The Sun, asking a question that only makes sense if you are a wild racist. pic.twitter.com/MFiEJoNhgY
— Matt Haig (@matthaig1) July 18, 2016
In news that shouldn’t surprise anyone, The Sun come under major backlash for an article covering the Nice attack in France.
What is surprising, however, is how utterly low the news agency has stooped this time.
The Sun has deleted a tweet promoting a controversial column attacking Channel 4 News for using a Muslim presenter to report the Nice truck attack.
Really didn't think I could despise the Sun more than I already did, but that hijab tweet's wots done it. ? #DontBuyTheScum
— @KatieKhaleesi (@KatieKhaleesi) July 18, 2016
The column by Kelvin MacKenzie appeared in Monday’s edition of the paper with the headline ‘Why did Channel 4 have a presenter in a hijab fronting coverage of Muslim terror in Nice?’. In it, MacKenzie criticises Channel 4 News for using Fatima Manji, who wears a hijab, to cover the Nice truck attack on Friday night.
The article claimed Fatima Manji’s presence in the French city was ‘massively provocative’ and a sign of ‘editorial stupidity’. Unsurprisingly, the column prompted over 100 complaints by midday, the Huffington Post reports.
YouTubeMackenzie wrote:
Was it appropriate for her to be on camera when there had been yet another shocking slaughter by a Muslim?
Was it done to stick one in the eye of the ordinary viewer who looks at the hijab as a sign of the slavery of Muslim women by a male- dominated and clearly violent religion?
With all the major terrorist outrages in the world currently being carried out by Muslims, I think the rest of us are reasonably entitled to have concerns about what is beating in their religious hearts. Who is in the studio representing our fears? Nobody.
YouTubeHe then went on to argue that Channel 4 wouldn’t have used a ‘Hindu to report on the carnage at the Golden Temple of Amritsar’ or an ‘Orthodox Jew to cover the Israeli-Palestine conflict’.
The column provoked a massive reaction with many fellow reporters coming to the defence of Manji.
What is a "regular" reporter? And for the record Fatima Manji has reported on some of the biggest stories. At least get your facts right.
— Aisha S Gani (@aishagani) July 18, 2016
Incredible bigotry by Kelvin Mackenzie in his column today pic.twitter.com/HuU6chUONy
— Ian Birrell (@ianbirrell) July 18, 2016
Is this a joke? @fatimamanji does a great job presenting & reporting across a range of stories. Hijab irrelevant https://t.co/DztlDtEG7w
— riazat butt (@riazat_butt) July 18, 2016
That Kelvin Mackenzie column today… beyond words…
— Ed King (@edking_I) July 18, 2016
The Sun tweeted out the column this morning and then deleted it, but the piece itself remains available online.
A source said that the decision to delete the tweet had been taken because it did not make clear that the piece was by MacKenzie, and not by The Sun, the Guardian reports.
Just when you thought The Sun couldn’t possibly get any worse.
