How YouTube Got Don Imus Fired

Talk radio is no longer ephemeral and fleeting. Just ask former star Don Imus. Now it's a searchable as last night's episode of American Idol.

The last time Don Imus stuck his foot so far in his mouth that he choked on it, thousands of people gleefully put up clips and transcripts of the actual incident. His words are not merely part of a hard-copy transcript or easily hidden in an archive room. Now they are posted in public, copied and re-copied, and blasted out into the world. And they'll be there potentially forever.

Not only was the previously-ignored story covered in traditional media after it created such a furor on the Internet, but the debate about whether he should or should not be fired was thoroughly hashed out on-line in blogs, on chat boards, and in articles and other more formal ways on sites like Associated Content.

Someone on the fence about his firing could now search through the opinions of the entire world within two or three days of the incident, not to mention watching the actual footage. People who had never heard Imus's show could see and hear the context of the comment as well as reviewing older clips to understand that he had a habit of making intentionally provocative - and often offensive - observations.

Not only was the incident debated at great length and with great heat, but people could instantly send e-mails to CBS and MSNBC expressing their feelings. Thousands of them did, and thousands wrote to the sponsors of the show as well. The sponsors pulled out, MSNBC dropped their simulcast, NBC lost money, and Don Imus lost his job.

Imus, along with dozens of other shock jocks, has built a reputation for saying things that are intended to provoke a reaction. That's how these shows gather an audience - they say things that "polite" people never would. Certainly, they walk a fine line between shocking and appalling, and often they cross that line.

Instead of causing a stir for a few days and inspiring half a dozen nasty letters to the show or to the station, as in days of yore, talk radio is now subject to the same sort of dissemination that people blowing things up in their back yards and anything released on DVD has been for years. Hosts like Don Imus, Opie and Anthony, and Howard Stern say misogynistic and racist things on an hourly basis. That's why they're called shock jocks.

The Internet has changed the issue, however. It used to be that people who chose to listen to or view those shows were the large majority of those exposed to them. Listeners would talk about the shows, but one would have to go far out of their way to get their hands on the words actually spoken.

Now, the comments Imus and the others - and those of their guests - are posted and discussed with the original content or at least a link to where it's been posted on-line. The shows themselves may be archived on the web. Context is easily discoverable and exact wording is readily accessible. Offensive comments and skits are no longer launched into the ether but are pinned down for repeat consumption and dissection.

Many believe that the incident and blow-up that led to Imus's firing are the beginning of a sea change in network broadcasting. With talk show hosts being held accountable for their words and people being able to react to the incident long after it happens, sponsors may be skittish about having their names associated with those of shows that are likely to cross the line into poor taste and offensive material.

The fact of the matter is that these shock jocks will not disappear, whether networks carry their programs or not. With satellite and Internet radio on the rise, their listening audience can easily find them again, and just as easily post their folly on the web.