How far is too far?
A common question, but it seems one Canadian columnist has been answering this question a lot in recent days.
Heather Mallick, a regular contributor to the CBC website and Guardian UK, has come under fire in the United States for a column she wrote about Republican vice-presidential hopeful, Sarah Palin.
The column, “A Mighty Wind blows through the Republican convention,” (CBCNews.ca, September 5, 2008) consists of Mallick’s bitter and unforgiving take on the Alaska governor.
Some of the passages quoted by Fox News over recent weeks include, “She added nothing to the ticket that the Republicans didn’t already have sewn up, the white trash vote.”
Mallick continues with, “Palin has a toned-down version of the porn actress look favoured by this decade’s woman, the overtreated hair, puffy lips and permanently alarmed expression.”
The column shocked some of the hosts at Fox News and have since run several related stories.
Greta Van Susteren, host of “On the Record”, went as far as calling Mallick a “pig.”
To regular readers of Mallick’s column, this particular attack on Palin comes as no surprise. Mallick has never been known to sugar coat her thoughts, nor does she ever pretend to be anything but left of centre.
The most disturbing aspect of the column is not its contents, but the reaction it stirred at the Fox news network.
Van Susteren wasn’t the only Fox news host to attack Mallick on Palin’s behalf. Megyn Kelly, host of “America’s Newsroom,” shouted at Ottawa Citizen columnist, David Warren, about Mallick’s comments.
Warren is one of Canada’s few conservative columnists who respectfully disagreed with Mallick repeatedly on his television appearances.
Kelly, a usual reporter on the Palin beat, was angry about Mallick’s remarks. She turned what should have been an intelligent interview into a near shouting match.
Shocked, Kelly said, “Is this what actually passes as political commentary at a publicly funded broadcasting company in Canada?” She continued by calling the column “condescending and crude.”
The best part came when Kelly told Warren the CBC is “obviously a far left organization itself, which is disturbing to the citizens of Canada that are not of that view.”
It’s no secret the CBC is a left organization. Just as it is no secret the Fox news network is a right organization. Further, by expressing such disgust toward Mallick’s comments, Kelly also sheds her journalistic objectivity to show favouritism toward the Republicans.
Warren seemed a little too calm and thoughtful compared to Kelly’s bulldog approach. He did however make a few good points.
He said the anti-Sarah Palin sentiment expressed in Mallick’s column is not new to him, adding it’s the usual kind of thing he hears when out with fellow journalists.
More importantly, when Kelly asked if the column can even be considered analysis, Warren said it’s important for these ideas to be expressed openly. Once in the open, he said, then we as a public can choose to support them or shoot them down.
Isn’t that the point of columns? Supposed experts provide their opinions on topics that we as a public can either choose to agree or disagree with?
It seems Fox news has forgotten this very important aspect of journalism and democracy.
The Palin hating isn’t unique to Canada either. Bill Maher created a website called freelevi.org. It’s dedicated to rescuing the 18-year-old who is now obliged to marry Palin’s daughter after getting the girl pregnant. According to Maher, Levi is America’s number one political prisoner, “When the 17-year-old daughter of the vice-presidential candidate running on the Jesus ticket is ‘out to here,’ it’s just better that Levi was introduced as the fiancee. Looks a little less white trashy.”
Oh no, there is that “white trash” term again.
So if Bill Maher can say it, why can’t Heather Mallick? Given, Maher was more humorous than Mallick in his approach. Mallick tried to be funny, but the jokes flopped and the text had a sharper tone.
Mallick’s column has received nearly 1600 comments on the CBC website. Most of the comments are angry Americans, brought there by links on Republican and Christian blogs. There have now been enough complaints about the column to warrant the CBC ombudsman to look into the matter.
It’s not surprising that so many right-wing Americans were offended by Mallick’s column. It is however, important to remember that it was just that – a column. Mallick was not pretending to be a journalist when she wrote it, nor has she ever said her articles are completely objective.
Perhaps her words were a little too harsh and probably in bad taste. What should be remembered here are the thoughtful words of Ottawa Citizen contributor, David Warren. It’s not whether these thoughts are just or warranted, but those who have the courage to put them out in the open for public debate should be given credit where credit is due.
