Media reacted to Imus on Blacks, but ignores racists who target Arabs and Islam
When Don Imus expressed racist comments about African American women, he was immediately targeted by African American groups and the protests were immediately reported by the mainstream news media.
The real tragedy of the Imus story is that he was expressing similar hateful comments on his radio and TV show on MSNBC for years about Arabs and Muslims and no one in the media cared to report on the protests from Arab Americans and Muslim Americans.
Now, Don Imus is returning to the radio airwaves, hopefully rehabilitated, but the sickness that his excessive expressions of racial intolerance represented are abundant on American radio and nothing is being done about it in the mainstream media.
Recently, the Council on American Islamic Relations again protested the hateful and vicious remarks by syndicated radio talkshow host Michael Savage against Muslims. His rant and hateful comments from his most recent show are now posted on the NAAJA Media Watch Monitoring Page (www.NAAJA-US.com). But it is very difficult to listen to. Savage denounces the Qu'ran as "a book of hate," but these recent comments have been going on for years. This isn't the first. Arab and Muslim Americans have been protesting against Michael Savage's bigotry, but no one in the mainstream media seems to care.
Why? Why is it wrong for Imus to express hateful comments but it is okay for Michael Savage to express hateful comments?
Why is Michael Savage not facing charges for violating hate crimes laws that were adopted to address these extremist hate-filled comments?
People speak about how criticism of the media is unjustified. But this is a perfect example of the hypocrisy at its worst.
Apparently, racism is only racism when it is about certain races, ethnicities and religions in the eyes of some news media editors. I disagree. Savage has an absolute right to criticize Muslim activists and leaders, but to paint an entire religion with hateful comments is unacceptable, unprofessional and unprincipled.
Ray Hanania
NAAJA Coordinator
MIKE SAVAGE'S RESPONSE:
In fairness to Michael Savage, I think you should also read his responses to my emails. His first response is tough, but his second email offers some insight and explanation. You decide:
http://naaja-us.com/MediaWatch/11-17-07SavageResponse.pdf
http://naaja-us.com/MediaWatch/11-17-07SavageResponse2.pdf