Dr. Laura's departing radio after uttering the n-word

She uttered the n-word 11 times to a black caller to make a philosophical point on August 10 about hypersensitivity about race. But media critics attacked her for it. Though she later apologized, that didn't fully stem the criticism.

In explaining her departure from radio, she said: "I want to be able to say what's on my mind and in my heart and what I think is helpful and useful without somebody getting angry, some special interest group deciding this is the time to silence a voice of dissent and attack affiliates and attack sponsors. I'm sort of done with that." She said she wants to "regain my First Amendment rights." She said she will continue to write books and work on her website.

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Schlessinger was once a big shot in Atlanta with a top-rated show on powerhouse 750/WSB-AM in the 1990s. She moved to 640/WGST-AM around 1999, but her ratings took a nosedive. In 2004, WGST-AM dropped her.

She was off the air in Atlanta for a few years before 1160/WCFO-AM picked her up in 2008. In July Arbitron numbers, WCFO did not have any measurable audience, so it's hard to gauge how many listeners she has left here in metro Atlanta.

Nationally, she still has a large listening audience, according to estimates by Talkers Magazine, which placed her in the top 5 with more than nine million weekly listeners, on par with Michael Savage (heard on WSB-AM) and Glenn Beck (heard on WGST). The top two radio talk show hosts are Rush Limbaugh (heard on WGST) and Sean Hannity (heard on WSB).

In an interview I did with her in 2008 about her pending return to Atlanta radio, she said, "I'm thrilled to be back. Like fine wine, some good things take time. . . I have more women listening to me than any other show on the radio, and yet somehow that gets discounted because I am not a bra-burning, man-bashing feminist. But every day I go on the radio and help people, and that's the most important thing to me."