The End Of Kelvin Mac

[sp1814]

I would lay good money on the Sun sacking Kelvin MacKenzie within the next few weeks.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/kelvin-mackenzie-jeremy-corbyn-knifed-to-death-headline-fake-news-sun-interview-a7714321.html

Do you think he deserves it? Is he toxic, or can he ride this one through?

[ummmm]

The Sun is just an easy read...perfect for people that only have a 20 minute lunch break.

[mikey4444]

And a 2 minute attention span !

[ummmm]

Mikey - I think it's the sports pages they read.

[mikey4444]

The Guardian has excellent sports pages, that are attached to an interesting newspaper, that has something for everybody !

[ummmm]

Mikey - it depends on the job. They really don't have time mostly. It's a paper to flick through...or as I say, a magazine printed on paper.

[Khandro]

n. //Mikey, You, like Khandro, have never bought or read a copy of The Sun in your life. How do you know what's in it?//

From reading AB, of course. :0)

[Khandro]

....Though I have been known to peep over someone's shoulder at page 3.

[andy-hughes]

I think Mr Mackenzie has suffered for too long from a free reign.

As a bombastic and controlling Editor, he won't have heard the word 'No' very often - except when it was coming out of his own mouth.

It appears that as a columnist, he has developed this persona where he can say exactly as he likes, and no-one ever tells him to wind it in a bit.

The inevitable result of allowing an opinionated individual to have their say in public with no sanction is that eventually they are going to think out loud and in print once too often, with consequences that have to be addressed.

So one of two things will happen - either Mr Mackenzie will be reinstated and told to think first and write second for once, or he will refuse to be censored in any way at all, and he will find a berth at another paper - I am sure the Mail would snap him up.

[douglas9401]

He sells papers, like Littlejohn and that Katie woman. Calm down.

Free rein.

[andy-hughes]

douglas - He does sell papers, but in common with Mr Littlejohn and Ms. Hopkins, his tendency to run off too far at the mouth has landed his employers in hot water.

[mikey4444]

Andy...if you look at the circulation link that I posted earlier, you will see the The Sun has been haemorrhaging readers for years.

( as many of them have of course)

[douglas9401]

If the balance sheet shows black when it all shakes out, nothing's going to happen to him.
We shouldn't imagine his bosses and colleagues are any better, just lower profile, it's long since been the job of newspaperfolk to enquire and inform.
He satisfies a market and while he does, barring legal action, will have a job noising up those who should know better than to be baited.

[sp1814]

Point of clarification here...we should acknowledge at least, that MacKenzie has been suspended by The Sun.

His Corbyn comment was from an interview in the New York Times, completely independent from his erstwhile Sun column.

But even though this didn't appear in the paper, it still has the potential 'damage the brand'.

[emmie]

he will undoubtedly ride out this storm, nothing much sticks to him does it?

[anotheoldgit]

Just tell me how many of those standing in judgement of Kelvin MacKenzie, haven't thought or even more privately said the same regarding Trump and Farage?

Why, there are even some on here who have got close to wishing these two's demises.

[cassa333]

We don't read the Sun newspaper and only buy it when they have the holiday offer on so don't know what he is usually like.

However the headline alone would say to me that he doesn't seem like a nice bloke at all. We can deride politicians for their style, policies or even if we don't like them personally but to say such a thing is quite frankly unacceptable.

Whether he deserves the sack or not I couldn't say.

[andy-hughes]

AOG - //Just tell me how many of those standing in judgement of Kelvin MacKenzie, haven't thought or even more privately said the same regarding Trump and Farage?

Why, there are even some on here who have got close to wishing these two's demises. //

There is a universe of difference between an individual expressing an opinion - even on a website like this one, and a high-profile professional columnist pulling down six figures for expressing the same opinion in a national newspaper.

[anotheoldgit]

As already said it did not appear in print, and perhaps one should read the source from whence it came, The New Your Times no less, who seems to having a go at Brexit and the UK's tabloids.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/02/world/europe/london-tabloids-brexit.html?smid=tw-share&_r=4

/// I had met Mr. MacKenzie a week earlier to ask about those headlines. “Your front pages were sometimes funny and sometimes outrageous,” I began, at which point he interrupted and said, “And sometimes untrue!” ///

/// Wow. ///

/// I asked what headline he would like to see in the paper were he still in charge. ///

/// “I think the fake news headline that would give this country the most joy,” he replied cheerfully, “would be ‘Jeremy Corbyn Knifed to Death by an Asylum Seeker.’ ” ///

/// Mr. Corbyn is the leader of the Labour Party. Mr. MacKenzie’s fake news headline inevitably brought to mind the murder of Jo Cox, a pro-Remain Labour lawmaker who was killed by a man with far-right leanings a week before the referendum. Her death prompted a lot of soul-searching over whether the tone of the campaign had encouraged hate crimes. ///

/// (The next morning, I got a text message from Mr. MacKenzie: “Hi Katrin, Can you change that perfect headline from ‘Jeremy Corbyn knifed to death by asylum seeker’ to ‘Jeremy Corbyn Defrauded by Asylum Seeker.’ In the light of Jo Cox murder mine is in tol poor taste.”) ///

It was all a humorousness joke between two people, all be it in bad taste.

He later thought about it and sent a text saying "change that perfect headline to Jeremy Corbyn Defrauded by Asylum Seeker." due to the Jo Cox murder.

[andy-hughes]

As I see it, Mr Mackenzie's comments about Mr Corbyn are not the issue - he has been suspended from his column for comments which he did write, and which were printed, which amounted to racist abuse of a professional footballer.

The Corbyn comments may simply add a little to the flames, but it is clearly the initial issue that will decide whether or not his career with The Sun continues or not.

[anotheoldgit]

It was never a headline in the Sun or any other newspaper if it comes to that, it came out as answer to a question, in a conversion between two people.