Quote:
it becomes even murkier when you're talking about "shock-jocks"

This is the part of the story that bothers me the most. I'm not sure what part of Imus's show is supposed to be shock-jock-ery. The times I've watched it (a friend of mine is/was a big fan), it consisted of interviews with legitimate interview subjects (that is to say, John McCain instead of Ron Jeremy), in-studio music performances (like Willie Nelson), and the same sort of "witty" banter you hear on every wacky morning zoo-crew drivetime radio program (which is to say, listening to people who think that they're funny when they're really just not). There never seemed to be anything intentionally offensive about any of it, except for the occasional times when Imus's or the crew's personal prejudices came to the surface during their banter. That is to say, you listen to Stern (if you have to), he's consistently offensive all the time. He's obviously trying to push buttons all of the time. On Imus, it happened semi-regularly, but not with any sort of consistency, which tends to imply, at least in my mind, that those statements weren't meant to be provocative; they were meant to be funny. Of course, they weren't any funnier than anything else they said, because it was equivalent to everything else they said; they just happened to showcase personal prejudices.

Again, it's all about context.

Anyway, this whole thing about him being a "shock-jock" seems to be a reason to excuse his poor behavior. Honestly, I couldn't care less if he gets fired or not. I don't think it has anything to do with anyone except his employer, him, and his employees. (On the other hand, I do relish the thought of him not being on the air so that I don't have to listen to my friend go on and on about him. I'll probably still get the anti-Stern rants, tho.) Anyway, regardless of his employment status, the excuse that this sort of behavior is okay, as long as you have a reason for it, or a facade to hide behind, is indicative to me how many people are really just fine with racism (not that I'm trying to imply that you are), and that bothers me more than the individual spoutings of a crotchety old man.


Edited by wfaulk (14/04/2007 13:12)
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Bitt Faulk