Are Columnists Free to Offend? Has Everyone Gone Lady Gaga?

Willi's Guide to Glitz and Glamour 2.2

This week, I'll be looking at the debate surrounding the rejection of a complaint made to the Press Complaints Commission following Jan Moir's article on the death of Stephen Gately. Also, following her success at the 30th Brit awards, a number of the broadsheet literati began their own appreciation society devoted to New York diva, Lady Gaga.

Should columnists be given free reign to publish any opinion, no matter how inflammatory it may prove to be? Following Daily Mail columnist Jan Moir's article, in which she described the former Boyzone singer's death as 'strange, lonely and troubling', there was a public outcry by detractors who felt it contained homophobic undertones. Certainly the line where Moir dismisses the notion of a 'happy-ever after in civil partnerships' is close to the bone. Whatever the complaints, and there were 25,000 of them, the largest number in PCC history, the Commission argued that 'the price of freedom of expression is that commentators and columnists say things with which other people may not agree, may find offensive or may consider to be inappropriate. Robust opinion sparks vigorous debate: it can anger and upset.'

The campaign against Moir and her article was largely instigated by social networking groups using Facebook and Twitter, many whom the newspaper claim had not even read the article. There will be always be those who think that the Mail's staunchly right-wing commentaries are fair game for criticism. But as the Commission asserts, we should all be free to express those opinions. We cannot rule out that some people probably agreed with Moir. The likes of Jan Moir, Richard Littlejohn and John Gaunt, to name just a few, have strong opinions that can provoke intense emotional reactions. Likewise, with those on the left who may advocate the woman's right to choose, assisted suicide and be strongly in favour of greater immigration, opinions are always going to be divisive. At her worst, Jan Moir made sweeping generalisations and poorly constructed links to account for Gately's untimely death, such as stating that healthy men in their thirties simply don't just die. Despite these inaccuracies, opinion that does not incite hatred should be uncensorced, both in print and online.

Lady Gaga enjoyed a successful evening at this years Brit awards, collecting prizes for International Breakthrough, International Female Solo Artist and International Album. Commentators have made comparisons with Madonna and the 23-year-old is fast becoming a recognised style icon owing to her eclectic wardrobe. Comedian Peter Kay's jibe about Gaga being 'New York's answer to Su Pollard' may have been lost on the majority of the teeny-bop audience however it made me chuckle. I suppose we shouldn't complain. Gaga may be something of an annoying self-publicist, a self-styled visionary who may believe she boldly goes where no pop diva has gone before her, but at least she offers something new. Well, original in a post-modern sense anyway. It's a refreshing take on the old and the 23-year-old American appears to have some 'spunk' about her. In comparison, the microphone throwing antics of Oasis bad boy Liam Gallagher just looked a little sad. Though maybe everything we British try to do (Brits and BAFTAs) pales in comparison to the lavishness associated with our friends across the pond. (Grammys and Oscars). That appears to be the general consensus.