A thoughtful opinion piece that focuses on the facts, not just emotions. As an alleged victim of Mr. Imus's abuse, the author could easily have taken a less reasonable approach, but takes the high road instead. Good for her.

Rather than writing a petty screed, Gwen Ifill manages to use the Imus debacle to urge readers to consider why ad hominem attacks are detrimental to society.

What a breath of fresh air to finally encounter a dyed-in-the-wool journalist who takes her responsibility to serve the public (& not her own ego) seriously. Such "old-fashioned" professionals are derided and fired by the likes of Rupert Murdoch & other infotainment czars who wouldn't touch Jim Lehrer with latex gloves on (or Walter Cronkite, for that matter).

Ifill shows that she has been walking the high road for quite a while and asks that others be mindful too. She does this by bringing us the reality of the young women - who they are, how they have pulled together, what they were seeking - contrasting it with Imus's ignorant disregard of all that these young women are, and by extension, the harm done to all the people of this country by similar denigrations.

It does a good job of making a point about Mr. Imus' lack of credibility when he says he is sorry. Is it possible for someone who is "spanked" to truly reform? Yes, but not likely. Change comes from within; not from being chastised. I don’t mean that he should not be chastised; he certainly should. And the immense amount of publicity is certainly appropriate. However, like the man in the movie "Groundhog Day", unless he truly sees the error in his ways will he change the outcome of making the same mistakes repeatedly. Maybe former gaffs haven't been as publicized as this one. I hope he is better at changing than a child who is "spanked" or given too harsh a punishment and feels compelled to make the same mistakes even though he ... More »

This story illuminated the issue as more than just sexism and racial prejudice, but also blatant degradation of women's sports. In addition, the personalization of the young women on the basketball team - their names, their hard-fought basketball season - helps to further reveal the Imus "joke" as mean-spirited and ignorant beyond belief.

I had hoped Ifill, who's in broadcasting, would address the fact that broadcasters who air Imus run afoul of their role of "public trustee" of the airwaves.

I have written scathing rebukes to MSNBC and Imus himself decrying his bigoted and insulting comments - - and not just these most recent ones. Ms. Ifill has got it right; this is a constantly repeated pattern for this overpaid ego-bloated jerk. While I have no illusions that MSNBC will rid us of him anytime soon, since he's worth a lot of money to them entertaining the other bigots who tune into Imus and his jerk McGuirk producer, if enough of us scream loud enough and demand he be given a permanant unpaid vacation, it's possible they might put their greed aside and actually think about the damage Imus' crap is doing to journalistic TV - - which is already sinking rapidly into the gutter. We helped relegate that adolescent, ... More »