Should Rapport have fired columnist Deon Maas?

Two weeks ago, controversial media personality Deon Maas launched his first column in Afrikaans daily newspaper Rapport with a column which alluded to Satanism. Maas was not making a case for Satanism, he says, but was trying to make a case for tolerance and a greater diversity of opinion in South Africa. After a vigorous email and letter campaign to the newspaper in the past week, including threats to boycott retail outlets selling Rapport, from largely Christian readers of Rapport who felt that Maas had overstepped the mark, Rapport editor Tim du Plessis bowed to pressure and sacked Maas, calling it a “commercial” decision.

Do you think the columnist Deon Maas should have been fired?

Is this a freedom of speech issue? Is this a media freedom issue? Is this an issue of religious tolerance? Or does it just boil down to plain old commercial interests, and if so, what does that say about an editor's role as a gatekeeper of free speech?

Here's Rapport's statement last week by Rapport editor Tim du Plessis (source: IOL):

“Rapport has terminated Deon Maas's column. Rapport and Maas have been targeted by a viral campaign waged via email and SMS over Maas's first column on Sunday before last. The column was about Satanism. The campaign started eight days after the column appeared. The messages asked buyers to boycott Rapport on Sunday 18 November. Later, the campaign also targeted Rapport's distributors and agents. It affected Rapport's commercial interests. Large numbers of Rapport's loyal readers also reacted in good faith. We have taken note of their concerns. Rapport is committed to media freedom, free expression of ideas and robust debate. The orchestrated boycott campaign, however, altered the nature of the issue from one of freedom of opinion to one of commercial interests.”

Here was Deon Maas's statement issued in response to the controversy (source: Rapport):

“It is a sad day when press freedom has to stand to one side for commercial considerations, but it is a heart wrenching day for media freedom when Media24's newspaper editors are instructed to run no follow up stories on my dismissal. It makes you realise that the same dark forces with ruled Afrikaans media in the old South Africa are still busy with their power play behind the scenes. And these are the same people who have the audacity to criticise and take on the SABC on a weekly basis over their editorial independence.”

(Various Media24 fellow editors quoted by Rapport on Sunday, 18 November, denied that they had been given any instructions to ignore the controversy.)

For more:

• Bizcommunity.com Editor's Column: [No Comment] It's all about context, not knee jerk reactions!
  
• Bizcommunity.com: Hardegat Rapport reaction hardly surprising [Chris Moerdyk]
  
• Business Day: Devil's advocate cast out
  
• Thoughtleader.co.za: The devil made Tim do it
  
• Trash Media: Rapport's editor fires columnist. [For a lighter take on the controversy]