Dr. Laura Schlessinger announced she will be quitting radio. On “Larry King Live” on August 17, 2010, Dr. Laura said she will not renew her contract with Talk Radio Network that expires at the end of this year. She explained she is not free to say what she wants on her radio program.
“I want to regain my First Amendment rights,” said Dr. Laura. “I want to be able to say what’s on my mind and in my heart and what I think is helpful and useful without somebody getting angry, some special interest group deciding this is the time to silence a voice of dissent and attack affiliates, attack sponsors.”
Dr. Laura’s announcement comes after a media frenzy surrounding her use of the “N” word 11 several times on her radio program on August 11, 2010. An African American woman in an interracial marriage called in and requested advice about friends and family members who made what she termed racist comments.
Dr. Laura said that people often interpret comments as racist when they are not. She proceeded to “make a philosophical point” by saying that black comedians say, “N…, N…, N…” all the time. Dr. Laura used the N word 11 times during the call. After the caller was taken aback, Dr. Laura quickly ended the call, explaining that if the woman was that hypersensitive she should not have married outside of her race.
Though Dr. Laura is ending her syndicated radio program that has been on the air for 30 years, she said she is not retiring. She will continue to be a presence on the Internet, write books, and use other venues to get her message out. Nevertheless since Dr. Laura’s main outlet, radio, will no longer be an income stream, it will be wise for the queen of talk to keep abreast of issues in other ways.