Newspaper Clients, and Syndicate, Stick With Coulter

By: Dave Astor and Greg Mitchell Ann Coulter hasn't lost any of her 100-plus newspaper clients, or the support of her syndicate, Universal Press Syndicate, despite her nasty remarks in her new book about 9/11 widows and her comment in an online interview implying that, perhaps, U.S. Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.) should be "fragged."

A Universal spokesman said there were no discussions going on there about dropping the columnist.

Why is Coulter keeping all her subscribers? "Ann's client newspapers stick with her because she has a loyal fan base of conservative readers who look forward to reading her columns in their local newspapers," Universal Director of Communications Kathie Kerr said in a statement, after being queried today by E&P.

Kerr added that the syndicate "represents a full spectrum of editorial viewpoints, from very conservative to very liberal writers and cartoonists. Many people enjoy Ann's writing -- after all, her latest book did go to No. 1 on the best seller on Amazon within 48 hours of its publication."

In a phone interview, asked if Coulter's recent remarks went beyond political views to appalling personal remarks or hate speech, Kerr replied: "We've never felt that it is a syndicate's job to censor commentary. It is the nature of commentary that it is to inflame." She said they "leave it to editors" to run or hold certain columns or cartoons, but they are not allowed to edit them.

Editors, she pointed out, have chosen not to run certain "Doonesbury" or "Boondocks" cartoons, which come from the liberal side of the spectrum. Asked if any paper had ever decided not to run a conservative column or cartoon, she said, "If it's happened, we don't know about it."

Kerr said the syndicate signs up the creators and then "we leave it up to the newspaper." Asked several times if the syndicate took ultimate responsibility for choosing its clients and distributing their work -- or if there was any line Coulter might cross -- she repeatedly said, "It is not our job to censor."

Coulter's remarks in recent days that have stirred outrage did not come from a column. Kerr said the syndicate is only concerned about "what is in the columns that we distribute."

In her latest column today, Coulter writes, among other things, " that two facts are now universally accepted -- liberals are godless and Hillary's husband is a rapist."

The huge book sales for Coulter have come after a massive publicity drive during which, among other things, she called certain 9/11 widows "witches" who have been "enjoying" their husbands' deaths. She also said that their husbands were likely going to divorce them anyway.

Another Universal creator, liberal editorial cartoonist Ted Rall, also satirized some 9/11 widows in a 2002 drawing -- but, in his case, was hurt financially. Rall, who called Coulter's comments "a lot meaner" than his cartoon, noted that he lost WashingtonPost.com as a client.

And, in a Tuesday column linked on Rall's blog, Phil Reisman of The Journal News in White Plains, N.Y., discussed other fallout from that 2002 cartoon: "Rall was effectively roasted by the conservatives. For example, right-wing bloggers flooded Men's Health magazine, where his cartoon appeared, and he lost that outlet. His work used to appear frequently in the political cartoon section of The New York Times Week In Review, but that was stopped. In the end, Rall figures the backlash cost him $40,000 to $50,000 in business."

Reisman added that Coulter "is hardly being condemned by the more prominent righties like Sean Hannity. On the contrary, Hannity has promoted Coulter's book on his Web site. She's gotten a million dollars and counting in free publicity. Hannity, who once called Rall 'mean, cruel, and thoughtless,' evidently feels that Coulter by contrast is a deep thinker who fairly examines the facts and then delivers the truth as she sees it with tender loving care."

Coulter's controversial comment about Murtha came after she was asked at the RightWingNews site to comment on the ex-Marine who now opposes the Iraq War. She said of Murtha: "The reason soldiers invented 'fragging.'" This is a term describing soldiers killing their own officers, originally in Vietnam.

On that site on Friday, the interviewer John Hawkins commented: "Although, I wouldn't have phrased that like Ann did, I would say in her defense that in that quote she didn't say that she wanted to kill Murtha, she'd didn't say that she thought he should be killed, and she didn't say that she thought Murtha should have been fragged. Is that hair splitting?"

The Universal columnist has also "joked" about killing other people, including Arabs, Muslims, and U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, and suggested that blowing up The New York Times building might be a good idea, especially if the reporters and editors were still inside.