Founding editor fired as columnist by the West Highland Free Press
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Version 0 of 1. Brian Wilson, the founding editor of the West Highland Free Press, has been fired from the newspaper, reports the (Glasgow) Herald. Wilson, who was a Labour minister in Tony Blair’s government, has been a columnist for the Skye-based paper for most of its 43-year history. He was sacked after defending a fellow columnist, Donald Macleod, who has also been sacked. A third columnist, broadcaster Maggie Cunningham, has said she will not write again for the newspaper. A freedom-of-speech controversy broke out after Macleod, a professor of theology, wrote a column about the spread of Islam on 22 May, in which he stated: “All minorities prefer to keep a low profile and avoid trouble. Generations of British Muslims have done exactly that, many have made an invaluable contribution to British society, and many are perfectly prepared to listen quietly while Christians ‘witness’ to them. But when minorities become majorities, things change... in the event of Islamic dominance in Britain our friendly Muslim shopkeepers will have little option but to march behind the radicals”. Wilson then wrote in his column in support of Macleod, arguing that his piece was leading to “wider questions about Islamic influence within Europe, including implications for democracy and freedom”. In a statement about the matter, the West Highland Free Press confirmed that the columnists would no longer be writing for the paper, adding: “We thank both Brian Wilson and Professor Macleod for their immense contribution to the paper over many years. They have rightly earned their reputation as erudite, passionate and respected writers and their regular offerings in the West Highland Free Press will be missed by some readers. Further than this, we have no comment to make”. Macleod, the former principal of the Free Church College in Edinburgh, had been writing for the paper for 24 years. Ian McCormack, editor of the West Highland Free Press for nearly 40 years and regarded as a close associate of Wilson, refused to make any comment. But a senior executive said it was painful to lose the long-standing columnists and had been “difficult to handle”. The Free Press became an employee-owned newspaper in October 2009. Sources: The Herald/BBC/Private conversation |