Political Talk: All Male, All White, All The Time

The Newark Star-Ledger

By Alicia C. Shepard

One Sunday, as I struggled on the elliptical machine, I glanced up at NBC’s “Meet the Press” on a nearby TV and was stunned. Host Tim Russert was interviewing not one but three bright female journalists in a roundtable discussion about the war in Iraq.

I remember thinking: “That is so cool.” Then I paused and realized that my tiny moment of pride at my gender’s success in breaking into the Big Time political talk arena was so remarkable only because it is so rare.

Are white males just smarter, more articulate and better informed than the rest of the population? If the powerful Sunday morning political shows or prime-time cable television talk shows are any reflection of society, they are. At least, that’s what the bookers, hosts and producers of these shows must think, because they aren’t putting women or people of color on them.

Read more

May 27, 2007 | Filed Under Media Matters, News Mentions | Comment 

WRKO Drops Imus Producer as Guest Co-Host

The Boston Globe

By Carolyn Y. Johnson

After several days of criticism for inviting Bernard McGuirk onto its airwaves, WRKO yesterday canceled the appearance by the former producer for shock jock Don Imus.

McGuirk was slated to begin a three-day stint tomorrow as a guest on a talk show hosted by former House speaker Tom Finneran - an appearance that station officials had said was a tryout for the man who first said the word “ho” in the on-air conversation that led to Imus’s downfall.

George Regan, a spokesman for Entercom Communications, the parent company of WRKO, declined to say why the invitation was rescinded. But over the weekend, criticism of the station mounted after statements from a 1997 interview on CBS’s “60 Minutes” surfaced. In the interview, Imus was quoted using a racial slur to say that part of McGuirk’s job was to tell jokes about blacks on “Imus in the Morning.”

Read more

May 22, 2007 | Filed Under Media Matters, News Mentions | Comment 

WRKO Clarifies McGuirk Bid

The Boston Globe

By Carolyn Y. Johnson

News that controversial former Imus sidekick Bernard McGuirk would cohost Tom Finneran’s morning talk show on WRKO-AM (680) for three days next week created a stir yesterday, and the station issued a statement to clarify its position on his appearance.

“There is no job offer, just a chance to be a guest host, period,” said George Regan, spokesman for Entercom Communications, parent company of WRKO. “They’re looking at him as a potential cohost, but they’re looking at a lot of people.”

WRKO has put a number of cohosts on “Finneran’s Forum” since the show debuted in February in its search for a good match. Earlier this week, Jason Wolfe, vice president of AM programming and operations at WRKO and WEEI, told the Globe that McGuirk’s appearance was part of that search.
Read more

May 19, 2007 | Filed Under Media Matters, News Mentions | Comment 

News Shows: White Men’s Realm

San Francisco Chronicle

Study Documents Lack of Diversity on Sunday Programs

By Joe Garofoli

Here’s a silver lining in last month’s avalanche of news coverage of Don Imus: The disc jockey’s racist and sexist remarks inspired at least one Sunday morning talk show to invite women and people of color to discuss Imus’ comments.

Seeing nonwhite men on the Sunday shows is as rare as seeing them on the floor of the U.S. Senate. According to a study to be released Monday by the liberal media organization Media Matters for America, which was obtained by The Chronicle, at least 77 percent of the 2,150 guests who appeared on the four major Sunday shows in 2005-06 were men; at least 82 percent were white.

So that made the April 15 episode of NBC’s “Meet the Press” somewhat unusual. PBS anchor Gwen Ifill and Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson — both African Americans — were invited as panelists in the wake of the Imus controversy. On the show, Ifill criticized host Tim Russert for tacitly endorsing Imus’ history of bigoted remarks by repeatedly appearing on the DJ’s show.
Read more

May 13, 2007 | Filed Under Media Matters, News Mentions | Comment 

Rebuke of Rice Rape Skit Less Than Imus

The Washington Times

Shock Jocks Opie and Anthony Also Apologize

By Kara Rowland

A radio segment joking about the rape of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has failed to draw the same bevy of condemnations as the on-air comments that got shock jock Don Imus fired last month.

XM Satellite Radio hosts Opie and Anthony, whose real names are Greg Hughes and Anthony Cumia, apologized yesterday for a segment Wednesday during which a guest said he would like to have sex with the secretary of state, first lady Laura Bush and Queen Elizabeth II.

The shock jocks egged on the man, whom they called “Homeless Charlie,” describing the “horror” of Miss Rice if she were held to the ground and punched in the face. The full comments are too vulgar to be published in a family newspaper.
Read more

May 12, 2007 | Filed Under Media Matters, News Mentions | Comment 

Shock Jock Unrepentant Over Derogatory Obama Song

The Guardian

Obama Song: Barack the Magic Negro Aired by Rightwing Host; CBS Website Forced to Block Comments on Candidate

By Ewen MacAskill

The leading US shock jock Rush Limbaugh is taunting the liberal media by repeatedly airing a derogatory and racially charged song about the Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.

Limbaugh, whose rightwing talk show is one of the most listened to in the US, has been running a song called Barack the Magic Negro, to the tune Puff the Magic Dragon.

On his show Limbaugh says he is an entertainer and the song is a parody. He justifies it by saying the first linkage of the term “magic negro” to Mr Obama was by a black commentator, David Ehrenstein, in the liberal Los Angeles Times.
Read more

May 9, 2007 | Filed Under Media Matters, News Mentions | Comment 

Parody Stirs Racial Debate

Chicago Tribune

Limbaugh Snipe Aimed at Obama Highlights Rising Tensions Over Black Candidate

By Christi Parsons

The Rush Limbaugh radio parody “Barack the Magic Negro” is picking up speed on the Internet with lyrics that mock Sen. Barack Obama’s popularity with white voters and portray African-American activist Al Sharpton as sputtering with jealousy of the younger black politician.

Dissemination of the parody, which has been airing on the conservative radio host’s show for a few weeks, renews in a new context the contentious American conversation about race in politics and society.

Obama’s status as the first African-American with a realistic chance of winning the presidency highlights the ambivalent state of racial tolerance in the country: Even as he attracts massive and adulatory crowds, he also inspires hateful remarks and threats that carry distinct racial undertones.
Read more

May 6, 2007 | Filed Under Media Matters, News Mentions | Comment 

Limbaugh Targets the Role Race Plays in Obama Candidacy

Chicago Tribune

By Christi Parsons

WASHINGTON - Weeks after radio personality Rush Limbaugh began airing a parody titled “Barack the Magic Negro,” the song about African-American Sen. Barack Obama’s popularity with many white voters is drawing fire from critics who say it is racist.

The audio clip features a comedian imitating the singing voice of Rev. Al Sharpton, bemoaning Obama’s popularity with whites who will, the lyrics predict, “vote for him and not for me `cause he’s not from da hood.”

Obama’s campaign called the song “dumb,” although a spokesman said the campaign doesn’t think anyone is taking the song seriously.
Read more

May 5, 2007 | Filed Under Media Matters, News Mentions | Comment