Editor
Joe Maguire originally had an okay from Reuters to start work on his new book, "
Brainless: The Lies and Lunacy of Ann Coulter." But Reuters apparently had a change of heart, and Maguire is no longer in their employ. When asked why they changed their position on the book's publication, a Reuters statement deflected the question, and former co-workers were even told that they "weren't allowed to ask why."
The "what" of this story has been diaried here. But why did Reuters revoke their approval of Maguire's book? I think the right-wing won this fight, because they successfully worked the refs two months ago. In August, Reuters had to withdraw all 920 photographs taken by freelancer Adnan Hajj, because several of them involving the Israel-Lebanon conflict had been photoshopped to make them more sensational, and in some cases, more damning toward the Israelis. Reuters ceased doing business with the photographer, but the wingnut blogs jumped all over it. And it worked, and two months later, Joe Maguire is out of a job. (I hope he sells a lot of books.)
Obviously, it's an oversimplification to say that Maguire was fired because of the Hajj photos. But the cumulative effect of over 30 years of working the refs has paid off for the right. They never think in terms of "water over the bridge," because they know that today's lost cause can result in tomorrow's victory.
With Media Matters and others, we are finally beginning to build the infrastructure to fight back. I hope we can fight back on this issue, and demand that Reuters answer why they reneged on their okay of Maguire's book. It would also be nice if a few of us bought the book. It's being released tomorrow.