Several newspapers that publish right-wing pundit Ann Coulter's syndicated column recently announced their intention to continue publishing her column after remarks Coulter made on March 2 at the Conservative Political Action Conference. During her speech at the conference, Coulter referred to Democratic presidential candidate and former Sen. John Edwards (NC) as a “faggot.” To date, nine newspapers have been confirmed as having dropped Coulter's column since her remarks. In addition, Media Matters for America has added two newspapers -- Stars and Stripes, a daily published for the U.S. military community, and The Morning Journal of Lorain, Ohio -- to its list (below) of papers that publish Coulter's weekly column.
Four newspapers have recently run or posted explanations by editors of their decision to continue running Coulter's column (in addition to those previously noted by Media Matters): The State Journal-Register of Springfield, Illinois; The Robesonian of Lumberton, North Carolina; the Times-Union of Warsaw, Indiana; and The Marshall News Messenger of Marshall, Texas. All four had been included on a list published by Media Matters on March 8 of daily newspapers that carried Coulter's column. In explaining their decision to keep Coulter, these newspapers' editors cited reader support and invoked free speech and censorship concerns, among other reasons.
Jamison Foser, Media Matters' managing director, recently addressed criticism by columnist Steve Young on the Huffington Post website accusing Media Matters of attempting to deny Coulter her First Amendment right to free speech.
Another newspaper, The Southern Illinoisan of Carbondale, Illinois, recently confirmed that it will continue publishing Coulter's column, but less frequently than it had in the past. In an April 3 email to Media Matters, publisher Dennis DeRossett said that the Illinoisan will instead run a rotation of conservative columnists -- including Coulter -- in Coulter's old slot, “with no set frequency for any one columnist.” He also noted that the newspaper had recently replaced Molly Ivins' regular column with a rotation of liberal columnists. DeRossett added: “While the timing of this move appears to some to have coincided with the recent controversy with Ann's column, it is strictly coincidental.”
In a March 14 email to Media Matters, Brooks Bowers, Stars and Stripes opinion editor of the paper's Pacific edition, confirmed that Coulter's column runs in the Pacific, European, and Middle East editions of the newspaper, but that it runs the column of Huffington Post co-founder and editor-in-chief Arianna Huffington on the same day “to balance out Coulter.”
The following is an updated version of a list Media Matters published on March 13 of daily newspapers that carry Coulter's column:
Newspaper
State
Editor
Contact
(Palmdale) Antelope Valley Press
CA
Jana Treece
Pasadena Star-News
CA
Steve O'Sullivan
(West Covina) San Gabriel Valley Tribune
CA
Steve Scauzillo
Whittier Daily News
CA
Linda Beckman
(Yreka) Siskiyou Daily News
CA
Jean Smith
(Jacksonville) The Florida Times-Union
FL
Patrick A. Yack
The St. Augustine Record
FL
Jim Sutton
The Villages Daily Sun
FL
Larry Croom
larry.croom@
thevillagesmedia.com
(Canton) Cherokee Tribune
GA
Barbara Jacoby
Marietta Daily Journal
GA
Joe Kirby
(Twin Falls) Times-News
ID
David Cooper
(Bloomington) Pantagraph
IL
Bill Wills
(Carbondale) The Southern Illinoisian
IL
James Bennett
james.bennett@
thesouthern.com
(Joliet) The Herald News
IL
Bill Wimbiscus
(Springfield) The State Journal-Register
IL
Mike Matulis
(Gary) The Post-Tribune
IN
Paulette Haddix
(Warsaw) Times-Union
IN
Gary Gerard
Bastrop Daily Enterprise
LA
Mark Rainwater
mrainwater@
bastropenterprise.com
(Jackson) The Clarion Ledger
MS
David Hampton
(Lumberton) The Robesonian
NC
Donnie Douglas
(Gallup) Independent
NM
Darrel Beehner
Elko Daily Free Press
NV
Jeffry Mullins
Las Vegas Review-
Journal
NV
John Kerr
Lancaster Eagle-
Gazette
OH
Antionette Taylor-Thomas
(Lorain) The Morning Journal
OH
Thomas Skoch
(Mansfield) News Journal
OH
Carl Hunnell
The Lawton Constitution
OK
David Hale
(Greensburg) Pittsburgh Tribune-
Review
PA
Colin McNickle
(Uniontown) Herald-
Standard
PA
Paul Sunyak
(Wilkes-
Barre) Times-
Leader
PA
Jean LaCoe
The Denton Record-
Chronicle
TX
Mike Trimble
Marshall News Messenger
TX
Phil Latham
(New Braunfels) Herald-
Zeitung
TX
Douglas Toney
Plainview Daily Herald
TX
Kevin Lewis
1kevin@
plainviewdailyherald.com
Waco Tribune-Herald
TX
John Young
(Harrisonburg) Daily News-
Record
VA
Peter Yates
(St. Johnsbury) The Caledonian- Record
VT
Dana Gray
Watertown Daily Times
WI
John McFadden
(West Bend) Daily News
WI
Jill Badzinski
Casper Star-Tribune
WY
Clark Walworth
clark.walworth@
casperstartribune.net
Stars and Stripes
Brooks Bowers