MacKay pulled from role as temporary columnist

Published Jul 11 2008, 11:52 AM by Ian Donnis

Providence Journal political reporter Scott MacKay's temporary assignment as a political columnist has come to an abrupt end after his Tuesday column cited a disconnect between some politicians' emphasis on illegal immigration and its actual impact in Rhode Island.

The move, in which MacKay was filling in for vacationing political columnist M. Charles Bakst, has raised eyebrows across the ProJo newsroom, particularly since Bakst has another week-and-a-half of vacation.

Conspiracy theorists may wonder why MacKay was relieved of his temporary role within a few hours of when most ProJo readers read the immigration column.

In this summer of $4-a-gallon discontent, a Rhode Island economy hemorrhaging jobs at an alarming rate, and the housing slide eating away at homeowners’ accumulated wealth, you might think our political leaders would have something more important to do than wrangle over the illegal-immigration issue.

During the legislative session that closed last month, the State House was the scene of contentious debates over proposals to crack down on illegal immigrants. In the end, the measure requiring private employers to use the federal E-Verify system to check the immigration status of new hires crashed in the waning hours of the session.

MacKay went on to note that a small percentage of respondents in a Rhode Island College poll cited illegal immigration as top priority, and also, "Rhode Island’s economy is heavily reliant on tourism, which requires seasonal workers, many of whom are foreign."

As it happens, Governor Donald L. Carcieri, who has made a high-profile stand against illegal immigration, appearing Monday on Fox's The O'Reilly Factor, returned to Rhode Island's talk-radio airwaves Tuesday to talk more about the issue. Amy Kempe, a spokeswoman for the governor, said the administration "absolutely" did not express any concerns to ProJo management about MacKay's immigration column or about his role as a fill-in columnist.

MacKay declined to comment. In his role as a temporary columnist, he has also written about Democratic unity, the likelihood of status quo in the General Assembly, and the repercussions of slavery in Rhode Island, topics less contentious than the current hot button of immigration. Tom Heslin, the ProJo's interim top editor, could not be immediately reached for comment. I'll post an update if he calls me back.

On Tuesday, WPRO-AM talk-show host Dan Yorke ripped MacKay and myself for what he characterized as a misleading use of the immigration-related data in the recent Rhode Island College poll. I responded, in part, by telling Yorke that illegal immigration receives a disproportionate amount of media attention in relation to how much voters care about it.

Anchor Rising's Andrew Morse has a post on the same topic:

[Of two recent articles that made mention of the RIC poll one] was from Scott MacKay of the Projo…

Last night, Governor Carcieri was again on national television –– conservative Fox News pundit Bill O’Reilly’s show –– to talk about his executive order cracking down on immigration.
While Carcieri, some legislators and the talk-radio hosts may think the issue is gaining traction locally, a recent public opinion survey by veteran pollster and political science Prof. Victor Profughi, of Rhode Island College, shows a substantial disconnect between average Rhode Islanders and political figures pushing illegal immigration as a top issue.

When asked “what do you think is the biggest problem facing Rhode Island right now,” hardly any respondents mentioned illegal immigration. Thirty-three percent said the economy, 17 percent said the state budget, 6 percent mentioned gas prices, 8 percent listed government corruption, 6 percent said taxes, 5 percent said education and 4 percent said illegal immigration.

In reponse to both xcerpts, let me suggest that using polling results from open-ended questions to determine what people believe government's day-to-day priorities should be is a premise flawed from the start. In the present-day Rhode Island that we know and love, we have a perfect example of the limitations.

Ultimately, MacKay, who has an encyclopedic knowledge of Rhode Island politics, was a worthy choice as a temporary replacement for Bakst (whose retirement looms on the horizon). Yet considering the different roles of a reporter and a columnist, perhaps it's not surprising that the ProJo has reconsidered the assignment.

Filed Under: Media, Providence Journal, Immigration

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9 Comments

joe bernstein said:

Mackay,according to Dan Yorke who was at a conference or gathering of some type with him was disturbed by the use of the word "alien".That is the legal term for someone not a citizen or national of the US.It is in the Immigration and Nationaltiy Act.It is not a pejorative term,any more than "respondent"is;which is the term for someone undergoing deportation proceedings

If Yorke is not the one I heard say this,I apologize,but I am certain it was.

MacKay used the poll results in a misleading way.Yes,only 4% of those polled thought immigration was THE major issue facing Rhode Islanders.However 75% approved of the Governor's Executive Order,so it is clear that more than 4% of Rhode Islanders are concerned with immigration issues.

Mybe the Projo is beginning to realize that having two columnists who are advocates for illegal aliens is enough.I am sure their feedback and declining sales are having an effect.

In a column format I realize that objectivity is irrelevant,but the constant drumbeat for "immigrants"(undifferentiated as to legal or not)in these columns may begin to pall,and MacKay just was the one to take the heat.

July 11, 2008 4:18 PM
KinkyKathy said:

Scott needs to crop the goatee just a bit. I know he's full-figured and uses it as a crutch...but I'd tap him even if he sported the chubby, fresh-faced cherub look...and I'd love him too...and I'd put it in the paper...and I lick anything not nailed down...

July 11, 2008 11:13 PM
rhody said:

The righty view that the ProJo is a liberal institution has just been exposed again as a canard.

July 12, 2008 11:19 AM
joe bernstein said:

The editorial board isn't liberal.Just that columnists Harrop,Bakst,and Kerr,not so much Patinkin-and worse,reporters Peoples,Needham,ZINER,MacKay and sometimes Milkovits.That's all.They are left leaning where most people pay attention.

July 12, 2008 12:33 PM
rhody said:

If they were so liberal, Belo management would've cleaned them all out by now. The big decisions are made in Texas, not on Fountain Street.

Harrop liberal? She has been a one-woman jihad against Obama while doing her Hillary-to-McCain dance.

July 12, 2008 11:20 PM
joe bernstein said:

Yeah Rhody-guess what-there are liberals who are still angry with Obama for dethroning Queen Hillary.

July 13, 2008 5:19 AM
rhody said:

If she were liberal, the Dallas home office would've had her drummed off the editorial board many moons ago.

July 14, 2008 3:09 PM
joe bernstein said:

Rhody-if someone named you "Froma" wouldn't you be generally pissed off?

July 15, 2008 12:12 AM

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MacKay pulled from role as temporary columnist

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