The Daily Telegraph to pull Alan Jones' column after Covid-19 comments
• The column is reportedly going to be pulled because it no longer resonates with readers
The Daily Telegraph will stop publishing regular columns from Sky News host Alan Jones after his Covid-19 coverage drew criticism. Jones has been vocally anti-lockdown and skeptical of the dangers of Covid-19.
Ben English, editor of The Daily Telegraph, has reportedly already told Jones that his column is going to be pulled because the column no longer resonates with readers.
Speaking to The Sydney Morning Herald, Jones says that claims he isn’t resonating with people aren’t true.
“If the argument has been [that] it’s not resonating, I don’t have to defend myself,” Jones said.
“Have a look at Sky News YouTube, Sky News Facebook and Alan Jones Facebook and you can see. The same column that I write for the Tele goes up on my Facebook page.
“The public can check it for themselves. Thirty-five years at top of the radio and I don’t resonate with the public? Honestly.”
Notably, Jones has also faced criticism this week from 2GB Mornings host, Ray Hadley – particularly about comments Jones made arguing that 38-year-old Adriana Midori Takara’s death was not due to Covid-19 but rather a stroke or heart attack.
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“I can’t believe he said that,” Hadley said on his radio show. “The woman has just died and you’ve determined she had a stroke or a heart attack. So we are suggesting that medical specialists at RPA conspired to suggest she died of Covid, that she had some other problem and they’ve conspired with NSW Health and the Federal and State Governments. If it wasn’t so affected by lunacy, it would be a concern.”
Jones' final column in The Daily Telegraph was posted last week and makes the argument that Covid-19 is no worse than the seasonal flu in healthy people.
“In 2017, there were 1255 deaths from influenza in Australia, not an eyelid was batted. In 18 months, we have had 914 deaths from coronavirus,” Jones wrote.
Overseas, where the virus has been less contained, death rates due to Covid-19 are estimated to be as much as three times higher than that of both flu and pneumonia.
