And A Seventh Paper Gives The Hook To Coulter
March 9, 2007 -- 1:11 PM EST // // Post a Comment

Seven and counting!

As noted below, I've emailed virtually everyone on this list of papers carrying Ann Coulter's column to ask whether they intend to keep publishing her or instead are dropping her in the wake of her "faggot" comment.

And now we have a seventh paper that's giving her the toss: The DeKalb Daily Chronicle of Northern Illinois. I've just heard back from John Pfeifer, the paper's president and publisher, and he directed me to an editorial his paper published today. From the piece:

Ann Coulter no longer welcome in the Chronicle

The rapid escalation of electronic communication options and the frequent inappropriate and indiscriminate use of those options have combined to produce horror stories regarding job terminations that we have all heard about and shaken our heads over. We all know stories of folks getting fired via e-mail or through a voice-mail message left on a home or cell phone answering machine. We can't fathom the gutless and impersonal nature of such terminations. We can't fathom it -- yet we're about to do one better. We're going to fire someone publicly -- in print -- right here, right now...

Ann Coulter is not a “real” employee of the Chronicle. She isn't a freelancer or even an independent contractor. If she were an employee and referred to another human being as a “faggot,” her employment would be short-lived. As it is, the acerbic Coulter is a syndicated columnist whose material is distributed through Universal Press Syndicate. Universal President and Editor Lee Salem has responded to Coulter's remarks by saying, “She is not an employee, and we have no legal power to ‘fire' her.”

That's a lot like the Chronicle saying, “She didn't say it in one of the columns we ran, so it isn't our problem.” Wrong. It is our problem, and not dealing with it is a cop-out.

So yesterday we called Universal Press Syndicate and “fired” Coulter. What she said was wrong and hurtful and stepped way beyond the line of human decency, much less political commentary.

The full piece is here.

Coulter's replacement at the paper will be Michelle Malkin. If memory serves, this isn't the first time Malkin has been picked up by a paper that's chucked Coulter, so one rather grim sideshow here is the sight of the equally-despicable Malkin gaining from Coulter's misfortune. Oh, well -- two steps forwards, one step...etc.

Update: Relatedly, don't miss this post from Andrew Sullivan on Mickey Kaus' friendship with Coulter.

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