It's inevitable that Clear Channel Radio's move to take Howard Stern off of its radio stations will be met with howls of "censorship!" Of course, it's actually nothing of the sort. The same free market that made Stern has now shifted a bit, and Clear Channel believes that it will be more profitable for them to not air his show than to air it.

I don't doubt that their decision comes primarily as a result of fear of major FCC fines (their blather about suddenly being "shocked" at Stern's content notwithstanding; anyone radio executive who claims to not know about Stern's act is a flat liar), but those fines are also a result of public pressure and outrage.

For the time being, the people appear to be deciding that they want their airwaves cleaned up. Perhaps they'll change their mind tommorrow--and that's the free market too.