For shock jocks, a sea change or just a blip?

The firing of radio host Don Imus by CBS this week represented a perfect storm of media saturation and societal outrage. Combining a combustibly offensive remark with an ill-chosen target and history of push-the-envelope mockery by Imus and crew, the hurricane finally swept Imus off the airwaves. His future in radio, if any, remains to be determined.

Was this an aberrant event, a rare convergence of outrage, ego, and arrogance? Or does it signal a climate change for talk radio? Will other hosts feel free to be as outrageous as they've been in the past? Or will what happened to Imus, a media powerhouse with a $10 million salary, change the rules for them, too?

Opinion is divided in the wake of Imus's dismissal Thursday. Some in the talk-show industry, while in no way condoning Imus's remarks, think radio hosts may tone down their antics in the short term but not the long run, reluctant to abandon what's made them popular. Others view it as a tipping point in a broader struggle over what can be said and broadcast as edgy entertainment, the kind that spoofs and riffs on various minority groups, among other targets.

Imus was let go after referring to the Rutgers women's basketball team as "nappy-headed hos" on his nationally syndicated show "Imus in the Morning," which aired locally on WTKK-FM (96.9). Notwithstanding several attempts to apologize and a meeting with the Rutgers team late Thursday , Imus faced a wave of public outrage that built steadily over the past week. After major advertisers such as Procter & Gamble withdrew their support of his show, CBS converted a two-week suspension into permanent retirement for the popular "shock jock."

At least a handful of Boston radio personalities have been caught in similar turbulence. Former WRKO-AM host John DePetro, now on Providence station WPRO-AM, was dismissed last November after using a homophobic term to describe Massachusetts Turnpike Authority chief Matthew Amorello and referring to gubernatorial candidate Grace Ross as a "fat lesbian." WEEI -AM morning-drive cohosts John Dennis and Gerry Callahan drew a two-week suspension in 2003 for likening an escaped Franklin Park Zoo gorilla to a Metco student. Michael Graham, now part of WTKK's talk lineup, was fired in 2005 by Washington, D.C., station WMAL-AM for branding Islam "a terrorist organization" and saying "moderate Muslims are those who only want to kill Jews."

Brian Brickley hosts "The Brickhouse" show on Tufts University's WMFO-FM (91.5), where a revolving crew tackles news events and cultural stereotypes in Howard Stern -inspired fashion. Brickley doubts the controversy will affect his show, largely because it ' s broadcast on a nonprofit station with no advertisers to worry about, unlike Imus, who quickly lost the support of his.

"We have characters, and these characters can say things and be outrageous. That's OK for them, because we're kind of playing with the stereotype," says Brickley. But while his show aims to mock cultural stereotypes, not perpetuate them, Brickley adds, commercial radio stations are more vulnerable to fines and regulation, not simply advertiser pressure.

"They try to be kind of edgy and pushy, but it's not close to what it used to be, " he says. "It's already happened. Most people are already overcautious or overcareful about what they say."

CBS chief Leslie Moonves struck a similar note in a memo circulated to his employees yesterday, one that may contain a warning of changes to come for CBS affiliates.

"One thing is for certain: This is about a lot more than Imus," Moonves stated, noting that Imus "has flourished in a culture that permits a certain level of objectionable expression that hurts and demeans a wide range of people. In taking him off the air, I believe we take an important and necessary step not just in solving a unique problem, but in changing that culture, which extends far beyond the walls of our Company."

A senior executive at CBS Radio , parent company of five Boston-area stations, including WBCN-FM and WBZ-AM, declined to comment further on Moonves' s statement or its implications for affiliated stations. Calls and e-mails yesterday seeking comment from several local talk-show hosts and station managers -- including Howie Carr and Tom Finneran of WRKO, WTKK's Jay Severin and Michael Graham , and WEEI's Dennis , along with Entercom Radio executives Jason Wolfe and Julie Kahn -- were not returned.

P.M. Forni , co founder of the Johns Hopkins Civility Project, sees the Imus firing as the tip of an iceberg.

"This is a rude awakening to a culture that feels almost anything goes," Forni says. "It's the 'almost' that tripped up Imus. He didn't see that the rules of engagement are changing when you target a specific group. So, yes, there will be fallout. Many shock jocks will have to be more careful and tone down their rhetoric if they want to keep their jobs."

To University of Texas communications professor Joshua Gunn , who's blogged about the controversy on his website, the Imus firing is both a one-of-a-kind set of circumstances and sea change, part of a larger discussion about race in America that's poised to erupt when conditions are ripe.

"Will it have a governing effect on other talk show hosts? I think it will," Gunn says. "On race, yes. Sexism? Not so much. However, the claim that this is just entertainment is no longer going to cut it."

Michael Harrison of Talkers magazine, a trade publication that covers talk radio, agrees that race is the flashpoint here. He disagrees, however, that talk radio has gone too far in pushing the envelope and will police itself more closely now.

"In my opinion, it's a racial tipping point, not a sea change in the talk show climate," Harrison says. Imus's comments became a lightning rod for black leaders like the Rev. Al Sharpton , he says, not just because they demeaned a women's basketball team, but because they touched a nerve among African - Americans who are already debating where the line between artistic license and loathsome epithet should be drawn.

"Talk radio is a great target to take shots at ," Harrison says. "Will this have an effect on the industry? Absolutely, but not for long. When it blows over, everything will go back to normal."

Joanna Weiss of the Globe staff also contributed to this report. Joseph P. Kahn can be reached at jkahn@globe.com.