Channel 4 Calls In Security Experts After Cathy Newman Becomes Target Of 'Vicious Misogynistic Abuse'

'And people wonder why there aren't more women at the top.'

Channel 4 News has called in security specialists after presenter Cathy Newman became the subject of “vicious misogynistic abuse” following a debate this week over the gender pay gap.

Newman’s full 30-minute interview with controversial Canadian psychologist Jordan Peterson on Tuesday has been viewed more than 2 million times on YouTube so far.

But Ben de Pear, editor of Channel 4 News, said the level of “nastiness” and “threat” to Newman in the wake of the debate has been “unacceptable”.

He announced on Friday that security specialists were being brought in following the scale of the threat, adding that it was a “terrible indictment of the times we live in”.

1/2 Our @Channel4News onscreen journalists expect to be held to account for their journalism but the level of vicious misogynistic abuse, nastiness, and threat to @cathynewman is an unacceptable response to a robust and engaging debate with @jordanbpeterson.

— Ben de Pear (@bendepear) January 19, 2018

Such is the scale of threat we @Channel4News are having to get security specialists in to carry out an analysis. I will not hesitate to get the police involved if necessary. What a terrible indictment of the times we live in.

— Ben de Pear (@bendepear) January 19, 2018

On Thursday, Hayley Barlow, the head of communications at Channel 4 News, said that the level of abuse directed towards Newman in light of the interview is “something no one should have to endure”.

Whatever you make of this interview, the abuse from some being directed at my colleague @cathynewman is something no one should have to endure. https://t.co/XsfAZI8k9M

— Hayley Barlow (@Hayley_Barlow) January 18, 2018

Peterson urged people to stop threatening Newman, posting on Twitter on Friday: “If you’re threatening her, stop. Try to be civilized in your criticism. It was words. Words, people, words. Remember those?”

Many others have spoken out against the abuse being directed towards Newman.

This is awful but worse, unsurprising. wtf is WRONG with people who consider death threats a reasonable response to a TV interview they didn't like? https://t.co/xI9d3r0TMg

— Gaby Hinsliff (@gabyhinsliff) January 19, 2018

terrible https://t.co/5XEvfCKDDb

— Halla Mohieddeen (@STVhalla) January 19, 2018

And people wonder why there aren’t more women at the top: Channel 4 says it has called in online security experts after the brilliant @cathynewman subjected to ‘vicious misogynistic abuse’. https://t.co/bb6qssZAZW

— Louisa Loveluck (@leloveluck) January 19, 2018

During the 30-minute interview, the pair discussed the gender pay gap, campus protests and the patriarchy.

Peterson told Newman: “I’m saying that the claim that the wage gap between men and women is only due to sex is wrong. And it is wrong, there’s no doubt about that.”

He argued that it was important to look at why there is a pay gap between men and women, for example personality traits such as “agreeableness”.

The debate comes as corporations, such as the BBC, are being criticised for paying men and women different salaries for the same job.

Peterson, who was in the UK to promote his new book, 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos, has been outspoken about political correctness in the past, stating in 2016 that he would not use gender-neutral pronouns for transgender students at the University of Toronto.

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