Did Don Imus deserve to be fired for his racially tinged slurs against Rutgers University’s women’s basketball team? That’s what the more upstanding and serious television news shows will debate … over and over and over.

That is when they aren’t wondering whether presidential candidate Barack Obama is black enough. Or whether Hillary Clinton is likable enough. Or whether Mitt Romney is Christian enough. Or … hold on … this just in:

In a shocking decision, Rutgers University has decided not to hold a live news conference to discuss the Imus firing. More on this as it develops.

The fact that the putdown-laden Imus show was even broadcast on a news channel was itself insulting. It would be one thing if his show were merely a diversion from more serious fare that provided in-depth coverage and analysis, but it wasn’t. Television news and entertainment have become so blurred that it seems every program is pinning its hopes on the lowest common denominator.

Defenders of Imus miss this point when they talk about the raw vulgarity of rap music and the edgy humor of “Saturday Night Live.” It’s because the Imus show was on a news channel that audiences had different expectations, even if new executives didn’t have different standards. Interviewing U.S. Sen. John McCain one moment and uttering “nappy-headed hos” the next just doesn’t work. While we bemoan … hang on:

We’ve just received word that the Duke lacrosse team will hold a press conference in response to the news that all criminal charges have been dropped. As soon as that occurs, we’ll take you there for endless emoting.

While we bemoan the utter lack of seriousness and perspective that permeates TV news, we don’t think the government has a role to play in the Imus matter. The free market, not censorship, decided his fate – and rightly so. Yet, civil rights groups pressed the Federal Communication Commission to get involved. If the FCC were to intervene, it would establish a tempting and ultimately chilling avenue for anyone who is offended – honestly or not – by the media. The story itself … wait:

DNA test results reveal that the father of Anna Nicole Smith’s 7-month-old daughter is former boyfriend Larry Birkhead. Much, much more on this as it develops.

The story itself just isn’t that important – certainly not as important as the issues that are routinely overlooked as broadcasters chase the latest celebrity meltdown. But the Imus story is a symptom of a graver ill. Celebrities making idiotic comments or questionable life choices didn’t use to merit the attention of news divisions. But now that news reporters routinely cover such nonsense, that has become its own justification.

Or as Jim Murphy, executive producer of “Good Morning America,” said in defending the extensive coverage of Anna Nicole Smith’s death:

“The story of what she represented, an overexposed personal life, is very much a part of the American story today.”

It sure is. And execs like him are villains.