Or, Let slip the dogs of political correctness!
Editor & Publisher: Book Publisher 'Bitching' to 'New York Times' -- Again
By Joe Strupp
If The New York Times thought it had heard the last from Siles Press of Los Angeles after the book publisher complained last year that the Times had referenced one of its titles, but censored the name, it was mistaken.
The publisher of "Chess Bitch: Women in the Ultimate Intellectual Sport" by Jennifer Shahade, Siles took issue with the paper in November after the book was mentioned twice in the Nov. 27, 2005 edition of the Times, but not by name.
The first story was an Op-Ed piece by Shahade, titled "All The Right Moves," about chess. The paper's tagline at the end of the column described Shahade as a women's chess champ and "the author of a recent book about women in chess."
The other story, a Styles section piece titled, "Sex and Chess. Is she a Queen or a Pawn," quoted Shahade on the subject of women in the game, but also described her as someone who "has just published a book about her experiences as a woman playing a game dominated by men."
Siles publishers complained to the Times after the stories ran, calling the move to omit the book's title "censorship." Their gripe brought notice by Business Wire and the Chicago Sun-Times, which gave the Times its "Pusillanimity Prize" for the action.
Heehee.
So what has ruffled Siles' feathers now? Co-publisher Gwen Feldman contends the Times is living by a double standard, citing the publication Aug. 6 of the B-word in a New York Times Magazine story titled, "Pop Goes the Feminist."
For George Bush The Elder, the b-word is broccoli.
"They said the reason that they wouldn't print the title [of Shahade's book] was that they didn't want to offend many of the readers," Feldman told E&P. "Why is it okay now?"
That's easy. Folks who work at The Old Gray Bitch are too stupid to play chess and resent those who aren't.
A search of the Times' online archives brought more than 700 references to the word in the past 25 years, ranging from a 1981 review of the book, "The Cat and The King" by Louis Auchincloss to a 2006 collection of short music reviews. Just this month, on Aug. 3, the Times discussed several books in a business story, including Workman's ''Stitch'n Bitch Crochet: The Happy Hooker,'' by knitting expert Debbie Stoller. On April 30, William Safire referred, by name, to Bitch magazine in his Sunday language column.
I wonder how many of those 700 refer to Hitlery Schicklgruber (N-NY)...
In a letter to Executive Editor Bill Keller, dated Aug. 14, Feldman writes that Times editors "have managed to take hypocrisy to a new level. I refer to the Q&A ... in which the word 'bitch' is used liberally, as in the name of a magazine the article reports about and in describing a certain brand of women."
Mr. Felldman is not being fair to the editors. They are not hypocrites, they are fascists.
The Q&A with Andi Zeisler, co-founder of Bitch magazine, includes discussion of the recently released 10-year collection of the magazine's work, titled "Bitchfest." It mentions the itch-sounding word at least eight times, much to Feldman's angst.
"Now it is permissible to flaunt a word once so dastardly you dared not print it? Did The Times' community standards and sense of taste change so radically in the past few months?" Feldman writes. "In any case, The Times still owes Ms. Shahade a public apology for its cavalier misconduct and dismissive censorship. We as her publisher fully expect the same."
I'm guessing "Bitch" magazine is a left-fascist rag, while people who play chess need brains, discipline, logical thinking, manners, and respect for the rules. These are all things that The Old Gray B-Word hates with a ferocious passion.
Times spokeswoman Catherine Mathis has not responded to a request from E&P for comment. Feldman said she had not received any response to the letter.
Another surprise! Ain't life grand, kiddies?
No comments:
Post a Comment