CNN reporter Rick Sanchez was fired from CNN last Friday after he insulted his bosses and called Jon Stewart a bigot during an interview on satellite radio. 

During the “Stand-Up with Pete Dominick” interview, Sanchez referenced his Cuban-American heritage as the reason why he faced so many obstacles during his career and the reason he’s constantly the brunt of Stewart’s jokes on “The Daily Show.” The interview aired on Thursday afternoon and CNN released a statement the next day to announce Sanchez’s dismissal.  

Sanchez’s outburst and subsequent termination is more than just another lesson of what not to do when you’re mad at your boss or another coworker. His mini meltdown exposed the delicate lines of what will and will not be tolerated when criticizing one’s boss, especially when issues of race are involved. Here are a few bites from the interview and the full transcript can be read here:

PD: It’s a pretty strong words calling Jon Stewart a bigot calling anybody a bigot. Give me an example?

RS: That’s what happens when you watch yourself on his show every day and all they ever do is call you stupid.

PD: Well if he's bigoted against the ignorant fine! If he's bigoted against the apathetic and he's being elitist saying that others are stupid, but what group specifically … calling somebody a bigot, but against who?

RS: Anybody who's different from you are. Anybody, anybody who's not from your frame of reference. Anybody who doesn't look and sound exactly like the people that you grew up with…

….

RS: I’m telling you that everybody who runs CNN is a lot like Stewart and
 a lot of people who run all the other networks are a lot like Stewart
 and to imply that somehow they the people in this country who are 
Jewish are an oppressed minority, yeah.

It is strange to see Sanchez lash out at the media and play into the idea that Jews control the media and rule the world. Besides the fact that his allegations are simply untrue, Sanchez appeared to flourish at CNN and his rant seemed unfounded for many reasons. Sanchez hosted the news and commentary show “Rick’s List” that featured him using Twitter to engage his viewers. CNN recently added an additional hour-long primetime edition to the show to replace “Campbell Brown” until “Parker Spitzer” premiered. CNN seemed to support Sanchez and help the original local Miami anchor transition into the big leagues on the national level.

Despite his offbeat and larger-than-life personality as an anchor, CNN still found him to be marketable and viewers were clearly entertained. Whether viewers were laughing at Sanchez or with him is an entirely other question. For example, Sanchez encountered many faux pas with which camera to look into or where to point when locating countries on the digital map. In one crazy stunt, Sanchez gets tasered for a story. These incidents, among others, made him entertaining to some ;for others, like comedian Jon Stewart, Sanchez was an easy target.

I am not calling into question his outlandish newsroom behavior or questioning if CNN should have fired him a long time ago for journalistic style. The real issues are Sanchez’s insecurity and lack of a tough skin in this lucrative industry. Careers in the media are unique due to the emphasis placed on public image and representing a brand. Anchors and reporters automatically open themselves up to a high level of scrutiny and criticism from the public and media executives; it comes with the territory. Sanchez needed to toughen up and not take it personal that Stewart - a major television personality - was doing his job by making jokes. Stewart never poked fun at Sanchez’s race or heritage; he only teased him about his newsroom blunders.

Disagreements at the workplace are a common occurrence between employees and their bosses and between coworkers; however, a level of professionalism should be maintained or the consequences could be dire. Sanchez made the fatal mistake of directing critical remarks towards his bosses on a public platform for everyone - including them - to hear. If Sanchez really felt that he had a plausible case to make for the racism and prejudice he experienced, then he should have addressed those grievances in a professional manner - not as a live meltdown.

Race is a sticky issue and it is not okay to play with stereotypes. There may have been some validity to the statements Sanchez made regarding the struggle and obstacles he faced in the media, but the way in which he went about dealing with them was completely inappropriate.

Reach reporter Ariele Pratt here.

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