Miranda Devine

Miranda Devine (born July 1961) is an Australian conservative columnist and writer. Her column, formerly printed twice weekly in Fairfax Media newspapers The Sydney Morning Herald and The Sun-Herald, now appears in the News Limited newspapers Daily Telegraph, Sunday Telegraph, Melbourne's Sunday Herald Sun and Perth's Sunday Times.

Miranda Devine
BornJuly 1961 (age 59)
New York
OccupationWriter
Known forPolitical writer and commentator
Spouse(s)1
Children2

She hosted The Miranda Devine Show on Sydney radio station 2GB. The show ended in 2015.[1] As of late 2020, her columns appear in the New York Post. Devine is a controversial[2][3][4] figure and several of her statements have been the subject of public scrutiny and debate.

Early life and education

Devine was born in New York and grew up between Tokyo and Sydney. She is the eldest daughter of Frank Devine, a New Zealand-born Australian newspaper editor and journalist, who died in 2009. She attended school at Loreto Kirribilli in Sydney and the International School of the Sacred Heart Tokyo. She has a Masters in Journalism from Northwestern University (USA) and a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from Macquarie University. Devine studied first-year architecture at Sydney University and worked briefly at the CSIRO's Division of Textile Physics.[5]

Career

Devine worked for the Boston Herald as a reporter and feature writer. In 1989, Devine joined The Daily Telegraph as assistant editor, police reporter and columnist after returning to Australia to live in Sydney. She had also previously worked at the British tabloid the Sun and the British newspaper Sunday Times in London. Most recently, Devine's columns, focused on United States politics, are published by the New York Post[6] and she makes appearances promoting her articles on local media outlets. Devine lives in Sydney with her husband and two sons.[5]

Commentary

Devine is noted for her conservative stance on a range of social and political issues.[7] In April 2016 she coined the term "delcon" (delusional conservative) to describe conservatives who remained loyal to Tony Abbott after the Liberal Party ousted him in favor of Malcolm Turnbull.[8][9]

Race

In 2002, Devine opined in the Sydney Morning Herald that the racial element of the Sydney gang rapes had been "airbrushed" out of the media coverage of the events. She stated that the victims alleged that prosecutors had intentionally "censored" their official statements to remove any mention of racially sensitive material.[10] Devine has also been accused by The Guardian and the Sydney Morning Herald of promoting the white genocide conspiracy theory and has been described as pivotal in popularising the concept within Australian politics.[11] Referring to white South African refugees as "oppressed white, Christian, industrious, rugby and cricket-playing Commonwealth cousins", she has claimed they would "integrate seamlessly" with European Australians.[12]

Environment

Devine suggested in 2009 that conservationists were to blame for the poor management of forested areas and national parks, and consequently for the deaths during the Black Saturday bushfires event.[13] This rhetoric was revived during the 2019–20 Australian bushfire season,[14] but promptly rejected by the scientific and firefighting community.[15][16] In 2017, she claimed that shared bicycle schemes were a terror threat.[17] Devine is also a climate change denier, advocating for the continuation of coal-fired electricity production and she has repeatedly stated that climate change is a political conspiracy.[18]

Gender and LGBTIQ issues

In 2011, Devine used the news of Australian federal government minister Penny Wong's decision to parent a child with her female partner as the basis of a column in which she argued that the 2011 riots in England were the result of a "fatherless society".[19][20] Writing for ABC News, Catherine Deveny criticized Devine's claim that same-sex marriage was a "political tool to undermine the last bastion of bourgeois morality - the traditional nuclear family".[21] Devine sparked further controversy in 2015 after claiming that "women abusing welfare" were the main cause of domestic violence in Australia and contending "if you want to break the cycle of violence, end the welfare incentive for unsuitable women to keep having children to a string of feckless men".[22] In 2016, Devine caused controversy by comparing the purported "vilification" of opponents of same-sex marriage in Australia to the victims of beheadings by ISIS, saying that critics of same-sex marriage were being "brutally made examples of" by "intolerant authoritarians".[23]

George Pell

In 2019, Devine defended Cardinal George Pell, at the time facing charges of which he was ultimately acquitted related to the sexual assault of two 13-year-old boys, claiming that the victim's "accusations are implausible" and that "Victoria police chief Graham Ashton desperate for a distraction from the crime epidemic he’s incapable of stopping".[24]

Donald Trump

Devine is a strong supporter of US President Donald Trump. In February 2020 Devine gained attention in the Australian media and was reported to be "over the moon" after being retweeted[25] by Trump.[26] in October 2020, The Guardian described her as "one of Trump's favourite writers"[27] after the President again retweeted one of her articles.[28] Devine drew criticism for a "fantastically fawning love letter"[29] to Trump in which she described him as an "invincible hero" after his recovery from COVID-19[30] and called COVID-19 "the Chinese virus".[31] Devine has since repeated the Donald Trump's discredited and debunked Attempts to overturn the 2020 United States presidential election with unsubstantiated claims that Joe Biden's victory 2020 United States presidential election was driven by large-scale electoral fraud.[32] In January 2021, Devine blamed past Black Lives Matter demonstrations for the actions of rioters during the 2021 storming of the United States Capitol.[33]

Quaden Bayles

In February 2020, Devine alleged in a series of tweets that a video showing Quaden Bayles, an Indigenous boy with achondroplasia dwarfism, crying after being bullied at school, was a scam and that Bayles was actually an adult actor.[34] That led to Quaden's mother, Yarraka, suing Devine for defamation on behalf of her son, and also suing on her own behalf over Devine's suggestion she had coached Quaden.[35] Devine's employer, News Corp subsidiary Nationwide News, publisher of The Daily Telegraph, was also named as a defendant in the suit.

In September 2020, ahead of an anticipated settlement of the suit, Devine, who was on secondment at the New York Post, tweeted an apology for her allegations that the video had been faked.[36]

References
  1. Christensen, Nic (21 January 2016). "Miranda Devine pulls plug on Sunday night's Radio 2GB 'The Miranda Devine Show'". Mumbrella. Retrieved 22 January 2016.
  2. Yussuf, Ahmed (6 October 2020). "Donald Trump gives shout out to Australian columnist after she calls COVID-19 "the Chinese virus"". SBS News. Archived from the original on 5 January 2021. Retrieved 11 January 2021. Controversial News Corp columnist Miranda Devine has triggered an angry reaction with a column likening the LGBTIQ campaign supporting marriage equality to the tactics of ISIS.
  3. Australian Associated Press (24 August 2020). "'Arguable' case that Quaden Bayles was defamed by Miranda Devine, judge says". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 1 November 2020. Retrieved 11 January 2021. A judge has said nine-year-old Indigenous boy Quaden Bayles has an arguable case that he was defamed by columnist Miranda Devine. Justice Anna Katzmann has approved moves to serve court documents on the controversial New York-based columnist.
  4. Canning, Simon (2 October 2016). "LGBTIQ comparison to ISIS by Tele's Miranda Devine sets off social media outrage". Mumbrella. Archived from the original on 12 October 2020. Retrieved 11 January 2021. Controversial News Corp columnist Miranda Devine has triggered an angry reaction with a column likening the LGBTIQ campaign supporting marriage equality to the tactics of ISIS.
  5. "Miranda Devine". QandA. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 10 March 2019.
  6. https://nypost.com/author/miranda-devine/
  7. "Miranda Devine". ABC Q+A. ABC. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
  8. Kelly, Dominic. "Tony Abbott and the revenge of the 'delcons'". The Conversation.
  9. Miranda Devine, "Tony Abbott lovers call me the wicked witch of the left", Daily Telegraph, April 12, 2016.
  10. Devine, Miranda (13 July 2002). "Racist rapes: Finally the truth comes out". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 30 July 2006.
  11. White genocide:
  12. "AllLivesMatter – white lives too". Spectator Australia. 16 March 2018.
  13. "Green ideas must take blame for deaths". 12 February 2009.
  14. "Barnaby Joyce says NSW bushfire dead 'most likely' voted for the Greens". 12 December 2019.
  15. "Rural Fire Service boss rejects Barnaby Joyce's bushfire theory". 8 January 2020.
  16. "Why wasn't there more prescribed burning, and would it have helped?". 6 January 2020.
  17. City share bikes are a terrorist’s best friend, Daily Telegraph, 28 October 2017.
  18. Smart meters energy crisis not reducing bills or..., Daily Telegraph, 7 February 2018.
  19. Devine, Miranda (14 August 2011). "The Problems of a Fatherless Society". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 14 August 2011.
  20. Deveny, Catherine (17 August 2011). "Why equal rights activists need Miranda Devine more than rallies". The Drum. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 24 August 2011.
  21. Deveny, Catherine (17 August 2011). "Why equal rights activists need Miranda Devine more than rallies". ABC News. Archived from the original on 15 March 2017. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
  22. Noyes, Jenny (28 September 2015). "Miranda Devine column prompts domestic violence survivors to share #UnsuitableWomen stories". The Vine.
  23. Canning, Simon (2 October 2016). "LGBTIQ comparison to ISIS by Tele's Miranda Devine sets off social media outrage". Mumbrella. Archived from the original on 12 October 2020. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
  24. Meade, Amanda. "News Corp columnists declare Cardinal Pell innocent and 'a scapegoat'". The Guardian. The Guardian. Retrieved 10 March 2019.
  25. @realDonaldTrump (7 February 2020). "So true!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  26. Fordham, Ben (7 February 2020). "Miranda Devine reacts after Donald Trump praises her on Twitter". 2GB. Archived from the original on 29 November 2020. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
  27. Meade, Amanda (9 October 2020). "Devine intervention: News Corp columnist forced to say she doesn't 'want grandma to die'". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 21 December 2020. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
  28. @realDonaldTrump (6 February 2020). ""You see it in enthusiasm for the President outside Walter Reed Hospital. You see it in Registrations, from Florida to Pennsylvania & West Virginia, where Republicans are outstripping Democrats by 2 to 1. If the President bounces back onto the campaign trail, he will be an....!" (Tweet) – via Twitter. |date= mismatches calculated date from |number= by two or more days (help)
  29. Lewis, Charlie (7 October 2020). "Tips and Murmurs". Crikey. Archived from the original on 21 October 2020. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
  30. Devine, Miranda (4 October 2020). "Coronavirus battle shows the bravery of President Trump: Devine". New York Post. Archived from the original on 21 December 2020. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
  31. Yussuf, Ahmed (6 October 2020). "Donald Trump gives shout out to Australian columnist after she calls COVID-19 "the Chinese virus"". SBS News. Archived from the original on 1 January 2021. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
  32. Devine, Miranda (16 December 2020). "A not-so-loony look at 2020 election results in battleground states: Devine". New York Post. Archived from the original on 20 December 2020. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
  33. Devine, Miranda (7 January 2021). "'Stain On Australia': Miranda Devine Slammed For Blaming Capitol Riots On BLM Protesters". Huffington Post. Retrieved 8 January 2021.
  34. Visontay, Elias (20 September 2020). "Miranda Devine apologises for Quaden Bayles tweets amid defamation case". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 22 November 2020. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
  35. Costin, Luke. "Family of bullied Queensland boy Quaden Bayles progresses case against columnist Miranda Devine". 7News. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
  36. Whitbourn, Michaela (19 September 2020). "Miranda Devine apologises for tweets ahead of defamation settlement". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
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