From the AP: "Sponsors that pulled out of Imus' show included American Express Co., Sprint Nextel Corp., Staples Inc., Procter & Gamble Co. and General Motors Corp. Imus made a point Thursday to thank one sponsor, Bigelow Tea, for sticking by him." Just in case you want to write any letters.
Digby