Nifong and Imus

Yesterday's news held two related stories. Don Imus, the shock joke (yes I know he is called a shock jock but I think most of what this guy does is a continuing unfunny joke) of MSNBC lost his gig with that network and at the same time lost a bunch of sponsors for his insensitive remarks about the Rutgers Women's Basketball team. At the same time, after a careful review the North Carolina AG decided that all charges should be dropped in the Duke sexual assault case.

Imus' behavior was inexcusable but as many have pointed out so is the continued behavior of large numbers of "entertainers" in the Hip Hop and Rap genre and in a series of comedy programs in places like HBO. Why the media only goes to meltdown on Imus is one of those questions that will probably never be answered.

The AG decision in North Carolina was the only conclusion that could have been reached. Hopefully, Mr. Nifong, who clearly used his office to persecute in this case (again the change in spelling is intentional) to gain re-election. Hopefully, Mr. Nifong will be disbarred.

The reaction in both cases also says something about the current state of the media. In both cases the media played the story out with the hype reaction that typifies their current state of reporting. Imus and Nifong should both become bad memories but the larger issue of how society should react in these kinds of cases deserves a lot more discussion.