In radio, there is a well-known device known as a "cough switch". The audio portion of the show is delayed for a few seconds, and if something "bad" happens - someone coughs or sneezes or an on-air listener drops an "F-bomb", the host of the show can hit the "cough switch" and the audio feed is muted before it goes on on the air.
Don Imus is no stranger to controversy. He and his staffers have been known to insult people. He and his staffers have been known to say offense things on the radio. He and his staffers have been known to spout off offensive racial epithets. And, yet, the management of WFAN doesn't use a "cough switch" on
Imus in the Morning. Strange.
What is even more interesting is that Sid Rosenberg, one of the men that Imus was talking to when this latest comment was made has
a HISTORY of being fired, re-hired, and fired again for saying racially offensive things. According to MediaMatters.com, Sid Rosenberg has called Serena Williams
"an animal". He's called Palestinians
"stinking animals". Sid even said some harsh words for singer Kylie Minogue when it was announced she had breast cancer.
And, yet, they all keep their jobs... It's ratings, folks. It's all ratings.
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