Pittsburgh Post-Gazette columnist Jennifer Graham is under fire for saying some nasty things about Caitlyn Jenner.
As the indespensible journalism blog, Romenesko, describes it:
“Strong reactions” came in quickly after the column was published last Thursday. “Defamatory,” one person tweeted; “shockingly anti-transgender,” tweeted another. The Human Rights Campaign told P-G executive editor David Shribman that “Ms. Graham has no business serving as a columnist at a publication with a reputation as sterling like yours.”
There apparently was a near revolt in the newsroom, as well — “‘a shitstorm,’ according to one reporter.”
“The rank and file in the PG newsroom were incensed. There were murmurings of a byline strike by the Newspaper Guild until Graham was fired.”
The Pittsburgh Newspaper Guild wanted no part of it — rightly, I think. As Guild president Michael Fuoco says on Romenesko:
“Many in the staff were outraged, as you can imagine,” but “I informed people individually that the Guild would not take any action because we shouldn’t be in a position to feel we should vote up or down on every cartoon, editorial or comment.”
I don’t agree with the argument or the language used by Graham, who used her perch at the paper to trot out all the old nonsense conservatives have been flinging at the transgender community for years. And I understand the reader response. But as a long-time columnist who has come under fire in the past — for support of gay rights, criticism of police, and opposition to the Iraq war — I disagree with calls to have her fired or have her column canceled.
The question we have to ask is this: Where do we draw the line on political columns? I think using profanity or specific pejorative terms — the n-word, for instance — is out of bounds. Strongly worded opinion that is critical of both Jenner and the new cultural acceptance, even when it relies on tired tropes and arguments, does not cross this line.
Was Graham’s column mean? Yes. Was it disrespectful? Yes. Was it possibly cruel? Yes. Is it profane and does it cross the line? I don’t think so. Should her column go without response? No, and that’s the key. The PG ran letters in response, according to Romenesko, and critics of Graham took to Twitter and other social media outlets. Suppressing Graham’s views will do nothing more than grant conservatives another example of intolerable lefties and political correctness (overblown as a phenomenon, to be sure), contributing to polarization on this issue.
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Hank Kalet 