Imus is toast - so now what?

Well, this is it. Don Imus got cut from not only his TV show, but his radio show as well. His career, as he knew it, is over. Time will tell if he can make anything out of his life from here on out, but to my mind this sort of dramatic collapse is all part of being a high-profile public figure - when you get caught saying racist, sexist things, sometimes there's no coming back from that.

Ther real question in my mind is: what do we do to make media more responsive to we the people, and how do we ensure that there are an adequate number of people on the radio, and on TV, that speak to the issues that matter to us?

Women's issues, minority rights, economic inequality, Indigenous people's rights, revolutionary movements, justice in Palestine, peace in Iraq - these issues will not be covered in any depth unless we the people demand that the FCC steps up their enforcement of media diversity.

And that means we have to contact the FCC directly and tell them to stop allowing greater media consolidation. We need to lean on Congress to make sure these big media monopolies are held to account for their shady business practices.

And last but not least, we need to raise hell anytime some rich, white guy decides to tear down women, or black people, or Native people, or Iraqi people just trying to survive. We need to be the voice of the conscience of America.

We've seen the power of collective mass action this week. Let's keep it rolling. Let's win what needs to be won.

Onward!

Categories: Media Activism, Media Criticism