Michael Lacey, Owner Of The Village Voice, Drops The N-Bomb:

The executive editor of the nation's largest alternative newspaper company angered dozens of Arizona journalists Friday night when he used a racial slur during an awards speech.

Michael Lacey, co-owner of Village Voice Media, which publishes a chain of weekly newspapers across the United States including Phoenix New Times, used the slur while accepting an award from the local chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. Lacey's reference to an old friend of his, the late Pulitzer Prize winning reporter Tom Fitzpatrick, as "my (n-word)," sparked immediate reaction from those who attended the event. The short, impromptu speech also included some vulgar phrases.

Billye Paulson, a black journalist who works for the Tribune, called the speech "offensive" and fired off an angry e-mail to Lacey demanding an apology.

If Rupert Murdoch made a statement like this, we'd never hear the end of it. Because Mike Lacey is an avowed Liberal he's getting a pass. Check the wires, nothing but tumbleweeds on this one.