Showing posts with label sacking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sacking. Show all posts
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
THE GLOBE AND MAIL: The dismissal of a pair of political satirists is seen as one more move in the President’s campaign to control the fourth estate
Most of the two million listeners who tuned in to hear French political satirists Stéphane Guillon and Didier Porte thought their routines were hilarious. Not so President Nicolas Sarkozy, who found their sendups of politicians, including himself, “insulting, vulgar and nasty.”
As it often goes when France’s media and government clash, Mr. Sarkozy’s view prevailed. And so Mr. Guillon and Mr. Porte signed on one recent morning to announce they had been fired from public broadcaster France Inter radio.
“Step right up, ladies and gentlemen. Total clear-out sale of satirists,” Mr. Guillon railed in his farewell sketch. “My chances of being on the air again next year are about as good as the chance the French team will make the second round of the World Cup.”
Although the two comics maintained their humour until the end, their firing has raised serious new concerns about political interference in the French media. Continue reading and comment >>> Anita Elash | Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Related:
THE TELEGRAPH: French Radio Station Fires Political Satirist: France's fiercest and most popular satirist, who has become the scourge of President Nicolas Sarkozy and top politicians, has been fired from the country's leading current affairs radio programme, sparking cries of political censorship. >>> Henry Samuel in Paris | Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
THE TELEGRAPH: France's fiercest and most popular satirist, who has become the scourge of President Nicolas Sarkozy and top politicians, has been fired from the country's leading current affairs radio programme, sparking cries of political censorship.
Two million listeners tuned into Stéphane Guillon's weekday 7.55am slots on France Inter, its equivalent of BBC Radio 4's Today programme, in which he has savaged public figures, both Left and Right for the past two and a half years.
Top political figures, including Mr Sarkozy, had been calling for his head for months, as they believe he has overstepped the mark between humour and insults. He says he has merely returned political satire to its rightful place in France, whose "bling" President he has thanked for single-handedly reviving the genre.
Mr Guillon's dismissal inevitably raised questions of political interference, as the head of Radio France – the public radio group running seven public stations – is directly nominated by Mr Sarkozy, and the head of France Inter is a friend of the President's wife.
It comes days after Mr Sarkozy summoned the editor-in-chief of Le Monde to the Elysée and reportedly threatened to remove state aid if he sold the prestigious newspaper to a group of Left-wing businessmen.
Jean-Luc Hees, the head of Radio France, announced yesterday that Mr Guillon would not be returning to the airwaves after the summer break. He said: "Humour must not be confiscated by little tyrants." Despite the huge audience figures, he said: "this comedy slot has been a failure" and was of "great intellectual poverty".
"If humour is reduced to insults, I cannot tolerate it for others, nor for myself," he said, saying Mr Guillon had "spat" on him in his sketches. >>> Henry Samuel in Paris | Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Saturday, July 25, 2009
THE TELEGRAPH: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad caved into pressure from hardline clerics and the country's supreme leader Friday and allowed the resignation of his top deputy after a week-long standoff.
For days, the president had resisted pressure from hardliners, including a direct order from the supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, to dismiss his choice for the key post of first vice president, Esfandiar Rahim Mashai, who last year angered conservatives when he made friendly comments toward Israel.
The final blow, however, appeared to be the public reading on state television of the order issued earlier by Khamenei to dismiss Mashai because he is "contrary to the interest of you and the government".
The issue created a rare rift between Ahmadinejad and the hardliners that form the bedrock of his support and comes at a particular [sic] sensitive time as he is battling opposition reformists who accuse him of winning the June 12 presidential elections through fraud.
"After the announcement of the exalted supreme leader's order, Mashai doesn't consider himself first vice president," IRNA quoted presidential aide Mojtaba Samareh Hashemi as saying late Friday.
The resignation capped a day of renewed pressure that featured conservative student street demonstrations and Friday sermons railing against Mashai's appointment. >>> | Friday, July 24, 2009
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
MAIL Online: A Christian policeman who objected to being 'bombarded' at work by emails and posters promoting gay rights and events has been sacked for misconduct.
PC Graham Cogman, 50, responded to the 'politically correct' campaign by sending emails to colleagues which quoted religious texts and suggested homosexual sex was sinful.
The regular churchgoer was hauled before a disciplinary committee where he was advised by lawyers to admit a breach of the police code of conduct to save his job.
But he was ordered before another hearing following further allegations, including breaching a ban on using internal communication system to circulate a link to an American Christian helpline, and has now been fired by Norfolk police.
Speaking yesterday at the home in Sea Palling, north Norfolk, he shares with his wife Elaine, 46, and their two children, he said: 'The news that I have lost my job is only just sinking in and I am very upset.'
He confirmed he was considering an appeal against the dismissal and was continuing with plans to have his case heard by an employment tribunal on the grounds that he had been harassed over his Christian beliefs. >>> Andrew Levy | November 26, 2008
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback & Hardback) – Free delivery >>>
Wednesday, September 03, 2008
THE TELEGRAPH: A Muslim woman was forced out of her job at a hospital after refusing to bare her arms in order to comply with new hygiene rules.
The radiographer was told by managers at the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading that she must either follow the national dress code designed to combat superbugs and roll her sleeves up, or leave.
She refused to abide by the rules and left her job, claiming she was discriminated against and forced to choose between her religious beliefs and her livelihood. Islam teaches that women should dress modestly and cover their bodies while in public.
The woman, who has worked as a therapeutic radiographer for 10 years, has described her situation as a "continuous nightmare" and says she has been "emotionally torn about" over losing her job.
She said that she fears she may not be able to get another job, but has vowed to campaign against the NHS's "bare below the elbows" policy.
The woman, who did not want to be identified, said she wants to "prevent the policy from being universally applied, so other Muslim women do not experience the same trauma."
Amid growing concern about the number of patients catching superbugs such as MRSA and Clostridium difficile while in hospital, the NHS introduced a new dress code for staff in January that was designed to prevent them transmitting bacteria.
The rules require all doctors and nurses who come into contact with patients to have their arms bare below the elbows, by wearing short-sleeved clothes or rolling up their sleeves. Jewellery, watches and false nails were also banned to reduce the risk of infection by staff.
However the policy was criticised by some Muslim doctors and medical students for going against the teachings of the Qu'ran on dress. Muslim Radiographer Loses Job after Refusing to Bare Her Arms >>> By Martin Beckford, Religious Affairs Correspondent | September 1, 2008
THE TELEGRAPH – related:
Female Muslim Medics 'Disobey Hygiene Rules' >>> By Julie Henry and Laura Donnelly | February 4, 2008
The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Dust Jacket Hardcover, direct from the publishers (UK) >>>
The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Paperback, direct from the publishers (UK) >>>
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)