For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails
Sign up to our free breaking news emails
Kelvin MacKenzie has defended his controversial column questioning why a Channel 4 News presenter reported on the Nice terror attack when she is a Muslim woman who wears a hijab.
The former Sun editor sparked a flurry of complaints and criticism on Monday after he described in his column how he “couldn’t believe his eyes” upon seeing journalist Fatima Manji, who has been at the station for four years, presenting coverage of the terror attack on Bastille Day in Nice.
“Was it appropriate for her to be on camera when there has been yet another shocking slaughter by a Muslim?” he asked.
Blaming the backlash on the “twerperati”, MacKenzie wrote another column on Friday reiterating his belief that the editor of Channel 4 News “made an error” in rostering Ms Manji to present from the studio the day of the attack. Days after the broadcast, Ms Manji said on Twitter her shift had been "in the diary for a while".
“All I did was ask a simple question,” MacKenzie wrote. “[…] A reasonable inquiry you would have thought with the sensitivities that currently exist in this nation and the rest of Europe.”
People news in pictures
Show all 18
He then posed a second question: “Should presenters be allowed to wear artefacts that advertise their religion?
“If, for instance, one of the regular presenters was a Christian (I’m joking since at C4 you wouldn’t get an interview) would they be allowed to wear a huge cross outside of their shirt or blouse to the same prominence as a hijab?”
Today, Channel 4 News announced they, along with Manji, had launched an official complaint to the Independent Press Standards Organisation (Ipso) on the grounds of religious discrimination in response to MacKenzie’s original column.
The editor of Channel 4 News, Ben de Pear, said in a statement: “ITN accepts and understands that our reporters and presenters are in the public eye and can expect criticism and comment from many quarters, including newspaper columnists. What it cannot accept is an employee being singled out on the basis of her religion.
“We are not going to simply stand by when an employee is subject to an act of religious discrimination,” he said.
At present, Ipso has received over 1700 complaints in relation to the article.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies