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Fat-shaming columnist gets booted from Fergus Falls newspaper
www.startribune.com ^ | February 20, 2017 — 9:31pm | By John Reinan

Posted on 02/21/2017 6:35:22 AM PST by Red Badger

Newspaper publisher says community response to writer's ouster has been overwhelmingly positive.

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.

(Excerpt) Read more at startribune.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Food; Health/Medicine; Society
KEYWORDS: bodyshaming; fat; fatshaming; obesity
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2mU6USTBRE
1 posted on 02/21/2017 6:35:22 AM PST by Red Badger
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To: Red Badger

There’s nothing worse than skinny people being offended by proxy in the name of how they feel others feel.


2 posted on 02/21/2017 6:40:37 AM PST by Rurudyne (Standup Philosopher)
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To: Red Badger

He wrote it.
They published it.


3 posted on 02/21/2017 6:41:36 AM PST by Celerity
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To: Celerity

Yes, they fired him for their decision................


4 posted on 02/21/2017 6:43:59 AM PST by Red Badger (If "Majority Rule" was so important in South Africa, why isn't it that way here?.......)
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To: Red Badger

Tim Engstrom

PUBLISHER & EDITOR

218-739-7023 tim.engstrom@fergusfallsjournal.com


5 posted on 02/21/2017 6:44:19 AM PST by simpson96
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To: Red Badger

A Virtue Signaling Posse.


6 posted on 02/21/2017 6:45:17 AM PST by Paladin2 (No spellcheck. It's too much work to undo the auto wrong word substitution on mobile devices.)
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To: Red Badger

The article.

http://mcfeely.areavoices.com/2017/02/20/here-is-the-column-that-got-writer-booted-from-fergus-falls-newspaper/


7 posted on 02/21/2017 6:56:48 AM PST by TexasGator
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To: Red Badger
"Not only did this offend many of our readers, it offended us,"

Then why did the morons publish it?

8 posted on 02/21/2017 7:00:21 AM PST by DuncanWaring (The Lord uses the good ones; the bad ones use the Lord.)
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To: Red Badger

Stupid writer writes stupid article. Which they published.

So, why don’t they just let him answer the phone and deal with the complaints for a day, and then counsel him to be a bit nicer in future?

Why do they have to make a big show of sacking him? Can’t he just write a mea culpa column and get on with it?


9 posted on 02/21/2017 7:01:46 AM PST by marron
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To: Red Badger

Last night my son told me that the average weight of American women has just reached the average weight of American men in the 1960’s (160#). He stated that the current “body acceptance “ trend is killing women as obesity is very unhealthy.

The reaction to what was supposed to be a humorous piece just proves that people have no sense of humor anymore.


10 posted on 02/21/2017 7:01:49 AM PST by NorthstarMom
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To: TexasGator

He should be fired.
Not for the fat comments.
For making fun of the way we talk...............


11 posted on 02/21/2017 7:02:17 AM PST by Red Badger (If "Majority Rule" was so important in South Africa, why isn't it that way here?.......)
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To: Red Badger

Sounds like a great opportunity for selling ads for pie and cake stores. Not so muck for fitness centers.


12 posted on 02/21/2017 7:02:42 AM PST by FatherofFive (Islam is EVIL and needs to be eradicated)
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To: Red Badger

The article struck me as more an observation on the fact that the other passenger spoke Jaw-juhn than his size.


13 posted on 02/21/2017 7:03:54 AM PST by DuncanWaring (The Lord uses the good ones; the bad ones use the Lord.)
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To: DuncanWaring
They fired him for their mistake. Now they feel better about themselves. That's how liberalism works..................
14 posted on 02/21/2017 7:04:32 AM PST by Red Badger (If "Majority Rule" was so important in South Africa, why isn't it that way here?.......)
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To: Red Badger

So I just read the article-he was poking fun at southerners more that he was at fat people. No one jumped to the defense of those who speak with a southern accent.


15 posted on 02/21/2017 7:06:03 AM PST by NorthstarMom
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To: marron; NorthstarMom
They fired him for their mistake. Now they feel better about themselves. That's how liberalism works..................
16 posted on 02/21/2017 7:06:24 AM PST by Red Badger (If "Majority Rule" was so important in South Africa, why isn't it that way here?.......)
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To: Red Badger

Fat shaming is a very POSITIVE thing to do. Fat is dangerous and ugly. It’s as bad as telling an anorexic person that she looks great.


17 posted on 02/21/2017 7:06:39 AM PST by LydiaLong
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To: Red Badger

OK, I broke tradition and actually read the article.

I still say, the guy wrote for them for 30 years and they fire him for one silly article? Really? And he was an unpaid columnist, they never paid him in all that time... and they fired him?

Self-righteous prigs.


18 posted on 02/21/2017 7:06:48 AM PST by marron
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To: NorthstarMom

We, as a group, are not a protected class.
Since about 1865 or so..............


19 posted on 02/21/2017 7:07:23 AM PST by Red Badger (If "Majority Rule" was so important in South Africa, why isn't it that way here?.......)
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To: Red Badger

People are too fat these days. Some can’t help it but most can.


20 posted on 02/21/2017 7:09:33 AM PST by Crucial
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