Jessica

Vozel

Read Jessica's bio and previous columns here

November 5, 2007

Why Are We Buying What Don Imus Is Selling?

It’s a familiar story: a nationally syndicated “shock jock” makes a comment on his radio show that goes beyond inappropriate to disgustingly offensive. The general public is incensed and starts demanding repercussions, while the show’s hardcore fans wave the Constitution and tout the charity work of the shock jock, a good person – really! – who just slipped up.

Then, the shock jock issues some sort of statement which weaves a general apology with commentary on the importance of free speech. Sometimes he is suspended for a month or minimally fined. More often than not, he emerges unscathed, with more popularity than he had enjoyed before the debacle began.

What was once an exception, the Don Imus story, has become just another example of how bad deeds go unpunished, and in fact, are eventually rewarded. Six months after CBS Radio yanked “Imus in the Morning” from its airwaves following Imus’s now-infamous racist, sexist remark about the Rutgers women’s basketball team, he has been picked up by ABC Radio’s WABC in New York City. His program will again air for the morning commute beginning in December.

Not only did Imus collect a hefty out-of-court settlement (presumably millions) after suing CBS for $120 million, he is receiving an enthusiastic welcome back to radio. According to WABC President and General Manager Steve Borneman, they are “ecstatic to bring Don Imus back to morning radio” and called him “an amazing addition to our station and for our company." The days when radio affiliates distanced themselves from the man and his “nappy-headed hos” comment are over, and advertising dollars are replacing – as they tend to do – any trace of integrity.

This disturbing shock jock worship is a reminder to radio personalities that if they toe the line of impropriety they eventually become not public enemy, but simultaneously a free-speech hero and censorship victim. It might take time to get to that point, but they will get there. And with those titles comes those fans who tune in just to hear what insulting comments he will spew next.

This is where the true problem lies. While Imus should be held responsible for what he said, if it weren’t Imus, it would be someone else. Audience demand for shocking material is unwavering.

What is it about us that makes us so eager to be “shocked”? One would think that the abundance of real-life racism and sexism, the bloody brutality of war and genocides occurring even as I write this, would be enough to shock and remind us of the depth of hatred that human beings are capable of. But we don’t want to hear about that. We want to be entertained.

So shock jocks, in the name of entertainment, make light of real-world problems, turning racial slurs into something laughable and inviting homeless men onto their show, as Opie and Anthony did this past spring, encouraging – amidst howls of laughter in the studio – the man’s comments about violently raping Condoleezza Rice and Laura Bush.

What’s shocking then, is not the material. We know that rapes occur everyday, that racism exists and that human violence is unavoidable. What’s shocking to us is the hosts’ ability to take that material and entertain us with it, encourage us to laugh at rape, objectify women and make fun of the mentally handicapped. And we eat up every word, because if we are able to laugh at it, it must not be that bad. However, doing so is nothing more than avoidance by the majority at the expense of the minorities who have to accept the truth because they have lived it.

Sure, joking about rape makes it easier to swallow, but what about those women who were actually raped? We chuckle at racist remarks disguised as jokes because the reality of racism is pretty terrifying, but what about those who live with racism every day? When a nationally syndicated radio host makes a remark like Imus’s, wounds are reopened and no one is waiting with a bandage.

What it boils down to is this: Racist and sexist comments such as Imus’s are more than just distasteful, and merely “changing the station” – as fans of the shows suggest to those who are offended – is not going to change the lingering effects of allowing comments like that to air.

Unfortunately, these are effects that cannot be displaced by the push of a button. 

© 2007 North Star Writers Group. May not be republished without permission.

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