from MSNBC
A resolution to the Don Imus scandal, finally: He's been suspended for two weeks by MSNBC and CBS in the wake of his on-air racial slur against the Rutgers women's basketball team wherein he called them "nappy headed hos." Imus made the remarks on the air last Wednesday, which prompted an outcry from outraged viewers, followed by calls for his resignation, notably by the Rev. Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson. MSNBC issued a careful statement condemning the remarks and distancing itself from Imus ("While simulcast by MSNBC, "Imus in the Morning" is not a production of the cable network and is produced by WFAN Radio...his views are not those of MSNBC"). On Friday morning, Imus apologized on the air, calling the remark "insensitive and ill-conceived," "completely inappropriate" and "thoughtless and stupid."
Let's refresh ourselves on exactly what was said:
IMUS: That's some rough girls from Rutgers. Man, they got tattoos and--McGUIRK: Some hard-core hos.
IMUS: That's some nappy-headed hos there. I'm gonna tell you that now, man, that's some--woo. And the girls from Tennessee, they all look cute, you know, so, like--kinda like--I don't know.
McGUIRK: A Spike Lee thing.
IMUS: Yeah.
McGUIRK: The Jigaboos vs. the Wannabes--that movie that he had.
Though Imus, the show's star, has received the brunt of the attention — nappy-headed hos! Incredible! — McGuirk's slur and reference is just as appalling.
Over the weekend, the story continued to percolate as media outlets re-told and revisited it, and MSNBC "continued to review" the situation (which, as WaPo's Lisa de Moraes noted, didn't necessarily mean much given Imus' pattern of offensive remarks followed by what de Moraes termed MSNBC's "form apology").
Then came today, and Imus' visit, cowboy hat in hand, to Al Sharpton's radio show, where he submitted to the harsh criticism of Sharpton and his listeners (Sharpton et al called for his resignation; Imus protested that his work with cancer-stricken children proved that he was not a racist since some of them were African-American. To a caller: "I've slept in a house with more black children that are not related to me than you have). A few hours following the occasionally testy broadcast (FishbowlNY has highlights), NBC announced that Imus had been suspended for two weeks.
Two weeks — and everybody wins. Imus wins, because he gets to receive appropriate punishment, expiate his sin, and be redeemed. MSNBC and NBC win, because they get to make an appropriate "show of strength" without sacrificing a ratings winner in a tough timeslot (and so low budget! Compare to Today or GMA!). Sharpton & co. win because the seriousness of the offense is acknowledged with punishment and public shaming. Everyone learns their lesson, and, after a small hiccup, they just keep rolling along. Is it enough? Probably not for the Rutgers basketball team, who saw their almost-Final Four performance overshadowed by the fact that, even at that pinnacle of success and accomplishment, they could be dismissed and debased with an offhand slur that was both racist and sexist. Probably not for member of the groups similarly slurred by Imus — gays and lesbians, Palestinians, PBS's Gwen Ifill, to whom Imus referred as the "cleaning lady" when she was at the NYT, MSNBC anchorwoman Contessa Brewer, whom he called a "pig" and a "skank" on the air in 2005 — to them, this no doubt appears like a slap on the wrist, the least the network(s) can get away with after so many repeat offenses and form apologies (for the '05 sexist slurs against Brewer, MSNBC expressed its "displeasure"). But — for Imus? He's taken a lot of heat for this one, and cannot be under the misapprehension that secretly it's no big deal, as perhaps he may have in the past. Perhaps, if he's shaken enough from the close brush with real repercussions for real — and major — infractions, he may just have learned when to shut his yap, at least while at the morning microphone. Or, at least, MSNBC will have learned to put him on a 5-second delay. Because this is the last of any possible strikes. Next one, and he's out. For good.
Imus called women's basketball team "nappy-headed hos" [MediaMatters]
Sorry Excuses: MSNBC's Form Apology [WaPo]
With Imus, They Keep On Coming Back [NYT]
Earlier:
Don Imus and Contessa Brewer: Can he just say that? [FishbowlNY]
It's a print-blogosphere mashup! Kind of. This month's "Coaster Correspondence" in Vanity Fair smartly turns the floor over to VF online editor Andrew Hearst (ooh, fancy letterhead!) who suggests to editor Graydon Carter a premium web feature called "VF NSFW" ("Not Safe For Work") which would feature, inter alia, hot pix of VF cuties like Sebastian Junger "peeling off his wet suit after paddling class four rapids on the Futaleufu River in Chile"; steamy, scripted webisodes called "Ed Assts." showing VF's glossy young underlings Laguna Beach-style, hooking up in the copy room; and our personal favorite: "We also like the idea of a live video chat with a submissive Christopher Hitchens, where he would obey viewer commands. Our research shows that women readers really want this." Oh, yes: God is great.
Also notable in the Coaster Corr. is what amounts to quite a primo little advertisement for Carter's Waverly Inn in the form of a mock-review by the fictitious (but always lively) Edwin Coaster, which has yet another namecheck for Men's Health editor and Waverly Inn habitué David Zinczenko (actually, two, because he's mentioned in the fake article and the little memo sheet beside. No pic this time, alas).
Memo to Hearst: We will so totally pay for VF-NSFW. Sebastian Junger, wet and glistening. That's a nice thought. What the hell - Christopher Hitchens, too!
Image from Vanity Fair (emphasis added)
from Instapundit.com
While news of Today's falling numbers is followed up by the promised questioning profile of Meredith Vieira's impact of that slide, courtesty of Howie Kurtz, this week ABC's Diane Sawyer is far, far removed from petty morning show bickering, reporting live from Afghanistan. TVNewser reports, per ABC, that Sawyer will be "talking to President Hamid Karzai, as well as to regular Afghani people about their lives."
Sawyer's timing isn't great, to say the least: Things in Afghanistan are not good, particularly for journalists. Last month, the Taliban kidnapped Italian journalist Daniele Mastrogiacomo along with her driver and translator. Her driver was beheaded. Mastrogiacomo was subsequently released in a trade for five Taliban militants &mash; a move that was heavily criticized. After the deal was effected, more kidnappings ensued; today, news broke that the Taliban had executed Mastrogiacomo's translator, Ajmal Naqshbandi, a freelance journalist. When the government did not release the two prisoners demanded by the kidnappers, Naqshbandi was beheaded.
Meanwhile, yesterday 7 NATO troops were killed by a roadside bomb in Southern Afghanistan; on Friday, four were killed by a car bomb. It is widely acknowledged that the situation in Afghanistan is spiraling pretty badly out of control.
Sawyer, who has reported from Afghanistan in the past a number of times, throws down the gauntlet somewhat to Katie Couric, who this summer memorably declared that she would be willing to report from war zones overseas if called for (it was memorable because Access Hollywood goofed the quote, instead saying she said she wouldn't go). Against what is happening there, silly tussling over a ratings point here or there hardly seems important (see the back-and-forth sniping quoted by Kurtz) — at this point we just send Sawyer and her crew hopes for a safe return.
Diane Sawyer in Afghanistan [TVNewser]
Related:
Vieira Adjusts to the View at Today [WaPo]
Taliban Hostage Swap: A Deal With The Devil [NYT]
from newyorker.com/promo
Next month, on May 6th & 7th, the New Yorker is hosting a weekend event called The New Yorker Conference / 2012: Stories From The Near Future. It lasts a weekend, costs $1,200 and is already sold out. It bills itself as It will feature New Yorker writers and editors "introducing" the audience to "the minds that will make a difference in the coming years." It features 35 speakers, six of which are women.
It's only a tiny bit surprising that it's sold out — it is expensive, but this is New York and there are plenty of people with expense accounts and fat wallets, though of course a few great minds in the making will no doubt have to sit this one out. It's also only a tiny bit surprising that there are so few women on the bill. It is a wildly diverse slate Barry Diller, David Byrneand Craig Newmark will mix with Blue Hill chef Dan Barber and NYC dessert stylist Will Goldfarb plus London gallerist Hans UlrichObrist, Sims creator Will Wright, Newark mayor Cory Booker, and psychologist/happiness pioneer Jonathan Haidt. The featured women are architect Zaha Hadid, first female winner of the Pritzker Prize; Marianne Cusato, innovator of affordable housing who developed the "Katrina Cottage" as a low-cost alternative to FEMA shelters for use following Hurricane Katrina; and Nokia senior designer Younghee Jung, whose research focuses on the "social potential" of mobile technology, and who is doing some pretty cool stuff, by the sounds of it. Why is it even surprising at all? Just because it's so damn brazen to have such a wide-open slate and still have so few women. They've got a bartender for the Plaza Athénée, for God's sake. Yes yes, I'm sure his drinks are very tasty. But it does suggest a certain room for flexibility.
The above ratios are reflected, though a tad less egregiously, in the masthead participants. Above, the breakdown is 3/25 "great minds" on the slate; the staff members break down as 3/13 (the women are Larissa MacFarquhar, Susan Morrison and Judith Thurman; men include Remnick, Malcolm Gladwell, James Suriowiecki, Ken Auletta, Bill Buford, Jeffrey Toobin, architecture critic Paul Goldenberg, editorial director/books editor Henry Finder.
The lopsided slate has not gone unnoticed. Paddy Johnson, editor of arts blog Art Fag City noticed the uneven distribution on March 1st, and sent a letter to the New Yorker accordingly, following up with a phone call after she didn't hear anything. Later that day, according to her blog, Johson received a voicemail from New Yorker representative Sonya McNair who thanked her for her "enthusiam" and said that the New Yorker "[did] not discuss our editorial decision making process." Subsequently, by Johnson's count, the New Yorker added nine more men to the bill.
Hey, we wish we didn't notice this stuff; that is to say, we wish it wasn't there to be noticed. All of the people on the New Yorker conference bill are amazingly accomplished. All of them will have fascinating perspectives to offer for your $1,200 (non-refundable, non-transferable). But it's dispiriting and disappointing that almost all of them are men. 2012? New Yorker, you're clearly a few decades ahead of yourself.
New Yorker Conference 2012 [NewYorker.com]
The New Yorker Conference: New Speakers, The Same Problems [Art Fag City]
4.1:1 - Ratio of male to female writers published in the New Yorker [WomenTK]
Women Speakers for your Conferences [Personism]
(Big Hat Tip: Paddy.)
from supermodels.nl
On April 16th, MSNBC will launch its brand-new six-part series, "Models NYC," which will follow the "professional and private lives of a dozen New York beauties and their agents." We do not joke, this is all from the press release. Each one-hour documentary in the series will take an "insider's look" at Soho-based Q Management, "one of the most successful New York boutique modeling agencies" and will follow around a bunch of models, mostly female, at least one male, "as cameras catch everything from the castings to photo shoots to the split-second decisions that drive the industry and can make or break a model's career." There's Maria "beautiful, but insecure" thanks to a past of poverty and foster care; Asha, who made it in London but still needs to prove herself in New York; Andreyna, the "spitfire" who likes to par-tay; and Ross, a "handsome...deeply committed Christian" who's "got to make peace with the Big Apple - a city of sin." Also there is an old, over-the-hill model, who is 30. Auugh, cover your eyes!
Fear not, there are also ugly people: Q Management's owner, who apparently loves his models "but they know not to cross him." I'm pretty sure I read this in a Judith Krantz novel once. The press release quotes Michael Rubin, vice president, long-form programming, MSNBC, who notes that the models are usually teenagers — perfect for a tie-in with "Dateline: Predator!"
"Models NYC" debuts at 10 p.m. on April 16th.
Compare and contrast:
Paulina Porizkova's Version [NYT]
Alex Kuczynski's Version of Paulina Porizkova's Version [NYT]
