It’s no secret Jessica Buch…McBride isn’t a fan of comments on her blogs that dare to dissent from the opinion she’s espousing. In fact, I’ve always found it a little odd that someone who purports to be a “journalist” would be so opposed to free speech in all its forms, instead choosing to censor comments on her blogs that dare to point out the fundamental flaws in her often weak opinions on the issues of the day. I’ve often thought journalists would be some of the strongest proponents of free speech, given they make their livings from the expression of free speech.
As pointed out by capper over at whallah!, McBride has taken her censorship to a new level, this time going so far as to delete comments I made in response to a post full of inaccuracies and flawed legal analysis over at her new election blog. Apparently McBride has a thin skin, because that’s the only reason I can see for why she’d choose to delete perfectly innocent comments that simply pointed out the flaws in her arguments. This kind of behavior is a perfect example of just how intolerant some folks on the right are when it comes to any opinion that differs from their own narrow views of the world.
Ultimately, I’m most disappointed not because McBride has a thin skin, but because she’s a journalist, and as such she should never discourage or prevent free speech. Shame on her for turning her blogs into speech-free zones where the only opinions that matter are her own, but then again, if I were wrong as much as she is, I suppose I’d want to limit dissent too.
Even worse is that she does it during “sunshine week”, which promotes openness. Something that a real journalist would hold sacred.
so, if she is at UW-Milwaukee when she does this free-speech-trampling, is she using state resources to do it? someone should look into that.