Home Delivery

Imus is back on his soapbox

Don Imus returns to the airwaves on Monday, Dec. 3. He is pictured here at The Brooklyn College Foundation dinner and award gala in New York City. (Photo by Peter Kramer / October 25, 2005)

BY VERNE GAY | verne.gay@newsday.com

December 3, 2007

Article tools

E-mail

Share
- Digg
- Del.icio.us
- Facebook
- Fark
- Google
- Newsvine
- Reddit
- Yahoo

Eight months after uttering the phrase that sank a career at WFAN, humiliated the Rutgers women's basketball team, and sparked a ferocious nationwide debate over race and who can say what about whom, Don Imus quietly returns to the airwaves this morning at 6 sharp on WABC/770 AM.

But in the lead-up to the launch of his new nationwide radio show from the Town Hall Theater on West 43rd Street in Manhattan, the answer to one outstanding question may well determine whether there still remains a solid second act in this long and controversial career: Will Imus return as a player or as a pariah?

Details about the new program have remained shrouded in secrecy. Imus isn't talking to the media, nor are Charles McCord and Bernard McGuirk, the longtime colleagues who are returning with him. WABC is providing no details about guests, format, tone or even the name.

Career rehab

Nevertheless, some telling details have leaked out. Well-placed industry sources say Imus has hired an African-American host who will assume the sports commentary role that was long held by Warner Wolf (who joins ESPN Radio's "Mike and Mike In the Morning" today.) The new host is believed to be a New York-based comedian.

Also, in an effort to build a rainbow coalition around him that will stifle critics who say that he's still out of touch with women and blacks, Imus is said to have reached out to women of color as well, though their role - if any - remains unclear.

Industry observers say it's all part of a career rehab initiative that could end up determining whether the heavyweight media and political guests that once used "Imus in the Morning" as a frequent watering hole will stop by again - not to mention advertisers and listeners.

Wait-and-see approach

Former "Nightly News" anchor Tom Brokaw, who's promoting a new book and would be an obvious guest on an Imus broadcast, says "We've been talking about it [and I think the collective decision is, let's hear what he has to say and go from there.

"Will I go on? I haven't been asked, but I'm in a wait-and-see position]. I'm curious like everyone else. I thought he made a terrible mistake, but he paid a price, which he needed to do. I also believe in redemption."

Phil Boyce, the vice president of NewsTalk radio for Citadel Broadcasting - the Las Vegas-based company that now owns WABC - describes himself as "the head football coach and the new owner just went out and hired me a star quarterback that could maybe help us win the Super Bowl. Will he? We're going to damn well try."

However, he concedes that will be "a huge challenge."

There are plenty of reasons why, but no one needs to be reminded of the big one. After Imus called the Rutgers team "nappy-headed hos" during an on-air exchange with McGuirk in April, reaction from the African-American community was immediate and visceral. The Rev. Al Sharpton and even Al Roker called for his firing, and WFAN parent CBS - under increasing pressure - finally complied. Those bold-face-named guests like Tim Russert, who had appeared hundreds of times on the show over the years? Hardly any spoke up in Imus' defense.

Attracting old friends

The trick now is to lure them back - assuming, of course, that Imus wants his old fair-weather friends back.

Observers insist he has to lure them back. "The key for Imus is to get back to where he was," says Allan Sniffen, who runs the popular New York Radio Message Board Web site, which first broke the news of Imus' firing in April. "He's got to get a few well-known people on his show and once you break the ice, the rest of them, for the most part, will come back."

To be sure, not everyone will. Before Imus was fired, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said in the spring that "[Imus] has apologized. . . . I'm a great believer in redemption." Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), an infrequent guest, said, "I have no intention of returning." Calls to campaign headquarters for both senators were not returned.

However, Russert told Kansas City-based media critic Aaron Barnhart recently, "if he asked me to come back and talk about political developments, I would absolutely do that." An NBC spokesman said Russert and other Imus favorites like Brian Williams and Andrea Mitchell were not commenting on the show, and would wait to hear the new program before agreeing to appear.

Positive signs

On the eve of his return, there are a few positive signs for Imus. Prominent figures in the African-American community haven't attacked the new venture, although a group of black community leaders in Boston, angry with the decision to bring back Imus, protested Friday at the offices of WTKK-FM, the station that will air the show. Sharpton declined to comment, while the president of the National Association of Black Journalists, Barbara Ciara, who helped lead the charge against Imus in April, said, "we have nothing further to say." Writer and Imus critic Philip Nobile has said he plans to picket the show this morning.