|
June 26, 2008
Imus Puts His Reputation In Crisis, Again!
PHOTO: Don Imus Time Magazine Cover
According to the Associated Press, Don Imus said Tuesday morning on his radio show that he was trying to "make a sarcastic point" with his latest on-air remarks about race, but that they had been misunderstood.
Imus resurrected his radio career six months ago with a pledge to mend the wounds caused by a racist and sexist comment he made about a women's basketball team.
On Tuesday he said he was following the spirit of that promise by calling attention to the unfair treatment of blacks — in this case the arrests of suspended Dallas Cowboys cornerback Adam Jones.
"What people should be outraged about is that they arrest blacks for no reason," Imus said Tuesday. "I mean, there's no reason to arrest this kid six times. Maybe he did something once, but everyone does something once."
He called the flurry of criticism surrounding the comments "ridiculous" and said that his program's cast is now more diverse than ever — and includes a black producer and two black co-hosts, a man and a woman.
"How insane would I have to be? What would I be thinking?" Imus wondered aloud.
The latest comments by Imus to come under scrutiny were aired on Monday's broadcast. During a conversation about Jones' run-ins with the law, Imus asked, "What color is he?" Sports announcer Warner Wolf said Jones — formerly known as Pacman — is "African-American." Imus responded: "There you go. Now we know."
The on-air exchange came months after Imus' return to work on a new show on WABC-AM following his firing from MSNBC and CBS Radio for calling the Rutgers University women's basketball team "nappy-headed hos."
When he returned to work, Imus gave a lengthy on-air apology and pledged to use his new show to foster an open dialogue on race relations.
And when the first ratings’ period since his return last December on ABC Radio Network was reported in April, it showed he was no longer the audience magnet he was in his previous run.
The winter Arbitron survey in New York showed the new Imus in the Morning on WABC-AM ranked 20th among listeners aged 25 to 54. Its share of 1.5 percent was a 17% drop from the morning show it replaced.
Imus also wasn’t racking up the ratings he had on the all-sports’ station in New York that cut ties with him after the Rutgers’ embarrassment, WFAN-AM.
But Imus was must-listening again Monday and Tuesday – Monday for the tape of his latest utterance that offended plenty of people, and Tuesday for his clumsy defense and explanation of what he’d said.
PHOTO: Free Speech Also Requires Accountability
THE REPUTATION DOCTOR'S ANALYSIS AND ADVICE
I was a guest on CNN's Headline News on Tuesday evening to discuss the current Don Imus racial crisis. His recent comments have put his reputation back in the court of public opinion and, once again, he has splashed mud on his own face. With our T.V. analysis, we also received viewer phone calls from across the country. Two of the callers seemed to be racist with their comments. Caller Paul from Little Rock, Arkansas said, "I agree. I like what he said. Let's look at statistics. Let them speak for themselves. Bill Cosby stood up and said hey here' what these young men are about. I don't think he is a racist. I think he pointed out what a particular race will do. I think in our country.. I don't think a black man is a minority."
Caller Jeremy from Hawaii said, "If Imus was black would we be having this discussion? If not, then isn't it racial profiling to single him out because of his skin?"
I was then asked to comment and I said,"there are still some in our country that have racist thoughts. And I think we just heard two callers who are leaning that way and that is a sad thing today in America!"
In my opinion, I think Imus had a combination of two things working here.
1) An old habit of making inappropriate remarks that is hard for him to break.
2) A void of information, which I talk often about in reputation management.
If Imus was so concerned and outraged about the plight of blacks being arrested "for no reason," which were his words, why didn't he say that clearly the first time? It sounds to me like spin. It sounds to me like stretching of the truth. It sounds to me like a slippery slope. It sounds to be like a lie!
I also mentioned in my CNN Headline News interview that if Imus was trying to make a point of blacks being arrested inappropriately, Imus picked the wrong poster child with Pacman Jones! Pacman, who suddenly wants to be known by his given name of Adam, also threw mud on his own name and reputation. Pacman can't blame the police for being arrested 6 times within 2 years of playing professional football. His crimes were so bad the NFL made him sit out the entire 2007 season. Pacman Jones is not a poster child for racial profiling by police. Pacman Jones is the poster child for professional athletes who do the wrong thing, not the right thing! Both Imus and Pacman have learned a very important lesson the hard way. The lesson is their reputation are everything and it is impossible to repair your reputation when you are stuck in the mud of denial. Sadly, both Imus and Pacman are still drowning in that self-imposed mud today.
PHOTO: Do the Right Thing!
Remember, do the right thing when your reputation is in crisis and seek the counsel of an experienced reputation management expert. It will be a major challenge, but ultimately the rewards of repairing your reputation will be great. Why? Because Your Reputation Is Everything!™
About Mike Paul
Mike Paul is editor of The Reputation Doctor blog. The Reputation Doctor is a nickname given to him by various clients. Mike's blog is located at www.ReputationDoctor.com. He appears regularly on Fox News Channel, CNN, MSNBC, Court TV (now TruTV), ABC News, ESPN, CBS News, BBC, and others as a weekly contributor and expert in the global news regarding corporations, CEOs, celebrities, athletes, politicians and other public organizations and public individuals with reputations in crisis. Mr. Paul is also president and senior counselor of MGP & Associates PR (www.mgppr.com), a leading strategic public relations and reputation management firm based in New York. For interview requests, speeches, senior counseling or other business opportunities with Mr. Paul, call 212-595-8500 or email info@mgppr.com.
Technorati tags:
reputation doctor imus youtube first amendment radio mike paul crisis PR reputation pacman media
Read comments
Trackback address for this post:
http://www.mikepaulblog.com/blog/htsrv/trackback.php/110
Comments:
Leave a comment:
June 12, 2008
Tomato Salmonella Scare Puts Many Reputations In Crisis
PHOTO: Mark Roh, U.S. Food and Drug Administration's acting regional director, holds a bag of tomatoes being tested Monday for salmonella bacteria at FDA's southwest regional research lab, in Irvine, California. (AP PHOTO).
"Obviously the critical question is, where did these specific tomatoes come from? And we're not quite there yet. At this point today, we don't know where they came from," said David Acheson, the FDA's associate commissioner for foods.
According to A.P., federal health officials haven't yet traced the source of salmonella-tainted tomatoes but, amid an outcry from farmers, are clearing innocent crops as fast as possible.
"We're getting very close" to identifying the outbreak's source, Dr. David Acheson of the Food and Drug Administration told reporters Wednesday.
The outbreak, which has sickened 167 people in 17 states since April, is not over even though it has been two weeks since the last confirmed case of a person falling ill, said Dr. Ian Williams of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That's because state and local health departments still are investigating possibly more recent infections.
The FDA has warned consumers against eating certain raw tomatoes: red plum, red Roma or round. Grape and cherry tomatoes or tomatoes still attached to the vine aren't linked to the illnesses.
Also ruled safe are tomatoes from more than 30 states or countries, including part but not all of major producer Florida, where some counties have been cleared but not others. The FDA can rule out as suspects farms and distributors that weren't harvesting or selling when the outbreak began. It is directing consumers to its Web site — http://www.fda.gov — for updated lists of safe regions.
State agriculture commissioners from the Southeast, meeting in Kentucky, blasted the FDA for harming the sale of untainted crops.
"The FDA needs to work with the states to pinpoint the source of the outbreak and eradicate it without unnecessarily harming producers whose products are not affected by the outbreak," Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner Richie Farmer said.
The FDA vigorously defended its consumer-protection warnings.
"We have gone overboard to try to inform consumers which tomatoes were not part of this outbreak," Acheson said.
It takes a long time to even tell an outbreak has begun, much less solve it. People with food poisoning don't always go to the doctor, or have a stool sample analyzed — and when they do, getting laboratory test results can take two to three weeks. Then health officials must spot a pattern of illness.
Health officials in New Mexico were first to alert the CDC to a brewing problem on May 22. They had a cluster of salmonella cases, including seven of a rare subtype called Salmonella Saintpaul. The next day, New Mexico officials posted to a government database called PulseNet these cases' genetic fingerprint, allowing the CDC to check whether this same strain of Saintpaul was infecting people elsewhere.
It was, in Texas and other states, with the first illness dating back to April 16, Williams said. CDC then began the painstaking questioning of patients to see what they had in common. On May 30, FDA formally joined the investigation, and the next day established a link with tomatoes. Initial consumer warnings were aimed at a few states, until the FDA went national last weekend.
Salmonella sickens about 1.4 million people a year. But outbreaks aren't on the rise, although public attention may make it seem so, Acheson said.
"We don't want to stay quiet and have consumers get sick. The downside of that is consumers say, 'Oh, the system is in crisis,'" he said. "It's not getting worse."
PHOTO: Modesto Ramos inspects the fruit of his tomato greenhouse in Santa Cruz Mixtepec, Oaxaca, Mexico, on March 7, 2007, Photo by Adriana Zehbrauskas/Polaris for TIME.
THE REPUTATION DOCTOR SEES MANY REPUTATIONS IN CRISIS IN THE TOMATO SCARE
I have a lot to say about this crisis. First, I wish fresh fruit and vegetables came with a bar code, but they don't. We can't even track our baggage at the airport properly. Imagine the trouble the federal government is having tracking tomatoes. As fruit and vegetables continue their global reach, expect more and more health risks as we eat from worldwide sources of food with disregard for food safety and health concern guidelines similar to the U.S. Are system is not perfect, but it is still the best in the world. As a result, you should be very careful when you travel abroad and grab a tomato, lettuce or piece of fruit from a market external to the United States. Remember when you travel, you are not in Kansas any more!
Fruit and vegetables coming from international markets need to be viewed and eaten with a loud warning.
For example, tomatoes harvested in central Florida remained under investigation, but so are tomatoes grown in Mexico - home to 84% of America's imported tomatoes, according to the FDA. Did you hear me: I said 84 percent of our tomatoes come from Mexico! I predict the salmonella crisis must have a Mexican connection with statistics that high. As a result, the FDA in the U.S., the tomato growers in the U.S. and the Mexican government and tomato industry in Mexico all have reputations in crisis.
The Mexican government is already trying to defend its reputation in the news. Fear is driving the entire situation and fear is a killer of reputations. We are all afraid to eat tomatoes today until we hear the crisis has been averted. And after the crisis is finally over (which I predict will take weeks), we will still be a bit afraid to eat a tomato later this summer.
PHOTO: Salmonella Tomato Crisis
Fast food chains, like McDonald's and Burger King and restaurants everywhere are not serving tomatoes, even though we all know not all tomatoes are bad. They would rather pull tomatoes all together than try to explain why their tomatoes were safer than others. Restaurants also have reputations and they would rather do without than risk their own butts. Can you blame them? This logic follows one of my favorite reputation bricks: when you have to choose between your own good reputation and a reputation in crisis, you choose your own every time!
Look for the origin of the tomato crisis to come within the next few days. The pressure on the FDA to name a source will come loud and hard from vegetable growers and their lobbyists representing their interests. the American public will also continue to apply pressure through fear. As a result, I predict Mexico will be the fall guy, but we should be wise to see we have our own inspection crisis right here at home in the U.S. Farmers, grocery stores and consumers everywhere need a wake up call and the solution includes the building blocks of any excellent reputation: truth, honest, transparency, accountability and consistency. Do you hear that FDA and vegetable growers everywhere? Cutting corners and risking people's lives will put your reputation in crisis. Thank God for the court of public opinion and the media or we all would still be in the dark!
Remember, do the right thing when your reputation is in crisis and seek the counsel of an experienced reputation management expert. It will be a major challenge, but ultimately the rewards of repairing your reputation will be great. Why? Because Your Reputation Is Everything!™
About Mike Paul
Mike Paul is editor of The Reputation Doctor blog. The Reputation Doctor is a nickname given to him by various clients. Mike's blog is located at www.ReputationDoctor.com. He appears regularly on Fox News Channel, CNN, MSNBC, Court TV (now TruTV), ABC News, ESPN, CBS News, BBC, and others as a weekly contributor and expert in the global news regarding corporations, CEOs, celebrities, athletes, politicians and other public organizations and public individuals with reputations in crisis. Mr. Paul is also president and senior counselor of MGP & Associates PR (www.mgppr.com), a leading strategic public relations and reputation management firm based in New York. For interview requests, speeches, senior counseling or other business opportunities with Mr. Paul, call 212-595-8500 or email info@mgppr.com.
Technorati tags:
reputation doctor tomato youtube FDA mexico mike paul crisis PR reputation McDonald's salmonella
Leave a comment
Trackback address for this post:
http://www.mikepaulblog.com/blog/htsrv/trackback.php/109
Comments:
Leave a comment:
Copyright © 2005 – 2009 MGP & Associates, Inc. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |
