Melanie Phillips... fired!?!
The contract for Melanie Phillips' 12-year-old weekly column at the Mail will not be renewed at year-end as the editor wishes to 'refresh the paper'.
Friends in England tell me that this has caused astonishment in the UK media, and that.the explanation makes no sense at all, since Melanie has an enormous following at the Mail. They suspect the editor may have thrown Melanie as a bone to the proprietor's wife, who has been trying to get rid of the editor for some time since he attracts much opprobrium in fashionable circles (some of you might recall what is considered acceptable behavior for Britain's fashionable circles).
This may or may not dovetail with more informed speculation in the press that Melanie was fired on account of the view she expressed on TV in July that Iran was the greatest threat facing the western world and accordingly needed to be neutralized (what a strange view! /sarc). This view created uproar in the UK and drew disapproval at the isolationist, paleo-con Mail where Melanie has been prevented for years from writing about Israel, the Middle East or foreign affairs in general.
Melanie continues to write on her blog at www.embooks.com, and is currently reported to be considering expressions of interest from other UK media.
Labels: British media bias, Melanie Phillips
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 6:13 PM
4 Comments:
Isn't so surprising now that Iran and UK Agree to Exchange Diplomats.
I guess it's not just Obama who has new penpalls.
I used to like the balance of columnist at the mail. Melanie in particular put forward her view in a well reasoned way. The lefties hated that because they couldn't coherently argue with her. All they could say was 'that's offensive'.
Real shame we cant have discussion of ideas in our media
Libel laws in the UK make it impossible to even DISCUSS Islam w.o. threats of massively expensive lawsuits. And by threats - plaintiffs never lose. Moreover in the UK rich pocketed plaintiffs can get preemptive gag orders that prevent anyone even from discussing whether a libel charge exists at all. Press freedom is pretty much dead in the UK. It's so dead that even 'South Park' mentioned it.
Melanie Philips argue? Discuss?
She does neither of those things, she pontificates, and any criticism of her views, on any topic, she dismisses with accusation of antisemitism.
Unfortunately, this firing shall free her to devote more time on the BBC, calling it the mouthpiece of the 'liberal elite', although she herself is never off it (and Mr Philips did alright too, being their head legal correspondent for so many years.....maybe he is part of the liberal elite, fair enough, she'd know that better than I).
She is a terrific hypocrite, may she soon be forgotten by all.
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