Crossing the Line: Don Imus and the Rutgers Womens Basketball Team Case Solution And Analysis, HBR Case Study Solution & Analysis of Harvard Case Studies

April 4, 2007, talk show host Don Imus, while chatting with his accomplices on a morning radio program, referred to the basketball team, which lost the Rutgers women college championship game the night before, as "nappy-headed hos." It was not the first time Imus and regulars on the show, which was nationally syndicated by CBS Radio and simultaneously on MSNBC, Ed was racial and sexual innuendo in his banter in the morning. "Imus in the Morning" has long shown that the alternation of serious discussion with prominent politicians and journalists rough locker room humor and ridicule directed at gays, blacks, Jews and other ethnic minorities, most of them figure in sports, entertainment or politics. In the past, Imus was weathering occasional protests against his offensive humor, but this time would be different. His remark about the Rutgers team was picked up by the liberal watchdog group Media and posted with an accompanying video on your site, and then on YouTube. Almost immediately it was outcry from the black organizations and leaders, and calls for Imus to be fired. Imus apology did nothing to quiet the critics, as well as other groups and individuals began to shout to be taken off the air. Media coverage, spotted first, expanded in protest became noisier. In just over a week, the debate came to mind. With advertisers salvation and critics unappeased by an apology and two weeks suspension, NBC, CBS, and abruptly canceled a long show. HKS Case Number 1920.0 "Hide
by Esther Scott, Alex Jones 32 pages. Publication Date: February 04, 2011. Prod. #: HKS120-PDF-ENG