Two More Newspapers Drop Ann Coulter's Column
By Dave Astor
Published: March 07, 2007 11:20 AM ET
NEW YORK At least two more daily newspapers -- The Oakland Press of Michigan and The Mountain Press of Sevierville, Tenn. -- have dropped Ann Coulter's column. A daily in Pennsylvania had dropped the column two days ago.
Oakland Press Editorial Page Editor Allan Adler, when reached this morning by E&P, said Coulter's use of the word "faggot" in a Friday speech was "definitely a factor" in the decision. He also read a statement from his paper that went as follows:
"When we picked up Ann Coulter, it was because we felt we needed a conservative columnist .. and we knew she had a following. She certainly no longer represents conservatism and apparently is more interested in being a celebrity. We are searching for a new columnist and will no longer be running Coulter."
The Oakland Press had picked up Coulter's column last summer and, since then, the Universal Press Syndicate feature "probably drew many more letters to the editor pro and con than any national column we run," said Adler.
In a story today on its Web site, The Mountain Press said it dropped Coulter because of her "distasteful and irresponsible comments over the weekend about a presidential candidate. Coulter referred to Democratic candidate John Edwards as a 'faggot' in a Friday speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference. Her comments were denounced by both Republicans and Democrats," the Tennesse paper noted.
"When we agree to buy a syndicated column we expect the writer to offer responsible, reasoned opinion on national and international issues," Editor Stan Voit said in the story. "Ms. Coulter's column drew an unusual amount of criticism from our readers when we first started running it, but we felt she was a nationally known writer offering her opinions in her own style. However we will not continue to publish the columns of someone who uses people as a punch line to get a cheap laugh and who so freely uses an offensive term to describe another human being."
The Mountain Press will replace Coulter with another conservative, female columnist yet to be determined.
Another daily Coulter client, the Lancaster (Pa.) New Era, had dropped the Universal columnist this week following her "faggot" slur.
Coulter's exact words Friday were: "I was going to have a few comments on the other Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards, but it turns out you have to go into rehab if you use the word 'faggot,' so I -- so kind of an impasse, can't really talk about Edwards."
She followed her "faggot" reference with a statement on her Web site saying Edwards campaign manager David Bonior -- a former Congressman -- "is fronting for Arab terrorists."
The gay rights groups Human Rights Campaign launched a letter writing campaign to Universal last night. The syndicate replied today with its previous position: It would not comment on something said outside her column space, but would have edited out the "faggot" reference in any column she submitted.
http://www.mediainfo.com/eandp/news/..._id=1003554574
The Oakland press has a circulation of 66,000
The Mountain press has a circulation of 8,000
"A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and carries his banner openly. But the traitor moves amongst those within the gate freely, his sly whispers rustling through all the alleys, heard in the very halls of government itself."
Tullius Cicero (106-43 BC)
Reply With Quote
