The editor of Channel 4 News has hit back at Kelvin Mackenzie’s criticism of him to a “c**k” by poking fun at Mackenzie's journalism.
The former Sun editor attacked Ben de Pear, who runs Channel 4’s daily current affairs programme, in his column on Sunday.
“If the new C4 dating show [Naked Attraction], in which contestants have their faces hidden but display their penises and vaginas, is ever short of a large c**k they could always ask the current editor of C4 News to appear,” MacKenzie wrote.
De Pear responded by describing MacKenzie’s rant as one of his rare examples of ““decent, logical [and] non-discriminatory journalism” which he can endorse.
The pair has been engaged in an ongoing row which first emerged after Mackenzie complained Fatima Manji, a Muslim reporter who wears a hijab, had been selected to report on the Nice terror attacks for Channel 4 News in his column. MacKenzie then threatened to complain to Ofcom about the issue.
MacKenzie was widely criticised for his column which asked: “Why did Channel 4 have a presenter in a hijab fronting coverage of the Muslim terror in Nice?”
In the article, MacKenzie said he “couldn't believe his eyes” when he saw Manji reporting on the terror attack, saying she wasn't one of the “regular presenters”.
“Was it appropriate for her to be on camera when there has been yet another shocking slaughter by a Muslim?“ Mackenzie wrote. ”Was it done to stick one in the eye of the ordinary viewer who looks at the hijab as a sign of slavery of Muslim women by a male-dominated and clearly violent religion?”
Channel 4 condemned MacKenzie’s comments, saying they were “offensive, completely unacceptable” and comparable to inciting racial hatred.
In a statement, Pear said: “ITN accepts and understands that our reporters and presenters are in the public eye and can expect criticism and comment from many quarters, including newspaper columnists. What it cannot accept is an employee being singled out on the basis of her religion.
“We are not going to simply stand by when an employee is subject to an act of religious discrimination”.
In the aftermath of the article, Manji accused Mackenzie of smearing Muslims and dismissed his comments as “one wild screed in a long-running and widespread campaign to intimidate Muslims out of public life”.
Ipso has received over 1800 complaints in relation to the article.
