Word: rooney
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Using the case of Andy Rooney's suspension fromCBS for allegedly making racist and anti-gayremarks, Koch railed against the suppression ofcontroversial speech. He said that the freedom ofspeech was often extended unevenly, applying tomembers of the radical left but not to members ofthe radical right...
...Rooney denies making the statement about blacks. He says he was talking more about "class," which applies to whites as well. "I'm just furious," he says, "about the notion that I am a racist or a bigot." The Advocate says it made no tape recording of the conversation. But, a spokesman says, "we stand by our reporter 100%, and CBS chose...
That is sadly so. Rooney's opinions may have been ill considered, but CBS's hasty response slammed the door on sufficient regard for freedom of expression. When 60 Minutes anchorman Mike Wallace told off-color ethnic jokes during a videotaped rehearsal in 1981, he was not suspended or even publicly censured, and the incident was quickly forgotten. This time, the network apparently felt that regardless of some disputed evidence and despite the commentator's denials, suspension was the proper course...
...action pointed up once again the TV networks' anxiety to round off the sharp corners of public controversy. A professional grouch like Rooney cannot always restrict himself to restaurant receipts and faulty tools. As Fred Friendly, a former CBS News president who is director of the Columbia University Seminars on Media and Society, points out, "Andy's paid to be outrageous." Encouraged to be provocative, Rooney could hardly avoid occasionally uttering something imprudent or offensive to a portion of his audience. But against such excesses must be balanced his intent, which was hardly to ridicule, and his overall record, which...
...network seems to have weighed more heavily the market share that minority groups represent. If so, the attitude could backfire. Suspending Rooney might encourage more special-interest groups to blow whistles at even less substantial slights. As for Rooney, he continues to produce a twice-a- week syndicated column and is working on a book. He will probably not change his offbeat tune much. "Public relations," he says, "is a business that I'm not in." Thank goodness. CBS is doing enough backpedaling for everyone concerned...