Yahoo Fires Reporter Over Joke About Romney, 'Drowning Black People'

 :Veteran journalist David Chalian was removed
from his post after several blogs pointed out
his statement.
Yahoo has fired its Washington Bureau Chief David
Chalian two days after he made a racially tinged
joke that was aired over the internet during ABC
News' online coverage of the Republican National
Convention.
Referring to the RNC's concurrence with Hurricane
Isaac's threat of the Gulf Coast -- the party
canceled the convention's first day on Monday --
Chalian said, "They [the Romneys] are not
concerned at all. They are happy to have a party
with black people drowning."
"David Chalian's statement was inappropriate and
does not represent the views of Yahoo," the site
said in a statement. "He has been terminated. We
apologize to Mitt Romney, his staff, their
supporters and anyone who was offended."
The remark was noticed by several blogs, including
The Atlantic Wire, and Chalian was identified as the
speaker on Tuesday.
After his firing, PBS' Gwen Ifill expressed her
support for Chalian on Twitter, writing, "One
mistake does not change this. @DavidChalian is
God's gift to political journalism.
#IStandwithDavid."
UPDATE: Chalian issued an apology over Twitter,
writing, "I am profoundly sorry for making an
inappropriate and thoughtless joke. I was
commenting on the challenge of staging a
convention during a hurricane and about campaign
optics. I have apologized to the Romney campaign,
and I want to take this opportunity to publicly
apologize to Gov. and Mrs. Romney. I also regret
causing any distraction from the exceptional
coverage of the Republican convention by Yahoo
News and ABC News."