Columnist Samuel Francis, who called himself the "right-wing edge" of the Washington Times, has proven a bit too extreme for the conservative newspaper. And his downfall, oddly enough, was triggered by an article in The Washington Post.
Sources at the paper say Editor in Chief Wesley Pruden decided he did not want the Times associated with such views after looking into other Francis writings, in which he advocated the possible deportation of legal immigrants and forced birth control for welfare mothers.
"We mutually decided we had irreconcilable differences, and Sam resigned and we accepted his resignation," Pruden said.
Francis sees a darker message: "I really don't think what I said was beyond the pale. Anyone who looks at what happened to me is going to feel the hairs rise up on the back of his neck. You're basically firing someone because of the opinions he expressed . . .
"I understand what I said was controversial," said Francis, now at a conservative think tank. "I believe there are racial differences, there are natural differences between the races. I don't believe that one race is better than another. There's reasonably solid evidence for IQ differences, personality and behavior differences. I understand those things have been taken to justify segregation and white supremacy. That is not my intent."
A former aide to the late GOP senator John East of North Carolina, Francis, 48, is an award-winning editorial writer who joined the Times in 1986. The paper gave him a column five years later, and it was quickly syndicated.
Pruden cut back on the column in June after Francis chided the Southern Baptists for a resolution expressing "repentance" for once supporting slavery. "Neither slavery' nor racism' as an institution is a sin," Francis wrote.
Asked about Francis's contention that he had bowed to political correctness, Pruden said: "I've been accused of being hard-right, hard-nosed, lack of compassion and all that. I've never been accused of being soft on conservatism. That's a new sensation for me."
Footnote: As if to underscore the point, Pruden recently wrote: "If O.J. Simpson is as guilty as most people believe he is, and half the man his idolaters say . . . he can't live with half his memories. One night he may pour himself a snifter of fine cognac, perhaps indulge one last Havana cigar, take out a .38-caliber pistol, load it with a single bullet, and do the right thing." Family Affair
National Public Radio has severed its ties with an American correspondent in Israel after learning that she is married to a spokesman for the Palestinians.
NPR officials initially denied that the part-time reporter, Maureen Meehan, was married to a Palestinian official after the charge was made last month by the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA). They said the husband's name, Jiries Atrash, was a common one. They now blame that on a "miscommunication" with Meehan.
"We didn't have adequate information about her husband's relationship with the Palestinian government, which she was covering," said NPR Editorial Director John Dinges. "It's common sense that if you're a journalist you don't cover your spouse." Andrea Levin, CAMERA's president, said that "we are very concerned about NPR's tolerance of shoddiness in reports such as those by Meehan."
Meehan, also a stringer for Newsday, even quoted her husband in one report. Editor Anthony Marro says the paper dropped her last week. Elizabethan Drama
The Elizabeth Reporter, a New Jersey weekly, has a little problem with Mayor J. Christian Bollwage.
In a lawsuit filed this week, the two-year-old paper says the mayor and some of his aides have ripped up newspapers, ordered them removed from the local library and other public places, and thrown them in the trash.
"We almost feel like we're in Cuba under Castro, or Russia under Stalin," said Bob Griffith, a former city council member who does writing and layout. "A public official is actually confiscating our newspaper. It's unbelievable. We have eyewitnesses. We have depositions. He seems to be doing everything he can to destroy us."
Bollwage did not dispute the allegations, saying only that he would address them in a counter-suit. He said the 10,000-circulation paper, which is staffed by some of his political opponents, was "a free political publication" that could run afoul of election laws. "It is not an unbiased source of news. . . . When they call me a kraut and a Polack, it's very difficult to take that as a news source," he said. "It spews hate and venom." O.J. Redux
The question: "Did the Media Overfeed a Starving Public?" The answer: a 12-page special section in the Los Angeles Times. The report by David Shaw includes some interesting details.
A low point: The "CBS Evening News" reported this "exclusive" in August 1994: "It appears tonight that we will get to hear O.J. Simpson's side of the story in his own words, under oath. According to sources, the defense plans to have Simpson testify at his trial."
Another low point: CNN quoted an unnamed source as saying bloody clothes were found in Simpson's washing machine.
Some numbers: During the 16-month case, the New York Times published 52 front-page Simpson stories, fewer than any other major paper in America. The Washington Post published 70, the Boston Globe 102, Philadelphia Inquirer 121, the Atlanta Journal and Constitution 126, the Miami Herald 129 and USA Today 143. The L.A. Times led the pack with 398 front-page stories. Same Old Wife
The Washington Times, covering the retirement of White House counsel Abner Mikva, noted that "he had recently remarried." The correction: "He has been married for 47 years."
