Has the liberal activist organization Media Matters for America claimed the job of another conservative talk-radio host?
That Media Matters is an enemy of conservative media is hardly a secret. In September 2007, Media Matters successfully campaigned against celebrity talk host Don Imus after he referred to the Rutgers University basketball team as "nappy-headed hos."
Imus lost his MSNBC simulcast, but has been climbing steadily back up the media ladder ever since.
His syndicated radio program is now simulcast each weekday morning on the Fox Business Network.
Schlessinger got in trouble last week as she gave advice to an African-American woman married to a white man. The woman complained about use of the racial epithet commonly known as "the N-word."
Schlessinger voiced her opinion that whether the N-word is offensive can depend on context. The word is often used on HBO and in rap lyrics, she said.
Schlessinger uttered the word 11 times during the exchange, advising the woman not to be so sensitive about race.
The popular host sent out an online apology within hours, saying her use of the word had been hurtful.
In an exclusive Newsmax interview Wednesday, Schlessinger mentioned that special interest groups "who were dying to silence me for a long time anyway" were attacking her sponsors and radio affiliates, thereby making it too difficult to continue to exercise her First Amendment right to freedom of speech on the radio.
During the Newsmax interview, Schlessinger slammed the Media Matters organization, which posted a series of critical articles targeting her in the wake of the controversial interview. It also posted a list of all her affiliate radio stations.
"You know, I'm wondering what these guys who work for Media Matters do when they go home. 'Daddy, what do you do for a living?' 'Oh, I try to silence people [when] we don't like what they have to say,'" she said with a laugh.
"Anyway," she continued, "Media Matters decided to do the usual, and that's the threats and the attacks on advertisers and stations. And I've been through this as every talk show has a zillion times before.
"But somehow on Friday, after 32 years on radio, 17 syndicated, I was just nominated for a Marconi, I was just listed top seven of the most important radio hosts in all of radio history, ratings are great, everything's going well… I sat down at my desk and said 'I'm done trying to help people in a situation where my First Amendment rights don't exist, where special interest groups and activist groups can make a decision to silence you. It's not American, it's not fair play."
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