freedom of expression

Saturday December 8, 2018

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday December 8, 2018

‘Baby, It’s Cold Outside’ pulled from some Canadian radio stations

“Baby, It’s Cold Outside” is getting a chilly response from Canadian radio stations.

December 4, 2018

At least two of the country’s biggest radio operators — Rogers Media and Bell Media — say they’ve decided to pull the controversial Christmas favourite out of their rotations this year.

That comes as the duet, written back in 1944, faces renewed scrutiny over what some say are inappropriate lyrics in the wake of the #MeToo movement.

Earlier this week, Cleveland radio station WDOK-FM announced it was no longer playing the song in response to listener feedback. Some took issue over lyrics where one singer is trying to persuade the other to stay inside, with exchanges that include, “What’s in this drink?” and “Baby, don’t hold out.”

Bell Media spokesperson Scott Henderson says the company, which runs two 24-hour Christmas stations in Vancouver and Ottawa, chose not to include the Christmas tune on its playlists this year.

“The song wasn’t scheduled for airplay on any Bell Media Radio stations and there are no plans to play it in the future,” he wrote in an emailed statement.

December 9, 2017

Rogers Media also runs a number of all-Christmas music stations, including 98.1 CHFI-FM in Toronto and 98.5 CIOC-FM in Victoria. Spokesperson Caitlin Decarie says the broadcaster also removed the song this year, but declined outline how it reached the decision.

“There are so many wonderful songs that celebrate the holiday season,” she said.

A representative for CBC Radio was unable to answer whether its stations include the Christmas song in its current rotation.

“Baby, It’s Cold Outside” has been considered a holiday classic ever since it won the Academy Award for best original song in the film “Neptune’s Daughter.”

Christmas Classics

It’s since been covered countless times by singers Ray Charles and Betty Carter, Idina Menzel & Michael Buble, as well as Dolly Parton and Rod Stewart.

Concern over the song has existed for years, leading to many reinterpretations of the lyrics.

Lady Gaga and Joseph Gordon-Levitt flipped the gender roles in a performance for the pop singer’s 2013 holiday special with the Muppets.

And two years ago, Minnesota couple Lydia Liza and Josiah Lemanski rewrote the lyrics to include lines about consent, such as a response to the woman’s line “I ought to say no, no, no” with the man saying: “You reserve the right to say no.” (Source: Hamilton Spectator) 

 

Thursday January 8, 2014

Thursday January 8, 2014Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday January 8, 2014

12 dead, shooters on the run, after ‘terror’ attack at Paris newspaper

A French police official says 12 people are dead in a shooting at a satirical weekly newspaper in central Paris and the attackers are still at large.

Four more people are in critical condition and an additional 20 have been injured, police said.

Two of the dead are police officers. French media reported the weekly’s chief editor and other staff were among the dead.

Paris has been put on the highest state of alert for a terrorist attack.

“France is in a state of shock,” French President Francois Hollande said at the scene of Wednesday’s shooting at Charlie Hebdo.

“Journalists and police were killed,” Holland said.

Hollande called it “a terrorist attack, there is no doubt. We must show we are a country united.”

The French newspaper Le Figaro reported the satirical cartoonist Stephane Charbonnier and two others cartoonists were dead.

The French newspaper Le Monde also quoted several police sources as saying Charbonnier, who is also direction of publication, and cartoonist Riss were among the dead.

A few minutes before the shooting, Charlie Hebdo’s Twitter account published a Charbonnier cartoon that said, “Best wishes, to al-Baghdadi also,” a reference to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi who is called the leader of the violent terrorist group Islamic State.

Charlie Hebdo’s cover this week is on Submission, a book by Michel Houellebecq released Wednesday, which is sparking controversy with its depiction of a fictional France of the future led by an Islamic party and a Muslim president who bans women from the workplace.

The attackers are on the run, Holland said. He said all potential terrorist targets have been put under the highest protection, adding that several possible attacks have been foiled in recent weeks.

From Washington, London, Brussels and Rome, leaders condemned the attack.

Most of the victims were part of the magazine’s newsroom, Matthieu Lamarre, a spokesman for the Paris Mayor’s office, said.

The solidarity slogan “Je suis Charlie” was quickly trending on Twitter.

The satirical weekly has drawn repeated threats for its caricatures of the Prophett Mohammed, among other controversial sketches. (Source: Hamilton Spectator)

 

Wednesday June 25, 2014

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday June 25, 2014

Wednesday June 25, 2014

Family of jailed Canadian journalist Mohamed Fahmy blames Harper for outcome of ‘sham’ trial in Egypt

Fadel and Wafaa Fahmy entered a courtroom in Cairo Monday to hear the verdict on their son, journalist Mohamed Fahmy, expecting an acquittal and a prompt return to their home in Montreal where the family has lived for 23 years.

Instead, a surprise finding of guilt on terrorism-related charges and a sentence of seven years in a harsh prison sent Mrs. Fahmy into turmoil, bursting into tears and stomping her feet on the floor.

The entire family was stunned, most of all Mohamed Fahmy himself, the Cairo bureau chief with broadcaster Al Jazeera English. The dual Canadian-Egyptian citizen was found guilty along with two journalist colleagues, an Australian and an Egyptian, of supporting the Muslim Brotherhood, which is outlawed in Egypt, and with fabricating news reports that undermine Egypt’s security.

On Tuesday, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi said he will not interfere in court rulings, despite an international landslide of condemnation and calls for el-Sissi to intervene. Egypt’s constitution gives the president the right to issue a pardon or commute the sentences.

He said he called the justice minister late Monday to repeat that sentiment, despite what he described as debate over the rulings against the journalists.

After a trial and verdict, declared by Amnesty International to be “a complete sham” where no evidence of a nefarious conspiracy was heard, Mr. Fahmy was instead declared guilty and returned to his cell, but not before he angrily called out from behind the bars of the prisoners’ cage: “I swear they will pay for this.”

The anger was a reflection of how crushed his brother was by the verdict, said Mr. Fahmy’s brother, Sherif.

“It’s insane. There is nothing that makes any kind of sense at all. The evidence is insane,” Sherif said in an interview from Kuwait. “It was a very, very heartbreaking scene. We were very optimistic. We never thought this was coming.”

Sherif said he holds Stephen Harper, the Prime Minister, responsible for the outcome because the Canadian government failed to aggressively address the case.

“If you compare what Canada has done to what the Australian, English and Dutch have done, it is not much. [Mr. Harper] did not mention Mohammed once,” Sherif said. (Source: National Post)