Fat-shaming columnist gets booted from Fergus Falls newspaper

[zenkai]

But ultimately the editor agreed with them, and the question is how much more faux-outrage has been generated by the articles about the column being dropped, from people who don't even read the paper in question (which I assume you also characterise as bullying as we seem to have reached a point where anyone complaining about anything can be classed as "bullying" by the easily outraged.)

A chicken shit editor getting bullied by extremist doesn't mean they agreed with them.

[Dhrizzle]

A chicken shit editor getting bullied by extremist doesn't mean they agreed with them.

It must be nice to be able to invent new realities to agree with your point.

[Pratt]

I read the column and think it was in poor taste, but come on. I consider myself to be pretty damn liberal but this X shaming stuff is completely out of control. Go listen to Eddie Murphy's stuff from the 80s and get back to me.

[zenkai]

It must be nice to be able to invent new realities to agree with your point.

Funny that the editor didn't have a problem publishing it, or do you think the just publish shit before reading it? Sorry I will side with common sense and logic on this one.

[Machismo]

The outrage over his firing is easily as SJW-ish as anyone pushing to get him from being published in the first place. This is nothing more than an unpaid guy who wrote something that wasn't very funny, and was arguably insulting to some people. Considering that we have people in this country who are fired for telling the truth, or teaching science correctly, this is not even a blip on the radar.

[analmoose]

As someone who has struggled with weight for a while, and just now having managed to get a handle on it, I think 'Fat Shaming' should increase. These people live unhealthy lives and make excuses for it. Granted I am overweight, it takes some considerable effort to go from being a normal overweight person to the giant balls you see walking/rolling around everywhere.

At the end of the day, people should be held responsible and accountable for their own lives and what they do with it. Being fat is not like being gay, you made the choice to become fat, you didn't make the choice to become gay. We need to stop protecting the whales, for their own sake. There are ways to improve things and to make oneself healthier, it just takes proper eating and self discipline. No exercise involved, seriously.

There is nothing glamorous about dying at an early age from heart failure... I am sure peoples children appreciate that their parents were beautiful in their own bodies up until the point they became orphans.

Ugh... sorry, the term fat shaming is like a trigger to me. An excuse to avoid reality.

This, so much. I'm a fairly large guy, 6'1, built because i lift weights regularly. However I'm still a fatass. Generally I fluctuate from 210-270 each year, because I get comfy with a new chick, or lazy, or whatever shitty excuse I make for myself.

Point being, I have been in the shoes of a fit person, an obese person, and just average. I can guarantee you you feel 100% better in shape than any other time, that includes when you're shoving cheeseburgers down your throat and whatever comfort foods you "should just enjoy because lifes short"

The ease of movement, and just general feeling of healthiness is indescribable compared to when you are fat.

[Scyclone]

This, so much. I'm a fairly large guy, 6'1, built because i lift weights regularly. However I'm still a fatass. Generally I fluctuate from 210-270 each year, because I get comfy with a new chick, or lazy, or whatever shitty excuse I make for myself.

Point being, I have been in the shoes of a fit person, an obese person, and just average. I can guarantee you you feel 100% better in shape than any other time, that includes when you're shoving cheeseburgers down your throat and whatever comfort foods you "should just enjoy because lifes short"

The ease of movement, and just general feeling of healthiness is indescribable compared to when you are fat.

The real lesson of it is that everything can be enjoyed in moderation. If you eat healthy generally, you can have your moments of eating 'bad' stuff for you at times. It is a combination of portion control, self discipline and just overall taking responsibility for what you do. In truth, it makes things better for you in the long run anyway.

Most people think of extremes when it comes to stuff: "Never eat enjoyable food again!" or "Lifes short, eat a cheesecake laden cow!"

The thing is... with a little bit of creativity, and self responsibility, you can still eat on the regular most of the stuff you thought you couldn't. And then every now and then, can eat the real thing if you'd prefer.

So don't mind me, I am off to go eat a cheeseburger wrapped in lettuce. Followed by a piece of a strawberry shortcake that contains no sugar or flour, and yet is still sweet and very tasty.

[Tijuana]

This guy wrote a humor column for 30 years that appeared in a dozen or small newspapers across Minneasota, a Northern state in the US, almost Canada. He writes about having to sit next to a fat guy on a plane ride and the problems with it. He's been fired from at least one of his papers due to public outcry.

"Not only did this offend many of our readers, it offended us," the editorial said. "Bullying others is not OK. Body shaming is not OK. … The list goes on, but you get the picture. Let's debate the issues, not make personal attacks on people."

It's a humor column okay? Comedians have always been given wide leeway.




http://www.startribune.com/fat-shami...per/414260203/

Alan Linda's column about his experience sitting next to an overweight airplane passenger will be the last one he writes for the Fergus Falls Daily Journal.

The newspaper last week expressed regret for printing the column and said it had parted ways with Linda, an unpaid community columnist who has written the paper's "Prairie Spy" column for 30 years.

"I've gotten an overwhelmingly positive response over the decision," Tim Engstrom, the Daily Journal's editor and publisher, said Monday. "People say it's the right thing to do."

In an editorial last week, the newspaper's editorial board explained the decision to cut ties with Linda, an Otter Tail County resident whose humorous columns have run in several other Minnesota newspapers over the years.

"Last Friday, his column was about sitting next to a larger person on an airplane," the board wrote. "In the column, he called the person 'fat' and went on to describe a lack of sympathy for the man's weight issue.

"Not only did this offend many of our readers, it offended us," the editorial said. "Bullying others is not OK. Body shaming is not OK. … The list goes on, but you get the picture. Let's debate the issues, not make personal attacks on people."

The staff made a bad decision in publishing Linda's column, the editorial said.

Asked to comment on his release, Linda e-mailed that he didn't understand what the dispute was about.

Engstrom said he has no doubts about how his readers feel.

"When you're a community newspaper like the Daily Journal, you're close to the community," he said.

"They really let you know about things."

Body-shaming is a behavior that once may have been acceptable, but isn't any longer, Engstrom said.

"Personally, I think it's a generational thing," he said.

"I think at one point you could talk about someone wearing glasses as a 'four-eye,' or make fun of a person's weight or the color of their hair. Now people are, 'No bullying, no body-shaming.'

"It all goes into the category of what's acceptable these days, along with racism and homophobia. They're kind of asking adults not to act like children."

Meh, Free Speech is not speech without consequences.

[d00mGuArD]

So... wait... they fired an UNPAID community columnist ...

[Dhrizzle]

Funny that the editor didn't have a problem publishing it, or do you think the just publish shit before reading it? Sorry I will side with common sense and logic on this one.

The editor's statement on the matter makes it perfectly clear why the column was published, but why don't you just ignore that and make up your own story using "common sense and logic?"

[Deleted]

I hate fat people. Why do they get fat in the first place? It is a dumb thing to do.

[Nemrod]

Crazy idea: Calling people names and treating them like shit isn't a helpful way of combating obesity or... well, much of anything. Being against fat shaming is not being pro-obesity. People should be encouraged to be healthy, but we need to do that through constructive and effective means, not shortsighted and lazy cathartic ones that appeal to individual arrogance.

While I agree with you, you cannot always take the high road.
Who honestly can say he never thought "Not this seat next to me" when a 300 pound person came walking down the aisle on a plane or on a train?

[DarkAmbient]

Nothing wrong with the article, big fuss over nothing.

[zenkai]

Meh, Free Speech is not speech without consequences.

If speech has consequences, it's not free speech, speech you agree with doesn't have to be protected, speech don't agree with does.

[Tijuana]

If speech has consequences, it's not free speech, speech you agree with doesn't have to be protected, speech don't agree with does.

You could not be more wrong. Free Speech only protects you from government consequences, not getting punched in the face.

[Xargoth6634]

He shouldn't continue to be published merely based on the fact that he's not very funny; declining to continue accepting his work because he commented on the increasing obesity epidemic in our country, though, is fucking stupid.

[burzian]

If speech has consequences, it's not free speech, speech you agree with doesn't have to be protected, speech don't agree with does.

This is same absurd argument that you hear so much from defenders of shock jocks and internet pseudo-journalist trolls after they invariably lose their distribution deals. In your reality, free speech means forcing a newspaper to publish articles they don't want from a columnist they find reprehensible?

I'll never forget in 2nd grade when we first learned about the bill of rights. Congress shall make no law preventing lucrative publishing deals...

[zenkai]

You could not be more wrong. Free Speech only protects you from government consequences, not getting punched in the face.

Um actually it does, if I say fuck off and you punch me, guess who is going to jail? It isn't me. We do have limited free speech here I will say, you can't just threaten people but it but it doesn't change the definition of free speech.

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This is same absurd argument that you hear so much from defenders of shock jocks and internet pseudo-journalist trolls after they invariably lose their distribution deals. In your reality, free speech means forcing a newspaper to publish articles they don't want from a columnist they find reprehensible?

I'll never forget in 2nd grade when we first learned about the bill of rights. Congress shall make no law preventing lucrative publishing deals...

http://www.dictionary.com/browse/freedom-of-speech

[Woadnson]

Um actually it does, if I say fuck off and you punch me, guess who is going to jail? It isn't me.

And he isn't going to jail over anything to do with free speech.

[Tinykong]

The article isn't just some general commentary, it's making fun of a specific person. Not surprising the news paper canned him, the article isn't even funny, it's just some guy ranting about having to sit next to a fat person on an airplane. I can read that for free on social media.