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Shock for would-be shock jock

I haven’t commented thus far on the Don Imus affair, because what can anyone say about shock jocks who get paid to be offensive? It’s a business model I deplore, but I’m sure it’s very profitable for the broadcasting companies and for the jocks.

You’ve probably already seen plenty of comments on blogs – both for and against Imus – but here’s something a little different that I found kind of heart-warming.

Shortly after Imus was suspended for two weeks by CBS for making racist comments, and a movement sprang up calling for him to be taken off the air permanently, another disc jockey, Gary Smith of WSBG, a small FM rock station in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, thought it would be fun to encourage his listeners to repeat Imus’s remarks on the air as part of a contest. Smith got himself fired – and is presumably being nominated for the Darwin award given to those who sacrifice themselves in order to remove the less intelligent members of a species.

Meanwhile, MSNBC, which had simulcast the Imus radio show originating at CBS, has dropped the shock jock. And advertisers are bailing out as fast as they can, having happily ridden along with Imus until they sensed he had offended too many of their customers. But, so far, CBS says he’s only suspended.

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