CNN Debating Roland Martin's Future After GLAAD Calls for Firing

Richard Prince's Journal-isms says Martin's future with the network could be in jeopardy.

CNN is said to be weighing a call from gay advocacy groups to fire analyst Roland Martin, according to the online media diversity column Journal-isms.

A pair of tweets interpreted as homophobic caused an uproar and almost immediately got a reply from the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD).

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Said Martin, "To those who construed my comment as being anti-gay or homophobic or advancing violence, I'm truly sorry. I can certainly understand how someone could come to a different conclusion than the one I meant. I'm disheartened that my words would embolden prejudice. While public debate over social issues is healthy, no matter which side someone takes, there is no room for debate as to whether we need to be respectful of others.'

"Violence against gay people or against any other minority isn't a political opinion. At a time when anti-gay violence afflicts countless LGBT and LGBT-perceived people in this country every day, prominent figures like Martin should condemn, not promote, such violence.

The column, written by journalist Richard Prince, said that GLAAD spokesman hasn't wavered in its call for CNN to fire Martin. "GLAAD continues to believe that CNN can find responsible, diverse voices who do not have a history of advocating or making excuses for violence toward anyone. The network now has to decide."

In the meantime, GLAAD has called for a meeting with Martin and other advocacy groups "to discuss how we can work together to address the staggering rates of anti-LGBT violence that continues to face our community today."

Martin has not made his intentions public.

Journal-isms pointed to other instances in which CNN was less than flexible with its employees under contract.

CNN seems to have grown increasingly sensitive to pressure from groups complaining about the utterances of its employees or those under contract. Although it took months, the network cut ties with host Lou Dobbs in 2009 after a campaign by Latinos and others who complained about consistent inaccuracies Dobbs asserted on the air about immigration.

Then, in 2010, Octavia Nasr, a Mideast correspondent for CNN for 20 years, was fired after, on hearing of the death of a Hezbollah leader, she tweeted, "Sad to hear of the passing of Sayyed Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah. One of Hezbollah's giants I respect a lot."

The same year, CNN fired anchor Rick Sanchez, one of the few Latino anchors on an English-language network, over remarks to a radio interviewer that critics insisted were anti-Semitic, but which Sanchez contended were just clumsily phrased.