A group of cartoonists’ pens have wielded more might than they expected.
The Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten commissioned a series of 12 editorial cartoons depicting the Muslim Prophet Muhammad in Sept. 2005, but recent publication of the cartoons in other European papers has created more protest from Muslims who are offended.
According to Jyllands-Posten Web site, “The initiative was taken as part of an ongoing public debate on freedom of expression, a freedom much cherished in Denmark.
In our opinion, the 12 drawings were sober. They were not intended to be offensive, nor were they at variance with Danish law, but they have indisputably offended many Muslims for which we apologize.”
Muslims have taken to the streets in demonstration, and mobs burned the Danish and Norwegian embassies in Damascus and the Danish consulate in Beirut.
The fact that these events are happening isn’t a testament to the lack of sensitivity by media. They’re happening because these radical Muslims don’t understand the role of free press.
For people to take their aggressions out on the government of a particular country because of a story a private newspaper published shows a severe lack of understanding of how newspapers and their opinion pages are run.
Opinion pages exist in order to give people an opportunity to share their voice, their concerns and their ideas with the public. These cartoons are an example of this.
Furthermore, newspapers in countries whose governments don’t suppress the people’s rights to free speech have no control over newspaper content. Denmark should not, and does not, control the content of Jyllands-Posten. Placing blame on the Danish government for the actions of a private newspaper is misguided and foolish.
While Ed Board understands why these cartoons offend Muslims, the action taken by these mobs of fanatics is inexcusable and deplorable.
Those who are offended would surely be given an opportunity to express their dissatisfaction with Jyllands-Posten in a myriad of newspaper opinion pages, and many people who are offended by these cartoons have used opinion pages to share their concerns.
At the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Editor in Chief Acton Gorton and Opinions Editor Chuck Prochaska of the student paper, The Daily Illini, have been suspended and removed from their posts at the paper for publishing the cartoons.
Gorton said the public has a right to see the content and judge for themselves if it is offensive.
Gorton was well within his rights to print the cartoons and should not be punished by his university for his actions. The relationship between The Daily Illini and UIUC should be the same as the relationship between Jyllands-Posten and Denmark.
Ed Board is in support of Gorton and Prochaska. These student-journalists should be allowed to return to their positions at The Daily Illini and be allowed to return to class.
