web watch 2006 - the freedom to debate
In late September 2005, a small newspaper in a small country published a series of illustrations to accompany an article about self-censorship and freedom of speech.
Danish writer Kåre Bluitgen had difficulty finding artists to illustrate his children's book about Muhammad. Artists feared violent attacks by extremist Muslims which forbid the depiction of Muhammad.
The Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten then commissioned twelve political cartoonists to draw the illustrations and published the cartoons.
Several months later, European papers began publishing the cartoons, raising the issue of freedom of the press. Reaction to the cartoons filled the headlines, detailing violent protests and attacks against Danish properties.
While the publication of the cartoons is part of open debate elsewhere, North American readers have not yet had the opportunity to see them and judge for themselves. Here at the Last Link we ask why?
Ever since September 11 and the Janet Jackson "incident," a chill has descended over the media on both sides of the border.
A search on the day of this posting (February 5th, 2006) reveals no major Western major news outlet publishing the cartoons as they originally appeared. It is a story that appears to have fallen to web-publishers and bloggers to fully cover.
U.S. State Department spokesman Kurtis Cooper said, "We all fully recognize and respect freedom of the press and expression, but it must be coupled with press responsibility. Inciting religious or ethnic hatreds in this manner is not acceptable." Cooper all but stopped short of urging the U.S. media not to republish the cartoons.
The Bush administration is equally sensitive to debate of its country's own internal affairs.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff sent a letter to the editors of the Washington Post denouncing as "reprehensible" and "beyond tasteless" a cartoon (full size) portraying Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld as "insensitive" to U.S. troop casualties.
The cartoon depicted a soldier who had lost his arms and legs with Rumsfeld at his hospital bedside saying, "I'm listing your condition as 'battle hardened.'"
A Prince Edward Island university student newspaper published the Muhammad cartoons -- the first print media outlet in Canada to do so -- but university administration ordered copies removed from campus (see Canadian Broadcasting Corporation story).
For more about the debate surrounding the Danish illustrations, read the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy entry at Wikipedia and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's timeline of events.
October 26, 2006 update: A court in Denmark has dismissed a lawsuit against the Danish newspaper that first published the Prophet Muhammad cartoons that sparked a firestorm of protest around the world (see Canadian Broadcasting Corporation story).