• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, November 3, 2005

It's amazing CNN can get away with removing one of its prime-time anchors with this simple refrain: "We had no show to offer him."

Perhaps the network means something else.

Nobody likes to say it these days, but unfortunately, the highly regarded CNN newsman Aaron Brown, host of "NewsNight," seems to have been fired. Though you'd be hard-pressed to find that word attached to him in any of today's stories about CNN.

He is being replaced by up-and-coming CNN favorite Anderson Cooper, whose tough and emotional questioning during Hurricane Katrina earned him big stars on his football helmet.

The end result is this: Brown, the longtime host--who started on September 11, 2001, no less--isn't working at CNN any longer. But why can't CNN executives really say what its in-your-face archrival Fox News probably would, and what we all are saying in our private conversations: CNN fired him.

CNN didn't rid itself of Brown because of his news abilities. Far from it. CNN praised Brown.

Jonathan Klein, president of CNN/US, said that Brown was a good newsman who was a "doll" to work with. According to The New York Times, Klein "and Mr. Brown agreed that Mr. Brown would leave the cable news network because its new lineup left 'no options' for a program that would include Mr. Brown." Klein told The Hollywood Reporter it was a "mutual decision." Oh, you mean, you fired him.

Why is it that Donald Trump can use this word as part of the brand for a major network TV show on the supposed reality show 'The Apprentice" but in the real business world executives never really get fired? At least not regularly in the press. Instead executives are "ending their contract," "taking time off to be with family," or the always obvious "pursuing other opportunities."

Oh, you mean, you fired him.

The word "fired" is reserved for people who have done some major indiscretion, some crime perhaps. Using the word fired is almost slander of a sort. The truth is, media executives and talent are fired all the time. But virtually no one in the business press dares to use the word--possibly because reporters have a tough time asking the question and getting confirmation: Was this person fired?

Being fired is almost like using profanity. It's rude, not socially acceptable, and most importantly, seemingly takes away the dignity we all have as workers for companies that we don't own. And how does it look on a resume. So employees give us the kind option. It would look better for you to resign, they might say.

Employers would rather not fire anyone. If things don't work out, they'd rather not have meetings or talk about it--least of all to the party in question. The hope is that the poor unfortunate soul slinks away on his own.

Even Martha Stewart, on her own, "The Apprentice: Martha Stewart" doesn't use the word. Stewart just says: "Sorry, you don't fit in. Goodbye." Oh, you mean, you fired him.

Oh, you mean, you ended his association with the TV show for which he will receive no residuals, with his only hope getting a possible guest spot on VH1's "The Surreal Life."