• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, January 17, 2008

Do you have "role of scale"? You'd better; otherwise you might not have a job for long in television, advertising or entertainment.

Mark Lazarus, president of Turner Entertainment Group, left the company earlier this week, according to an announcement by the company. Turner Broadcasting CEO Phil Kent sent an email to employees saying,  "For some time now, Mark and I have been talking about the future structure of the company. In the new structure that I have decided upon, there was not a role of scale [emphasis added] that Mark was interested in."

Role of scale?  I guess that means a big job. Lazarus couldn't go back to selling advertising time, one would guess.

Earlier in the year NBC senior executives kind of used the same public logic when it came to the ousting of NBC Entertainment president Kevin Reilly -- paraphrasing here, that there just wasn't "room" for him after Ben Silverman came on as co-chairman.

Why can't they just say it? We fired his ass -- just because we can, just because we want to, just because corporate America isn't run by democracies but monarchies.

Is it because companies are nice and kind -- at least publicly -- to their departing staffers?  It probably wasn't nice or kind to let them go in the first place. No doubt a nice parachute payday helps soften the blow. Viacom's Tom Freston's $50 million comes to mind.  With that kind of money, you can say what you want.

Recently, the networks had the pleasure of ending -- in essence, firing -- all those ongoing TV development deals that TV producers depend on, because with the writers' strike there are no shows to dream up, or ultimately put on the air. Idle producers cost them money.

Entertainment executives will tell you people get fired all the time. So why can't these communications pros do one thing well, and call these actions what they are?

Because "firing" sounds cruel and does little for someone's resume for their next position.

But apparently TV executives who do the firing have no problem with using the word when it comes to TV viewers. On the "Apprentice," Donald Trump uses it every week.

So, we don't mind ridiculing people on TV. They are not real -- or at least of any importance.  But behind the scenes, it's a different story.

Should it be?