MSNBC has fired Don Imus -- will CBS follow?

NBC News dropped Don Imus yesterday, canceling his talk show on its MSNBC cable news channel a week after Mr. Imus made racially disparaging remarks about the Rutgers University womenÂ’s basketball team.

The move came after several days of widening calls for Mr. Imus to lose his job both on MSNBC, which simulcasts the “Imus in the Morning” show, and CBS Radio, which originates the show.

CBS Radio, which is Mr. ImusÂ’s main employer, said in a statement last night that it would stick by the two-week suspension of the program, which begins Monday, that it and NBC news announced earlier.

But CBS said it would, in the interim, “continue to speak with all concerned parties and monitor the situation closely.”

The demands that Mr. Imus be fired had grown in intensity every day since last Wednesday when he made the comments, in which he labeled the women “nappy-headed hos.”

And ultimately, this is how things should work -- the market, not the government, has demanded the removal of Don Imus. He has the right to say as many stupid things as he wants, but no right to a privately-owned forum to spew them. The government can't punish you for your speech, but your employer can.

Posted by: Greg at 10:35 PM | Comments (13) | Add Comment
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