A journalism professor says the controversy over an anti-diversity opinion piece published in B次元官网网址� and then pulled online from B次元官网网址� the Vancouver Sun has nothing to do with freedom of expression.
B次元官网网址淛ournalists have always had the ability to decide what to publish and broadcast and what not to publish and broadcast,B次元官网网址� Sean Holman with CalgaryB次元官网网址檚 Mount Royal University said Monday.
B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檙e not common carriers. WeB次元官网网址檙e not the telephone system.B次元官网网址�
Mark Hecht, an instructor of geography at Mount Royal, argued in the column that showed on the weekend that more diversity means less social trust. He commended Denmark for becoming more restrictive toward immigrants.
B次元官网网址淐an Canada learn from Denmark? The jury is out,B次元官网网址� Hecht wrote. B次元官网网址淏ut the minimum requirement is that we say goodbye to diversity, tolerance and inclusion if we wish to be a society that can rebuild the trust we used to have in one another and start accepting a new norm for immigration policy B次元官网网址� compatibility, cohesion and social trust.B次元官网网址�
The piece was removed from the paperB次元官网网址檚 website on Saturday, but not before it went to the printing press.
B次元官网网址淚 am dismayed by the suppression of open and rational debate in this country,B次元官网网址� Hecht wrote in an email Monday.
Holman said he and many of his colleagues were troubled by the piece. Several Vancouver Sun journalists also denounced it on social media.
Holman said newspapers have no obligation to run op-eds B次元官网网址� columns submitted by people unaffiliated with the paper B次元官网网址� that donB次元官网网址檛 pass journalistic muster.
He said one major red flag in HechtB次元官网网址檚 piece was that it cites the Gatestone Institute, a think tank that has been widely criticized for spreading anti-Muslim misinformation.
The op-ed may help fuel anti-immigrant sentiment in Canada, he suggested.
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B次元官网网址淭he Vancouver Sun should not have published this op-ed. It does not meet our standard of helping facilitate the kind of rational, empathetic, informed decision-making expected of us in a democracy.B次元官网网址�
The SunB次元官网网址檚 editor-in-chief, Harold Munro, apologized for the piece he said did not meet the paperB次元官网网址檚 journalistic standards.
B次元官网网址淭he Vancouver Sun is committed to promoting and celebrating diversity, tolerance and inclusion. Our vibrant community and nation are built on these important pillars,B次元官网网址� Munro wrote.
B次元官网网址淲e are reviewing our local workflow and editorial processes to ensure greater oversight and accountability so that this does not happen again.B次元官网网址�
HechtB次元官网网址檚 biography on the Mount Royal website says his main interests include B次元官网网址渋nvasive species dispersal, invasion, colonization and evolutionary adaptation, especially as it relates to European ecological dominance.B次元官网网址�
He has a self-published book called B次元官网网址淭he Rules of Invasion: Why Europeans Naturally Invaded the New World.B次元官网网址�
Neither Hecht nor Mount Royal indicated whether he still has his job at the university.
B次元官网网址淢ount Royal, like all universities, is a place for debate, for freedom of expression and for the respectful exchange of ideas,B次元官网网址� Jonathan Withey, dean of the faculty of science and technology, said in an e-mailed statement.
B次元官网网址淭he ideas expressed in this newspaper op-ed, while protected by freedom of expression, do not represent my personal views, nor the position of Mount Royal University as a whole.B次元官网网址�
Lauren Krugel, The Canadian Press
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