A while back you might remember that I blogged about a DJ in New York who aired a hate filled “parody” rap piece that made fun of the victims of the tsunami that devastated many areas around the Indian Ocean. After much public outcry and some three days time, Hot 97 suspended Miss Jones and her morning crew “indefinitely”. Miss Jones is back on the air in her morning slot on Hot 97. Give it a little time, it will all blow over and be OK. Hot 97 and Miss Jones, you still disgust me.
Miss Jones seems to be without the “morning crew” that was part of her show back in January. One of the people on the show at the time called Miss Jones out on the air at the time the piece was aired. Miss Jones got pretty huffy and rude toward that individual. Then, later, as the public backlash grew, Miss Jones aired an apology talking about how contrite she was. Personally, I think Miss Jones and Hot 97 did not discover the heartlessness of their behavior but rather were attempting damage control.
Hot 97 and Miss Jones operate in an any thing goes segment of our society where irreverence is considered cool, the more irreverent, the more cool. The more shocking the better. In turn, the audience for this kind of entertainment prides itself on being unshockable, moving the bar to a higher level. We saw the culmination of this in January when Miss Jones released her parody which made heartless fun of the Tsunami victims even down to the newly orphaned and homeless children. The piece was hopelessly cold, heartless and insensitive. At a time when the rest of the world was joining together to help the victims, Hot 97 and Miss Jones were using tsunami and its victims for their own publicity.
I’d be interested to know the story of how Miss Jones was brought back to her regular slot. I’d be interested to know what Miss Jones and Hot 97 have done to help the tsunami victims. I would like to see some demonstration from both Hot 97, Miss Jones, and the other DJs on the show that they understand why there was such public outcry. I would like to see Hot 97 and Miss Jones demonstrate in some meaningful form that they will be responsible for their actions.
Aloha