North American media shy away from Muslim cartoons

[tocqueville]

By Michael Conlon
Fri Feb 3, 5:35 PM ET

CHICAGO (Reuters) - North American newspapers have given extensive coverage to the anger that cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad unleashed across the world but have taken a hands-off approach to reprinting the caricatures themselves.

"I don't see it as a necessity to run them," said John Diaz, editorial page editor of the San Francisco Chronicle.

"There's a lot of ways that we can gratuitously offend our readers. We want to avoid that."

Muslims generally believe their faith forbids any image of the Prophet and consider the cartoons printed in Europe as blasphemous. One of the cartoons depicted the Prophet with a turban resembling a bomb.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060203/wl_nm/religion_cartoons_media_dc

[file83]

1. Propaganda? YOU decide:

Now, is this guy just too conveniently falling into George W. Bush's claim that Islamic people "hate our freedom", or what? You decide, but...

I call (bull$hit).

[bloom]

2. I think that will change

Michelle Malkin and other right-wing nuts have been encouraging newspapers over here to run them.

[pretzel4gore]

3. have the cake, it it too...

the pigmedia sorta caught in a bind, but acts as if it's just biz as usual. they report that 'press freedom' in holland denmark etc created the crazy carioons of the prophet muhammed; they then assert the muslims are foolish and weird for reacting to the cartoons, then they mincingly refuse to publish the cartoons, cuz they don't want to po the muslim crazys...
the real crazys are the pigmedia who promote the news about the cartoons, thus gaining bush support by pointing out how daft are the muslim reactionary crazies, while not doing the very thing they say is perfectly ok, but still they won't do it.....it's called win win win win win (iow hypocrisy at its most venal)...some muslim leaders have pointed out that things happen all the time all over the world, but the mass media reporting makes them noticed, not the event itself...hopefully, our people will see through this media op, which is intended to mislead them

[applegrove]

4. I think we could go back in our pasts and remember how long and hard

a time "modern" concepts of marriage vs. ( living together) and other such concepts had in getting into the mainstream. Gays, all of it.

And remember that the internet is really the modern world hitting the traditional cultures - at the switch of an on button.

Took a while for people to get used to things in North America. Even if it was free speech or plain love (in the case of gays).

We were not so far way from the traditional elements in the middle east.

I'm sure there has been pornography and the like in the middle east - longer than in Europe. Cause they had writing first.

Now they play catch up. And they have politically expedient radial islamic leaders who are just as willing as our own to use modern culture (change) as a tool to whip up their followers.

So now we have the internet. And it isn't just the liter-ari of the middle east or the civilians who have access to political cartoons. But anyone. The follower of a traditional preacher (islamic leader) and the leaders themselves.

I like the idea that at the same time as Islam puts down wrong images of Mohamed, they should be putting down violence.

That can be said.

And is.

But I do think - we need to be real.

And as shocking as the information transmitted to us on the internet - multiply that many times for certain sectors of the world. And remind yourself of that.

Perhaps Westerners should just not be putting anything about mohamed anywhere.

Wouldn't it be terrible if our instantaneous way of sending information were to cause war. Or be used by unsavory characters. Or allow unsavory characters to use the devout. That would be really bad. Like a Bush WH - all over again.

Information is really spread fast these days. All of it is spread really fast.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

5. Good. I Hope This Keeps Up And No Paper Prints Them.

I'm proud (though extremely temporarily) of our nations papers for choosing to do the right thing, for once, and for now.

[cali]

6. Now if only they'll

stick to it. Unfortunately, I can see certain RW papers such as the Washington Times, gleefully tumbling on board. Fortunately, the State Department has hit the right note on this one, and may act as a restraint.