Barbara Amiel responds to Steubenville.

[Gravekeeper]

(I find that a sad little comment in itself when Canadians are also not aware of their own journalists, even if they are absolute twats such as Barbara Amiel.)

Oh, I'm aware of our own journalists. But this woman is a British twat that writes twaddle for a limited market that seems to be mainly limited to Toronto. She has contributed nothing except being a twat ( married to a dick ) and doesn't deserve our awareness.

[siead_lietrathua]

i just tend to not care who wrote the article as much as the content within the article itself. i wouldn't want to let my own bias for the author sway my opinion on the article itself. if an article is trash, it tends to be obvious anyway. or, as one of my journalism profs put it, the news is the point, not the newsmakers.

[Ree]

i just tend to not care who wrote the article as much as the content within the article itself.

Exactly!
I fear the point of the thread has been lost within the slight derailment to the "US-centric" accusation and discussion.

While many of the members, who are aware of who she is, feel she is an absolute twat who doesn't deserve the print space given to her, the fact is, for some reason that escapes me, she has been given some credence by the media at least within Canada.
She has written an article with an almost implication that the girl was responsible for her own rape, and it was just "boys will be boys."
Regardless of the argument that McLean's magazine doesn't qualify as top Canadian journalism, her article has been published in a magazine with a circulation of around 321,000, as well as online with unknown numbers on the people the article has reached.

She is unapologetic about her comments, as she usually is.

However, I don't feel she has any sway with the article, because most people reading already have an opinion, either the same as she is expressing, or completely different. Those that disagree are actually highly offended, and I can't see very many undecided people saying, "Hey, ya know, she has a point."

[lordlundar]

She's not that well-known over here, quite frankly. Mind you, we exported her and husband dearest a while back and didn't notice.

Rapscallion

And apparently we imported her and her husband and didn't notice.

At least not until her husband got on the wrong side of the law here at any rate.

[Gravekeeper]

Regardless of the argument that McLean's magazine doesn't qualify as top Canadian journalism, her article has been published in a magazine with a circulation of around 321,000, as well as online with unknown numbers on the people the article has reached.

To put those numbers into context, Cosmo has a circulation of 3.3 million. Reader's Digest 5.5 million. MacClean's also has a rather small web presence with a readership of around 50-60k. Canadians go to CBC ( 750k+ online readership, 25th most visited website in all of Canada ) when they want news -.-

Again, I don't think Macleans registers much on the national consciousness outside of Ontario. No one knowing who this twat is isn't a surprise. If we HAD known we could have stopped the British from sending her here.

So I shall now blame Raps for all of this.

[Peppergirl]

I don't give two shits about this bitch. There, I said it. I'm an ignorant American.

Oh, and people need to quit being so fucking thin skinned.

Jesus.

The fact is, many Americans are not knowledgeable about politics outside our own country. Did Shadow unfairly generalize about this fact? Perhaps a bit. But enough and to the degree to warrant several subsequent pages of carrying on and being offended? Come on.

Gee. I hope I don't offend anyone with my salty language.

[Peppergirl]

So I shall now blame Raps for all of this.

Yes, lets do!

[Ree]

To put those numbers into context, Cosmo has a circulation of 3.3 million. Reader's Digest 5.5 million. MacClean's also has a rather small web presence with a readership of around 50-60k.

Maybe it is an "Ontario" thing, but I have yet to go into any waiting room of any doctor's office, optometrist, dentist, etc., and not see an issue of McLean's magazine.
Just sayin...

Someone who might not normally even read it is probably going to have curiosity piqued by the title of her article, and it will get attention, even if only for the minutes it takes to read the article.
The thing is, I think we are kind of in agreement that her article isn't going to become a world-wide controversy, and she won't be taken seriously by anyone with a brain.

[Gravekeeper]

The thing is, I think we are kind of in agreement that her article isn't going to become a world-wide controversy, and she won't be taken seriously by anyone with a brain.

Maclean's appears to have a few "Twat said what?" controversies in their history now by the looks of it. Maybe its the only way they can garner any attention these days.

[Hyena Dandy]

I was a bit offended by the comment, yes. I have to say, I didn't expect pretty much everyone to know about her, and I kind of hoped that people would just read the article, but I think "Who is she?" is a valid question, I just don't think it's that important. Who she is, in the context of this article, is a total dick.


Out of curiousity, I asked a Belgain, three Brits, two Australians and Mexican, and none of them had any idea who Barbara Amiel was either, so I think "You don't know who she is? Oh you AMERICAN" is a bit of an unreasonable expectation.

That said, I was sharing this because I found it pretty horrible that anyone, anywhere, would say something like this. It just seems unconscionable to be treating things like rape and child pornography as these 'minor vices.' Even in the context of 'Maybe we should allow pedophiles to get help without ruining their lives for all time,' I think that watching child pornography should be treated as a PROBLEM. It's something that is not good. I think it's ridiculous to compare it to homosexuality, abortion, and 50 Shades of Grey, and treat these things as 'minor vices.'

That, I think, is the meat of the conversation. While, yes, I was a bit offended, because I think "Not knowing all political commentators" is not an example of American-centric assholery, I don't think my offense, and other people's offense, is what really is important to this article.

[Rapscallion]

Again, I don't think Macleans registers much on the national consciousness outside of Ontario. No one knowing who this twat is isn't a surprise. If we HAD known we could have stopped the British from sending her here.

It worked with the Pilgrim Fathers, so...

So I shall now blame Raps for all of this.

Yes, lets do!

A spanking! A spanking!

To be fair, the only reason I knew who she was is that I used to read Private Eye and she occasionally cropped up in there as wife to Conrad Black, someone the Eye said at the time deserved jail.

I like the Eye. Just saying. Good track record on noting such as this.

Rapscallion

[Gravekeeper]

The blame never sets on the British empire~

[bara]

The blame never sets on the British empire~

And this quote is why I have such great respect for you my friend.

[SongsOfDragons]

The blame never sets on the British empire~

One I heard somewhere: The sun never sets on the British Empire because God sure as hell doesn't trust the British in the dark!

[The Shadow]

I took that to mean that his comments were not directed personally at OP, who he was actually apologizing to (not Greenday or Aethian) nor at those Americans who are knowledgeable about Canada, but were still directed (in a rather condescending and insulting fashion, IMO) toward Greenday and Aethian.

To be totally honest, linguist's (and that other poster above whose name escapes me right now, but also identified as Canadian) assessment was correct; my comments *were* directed at Aethian and Greenday - and also I was expressing an irritation that is common among Canadians and other non-US nationalities.

And you know what? I don't apologize for it because as I said the phrasing of their questions - "Who the hell is she?" and "How could I possibly never have heard of her until now?" (OK not those exact words, but the general tone and sentiment is pretty much the same) is tactless and uncalled for.

Suppose someone had quoted something Ann Coulter said and I didn't know who she was.* I would do either one of two things; I would politely ask who she was or more likely; I'd do a quick google search and it would take all of five seconds to have my answer. I wouldn't ask "who the hell is she and why haven't I heard of her


*Of course I DO know who she is. Because ss Canadians, (I) we can't help knowing so much about US culture and politics because we're their closest neighbour, trade partner and we have so much in common with them, plus the fact that U.S culture is exported internationally and we just are exposed to more of it compared to say, the UK or Australia or another officially English speaking country.