Rachel Marsden

Rachel Marsden
Marsden photographed in 2008.
Born	(1974-12-02) December 2, 1974 (age 37) Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Occupation	Columnist, political commentator, author, political strategist
Website
RachelMarsden.com GrandCentralPolitical.com[dead link]

Rachel Marsden (born December 2, 1974^[1]) is a Canadian conservative political columnist, geopolitical strategist, author and television commentator based in Paris.^[2] She writes an internationally syndicated weekly column for Tribune Media Services. She also teaches at Sciences Po University in Paris.^[2] She also currently serves as an Expert at Wikistrat.^[3]

In the 2000s, she was a columnist for publications such as The Washington Times, National Post, Toronto Sun and the New York Post. She has appeared as a co-host and contributor on Fox News and also on CNN, and currently runs the website Grand Central Political, which syndicates and distributes commentary by figures such as Bernard Kerik and Mark Cuban. Her weekly political commentary appears in the online edition of Daily Telegraph, Human Events magazine, Spectator Magazine, and Townhall.com. She has also been published in the Wall Street Journal,^[2] New York Daily News, and Spectator Magazine. She is currently a regular panelist on LCP Politique Matin carried on the state-owned parliamentary television channel La Chaîne parlementaire in France, and writes regular analysis pieces for Hudson Institute publications. In November 2011, she published the book, American Bombshell: A Tale Of Domestic And International Invasion, described as a roman à clef.^{[citation needed]}

Marsden first came to public attention for her role in the Simon Fraser University 1997 harassment controversy, and was the focus of media coverage for tumultuous breakups with a Vancouver radio host, an Ontario police officer, and the co-founder of Wikipedia, Jimmy Wales.

Career

Marsden first broke into print journalism in the early 2000s, writing for conservative web sites and The Washington Times. In 2002, she worked for the Free Congress Foundation, and resigned when her employer learned of a harassment charge against her related to her former boyfriend in Vancouver.^[4]

Prior to the 2004 federal election in Canada, she was hired by Gurmant Grewal, a Conservative member of the Parliament of Canada, to assist his constituency office with press releases.^[5][6] She was a regular National Post columnist for two months^[7] in 2005 before joining the Toronto Sun as a weekly opinion columnist, a position held until November 2007. In 2006, she moved from Toronto to New York. Her political commentary has been reprinted by other journals, including the New York Post and NewsMax Media.^[8]

Marsden was a frequent guest on Dennis Miller Live when she was tapped to become the Canadian pundit for The O'Reilly Factor on the Fox News Channel. Marsden was employed by the Fox News Channel from 2004^[8] to May 2007.^[9] She was promoted to panelist on Red Eye w/ Greg Gutfeld, a late-night talk show. A producer on Red Eye praised Marsden, saying that "she has very passionate opinions...she's articulate, intelligent, and we get a lot of favorable mail about her".^[6] Marsden has been compared to Ann Coulter in opinion, presentation and appearance.^[10] On May 30, 2007, Marsden was dismissed from Red Eye and escorted out of the Fox studio by security guards. She explained that her departure was due to a change in the show's format, and that being escorted out is standard procedure.^[11] In October 2007, she was a panelist on CNN's The Situation Room.^[12]

Personal life and education

Marsden grew up in the Vancouver suburb of Coquitlam. She was an avid competitive swimmer. After graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree from Simon Fraser University, Marsden earned a diploma in broadcast journalism from the British Columbia Institute of Technology. Marsden has said that growing up listening to Canadian radio personality Jack Webster inspired her move into journalism.^[6] She also attended the National Journalism Center.^[13] As a student, Marsden came to public attention when she was at the center of the Simon Fraser University 1997 harassment controversy, in which she and a swimming coach publicly accused each other of sexual harassment.^[14][15] The coach was dismissed, then re-hired by the university after doubts were raised about the credibility of the accusations against him.^[6] Over ten years later, Marsden was interviewed by the university's newspaper and said of the events: "[The administration] were more interested in quelling negative PR than defending the truth. I was told by SFU to keep quiet and say nothing to the media. My only regret is that I listened to them."^[16]

In 2004, Marsden was given a conditional discharge with one year of probation for criminal harassment of her boyfriend, a Vancouver radio show host, following a breakup.^{[17][18][19][20]} In September 2007, a relationship between Marsden and an Ontario Provincial Police officer ended. She posted his photo and identified him on her blog as an anti-terrorism officer who had leaked secret anti-terrorism documents to her.^[21] The officer filed a complaint of harassment against Marsden, but this was later dropped. The OPP launched a separate internal investigation into the alleged conduct of the officer.^[22]

On more than one occasion Marsden asked Wikipedia to delete her biography on the site. Her concerns led her to contact Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales in 2006, claiming that it was wrong and libelous. Wales stated his involvement with her article was handled through the normal channels, and was "routine". He also says he "recused [himself] from any further official action", after their relationship became personal.^[23][24] On February 29, 2008, the technology gossip blog Valleywag claimed Wales and Marsden had entered into a relationship, and published instant messaging chats they allegedly exchanged. On the following day Wales announced on his Wikipedia user page that he was no longer involved with her. In return, Marsden, who claimed to have learned about the breakup by reading about it at Wikipedia, turned to eBay and put up for auction a t-shirt and sweater with white stains that she claimed belonged to Wales.^{[15][24][25][26][27][28]}

References

External links

	Journalism portal
	Biography portal
	Vancouver portal

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Rachel Marsden

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Rachel Marsden

Wikinews has related news: Wikipedia founder embroiled in affair and financial allegations

• Official website
• Grand Central Political – business website
• Rachel Marsden's page about herself on Google Knol
• Rachel Marsden at the Internet Movie Database

This article uses content licensed under the GFDL from deleted revisions of Wikipedia's article on Rachel Marsden. A list of previous authors of the page can be found at Talk:Rachel Marsden/GFDL History.