The controversy over Don Imus and his incendiary remark is nicely summed up in this Wall Street Journal article. Many people are talking about the visual element of the incident as a key factor in the situation. If the show had not been televised, would it have aroused such fervor, such strong opposition?

As fate would have it, it is one of our very own Rivet contributors who has been credited with the discovery of this little shock-jock gem. Ryan Chiachiere was working the Imus Beat at Media Matters for America when he posted on the commentary which exploded over the next few days into a furious storm, ending in Imus’ eventual dismissal from his long and notoriously offensive career on the airwaves.

The question of where the responsibility for the firing lies is obviously much more complex than the straight-line approach indicated by that last sentence. The media has always been a force to be reckoned with, and now that “the media” includes a massive audience of watchers, readers, callers, and yes, bloggers, we can all acknowledge that the vast and bizarre web of influence is virtually impossible to track.

Isn’t it interesting, though, that it was not the original airing of the show that sparked the nation’s attention, but the posting of a video in the aftermath that got things rolling? There didn’t seem to be much of a reaction at all from people who were just listening to the show in their normal morning routines. People really started to notice several days later, as the WSJ reports, when the recorded video began to circulate widely. That might answer the question about visual aids, right?