Comments on: Cartoon Controversy: Freedom of Expression? http://ayulittleone.blogsome.com/2006/02/06/cartoon-controversy-freedom-of-expression/ Call them what you want--I call them thoughts Mon, 13 Oct 2008 00:45:07 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=1.5.1-alpha by: ayulittleone http://ayulittleone.blogsome.com/2006/02/06/cartoon-controversy-freedom-of-expression/#comment-90 Mon, 06 Feb 2006 18:41:20 +0000 http://ayulittleone.blogsome.com/2006/02/06/cartoon-controversy-freedom-of-expression/#comment-90 Well you're an editor so you must know better than I do. To draw Muhammad, though, is different because in the religion it is simply forbidden. Muslims don't draw Muhammad, so no matter in what form he was drawn, it would still trigger protests. Of course it is not an excuse for all the violence they caused. But now the timing also matters. Perhaps ten or twenty years ago people would only warn the newspaper--like they did when Prince Harry of Britain wore the Nazi uniform in some kind of party. But now, with the war on Iraq, terrorism and such...people are too sensitive, I'm afraid. Well you’re an editor so you must know better than I do. To draw Muhammad, though, is different because in the religion it is simply forbidden. Muslims don’t draw Muhammad, so no matter in what form he was drawn, it would still trigger protests. Of course it is not an excuse for all the violence they caused. But now the timing also matters. Perhaps ten or twenty years ago people would only warn the newspaper–like they did when Prince Harry of Britain wore the Nazi uniform in some kind of party. But now, with the war on Iraq, terrorism and such…people are too sensitive, I’m afraid.

]]> by: Aaron http://ayulittleone.blogsome.com/2006/02/06/cartoon-controversy-freedom-of-expression/#comment-89 Mon, 06 Feb 2006 16:51:36 +0000 http://ayulittleone.blogsome.com/2006/02/06/cartoon-controversy-freedom-of-expression/#comment-89 I was hoping you'd write an article about this issue, Ayu. Editorial cartoonists who can't find the fine line between smart satire and incendiary farce should find a different line of work. These cartoons featured, among other things, the Prophet Muhammad wearing a turban shaped like a bomb, and many Muslims are still rioting after other newspapers reprinted the cartoons. The editors and those who reprinted them should have used common sense and axed the cartoons before they ever saw the light of day. According to the AP, arrest warrants were issued Saturday for the editors-in-chief of the Jordanian newspapers that reprinted the cartoons. As a newspaper editor, I can't imagine being arrested for something printed in my newspaper. The cartoonists themselves are in hiding. Editorial cartoonists are the court jesters of the newspaper world. It's their job to take shots at today's hot topics with a healthy dose of clever insight. The cartoonists were within their rights, but were nowhere near clever. Newspapers have the right to print what they want, but responsibility should come first. I make tough decisions every day about what to put in and what to take out of our paper. Portraying Prophet Muhammad's face is blasphemous to Muslims. But drawing him in the caricature style favored by many editorial cartoonists is even worse. Even the standard stereotype of a bearded Muslim would have been far less offensive than a humorous sketch of a person who means so much to so many. But is it an excuse to react violently? Hardly. Most Christian Americans, if they saw a cartoon portraying Jesus doing something blasphemous, wouldn't go nuts and burn down the newspaper office that ran the cartoon. Muslims are in the same boat, I think. There are just as many radical Christians as there are radical Muslims. Radical Christian groups use terrorism, too, but they keep their violence at home by bombing abortion clinics and gay nightclubs. Newspaper editors must remember that editorial cartoons should be scrutinized just as much as a front-page news story. Let artists be artists, but draw the line when the subject matter stretches into unwarranted blasphemy. I was hoping you’d write an article about this issue, Ayu.

Editorial cartoonists who can’t find the fine line between smart satire and incendiary farce should find a different line of work.

These cartoons featured, among other things, the Prophet Muhammad wearing a turban shaped like a bomb, and many Muslims are still rioting after other newspapers reprinted the cartoons. The editors and those who reprinted them should have used common sense and axed the cartoons before they ever saw the light of day.

According to the AP, arrest warrants were issued Saturday for the editors-in-chief of the Jordanian newspapers that reprinted the cartoons. As a newspaper editor, I can’t imagine being arrested for something printed in my newspaper. The cartoonists themselves are in hiding.

Editorial cartoonists are the court jesters of the newspaper world. It’s their job to take shots at today’s hot topics with a healthy dose of clever insight. The cartoonists were within their rights, but were nowhere near clever.

Newspapers have the right to print what they want, but responsibility should come first. I make tough decisions every day about what to put in and what to take out of our paper. Portraying Prophet Muhammad’s face is blasphemous to Muslims. But drawing him in the caricature style favored by many editorial cartoonists is even worse. Even the standard stereotype of a bearded Muslim would have been far less offensive than a humorous sketch of a person who means so much to so many.

But is it an excuse to react violently? Hardly.

Most Christian Americans, if they saw a cartoon portraying Jesus doing something blasphemous, wouldn’t go nuts and burn down the newspaper office that ran the cartoon. Muslims are in the same boat, I think.

There are just as many radical Christians as there are radical Muslims. Radical Christian groups use terrorism, too, but they keep their violence at home by bombing abortion clinics and gay nightclubs.

Newspaper editors must remember that editorial cartoons should be scrutinized just as much as a front-page news story. Let artists be artists, but draw the line when the subject matter stretches into unwarranted blasphemy.

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