| US paper defends printing Mohammad cartoon Reuters February 6 2006 |
The Philadelphia Inquirer, one of the few U.S. newspapers to publish a caricature of the Prophet Mohammad
from a series that sparked a wave of protests by Muslims, defended the action on Sunday by saying it was just
doing its job.
"This is the kind of work that newspapers are in business to do," said Amanda Bennett, the newspaper's
editor.
The Inquirer on Saturday published the most controversial image, which depicted the Prophet with a turban
resembling a lit bomb, and it posted on its Web site an Internet link to the rest of the cartoons.
For many Muslims, Islam forbids images of the Prophet. The publication in Denmark and elsewhere in Europe
of a series of satirical cartoons depicting Mohammad has sparked protests in many countries and some have
turned violent. Moderate Muslim groups have condemned the violence and urged restraint.
The Inquirer included a note with its publication of the image which read, in part, "The Inquirer intends no
disrespect to the religious beliefs of any of its readers. But when a use of religious imagery that many find
offensive becomes a major news story, we believe it is important for readers to be able to judge the content
of the image for themselves."
The note compared the image with the earlier publication of a 1987 photograph by Andres Serrano of a crucifix
in urine, a work which angered many Christians.
Bennett said in an article on the Inquirer's Web site that the newspaper published the Mohammad cartoon to
help convey the issue.
"We're running this in order to give people a perspective of what the controversy's about, not to titillate, and
we have done that with a whole wide range of images throughout our history," Bennett said.
Most U.S. news outlets, including The New York Times, The Washington Post and USA Today, have declined to
run any of the images so far, instead describing them in words as they cover the outraged reaction by
Muslims to the cartoons.
Many broadcast programs and news networks including ABC have shown either full or partially obscured
images of the cartoons.
"You run it because there's a news reason to run it," the paper quoted Bennett as saying. "The controversy
does not appear to have died down. It's still a news issue."
from a series that sparked a wave of protests by Muslims, defended the action on Sunday by saying it was just
doing its job.
"This is the kind of work that newspapers are in business to do," said Amanda Bennett, the newspaper's
editor.
The Inquirer on Saturday published the most controversial image, which depicted the Prophet with a turban
resembling a lit bomb, and it posted on its Web site an Internet link to the rest of the cartoons.
For many Muslims, Islam forbids images of the Prophet. The publication in Denmark and elsewhere in Europe
of a series of satirical cartoons depicting Mohammad has sparked protests in many countries and some have
turned violent. Moderate Muslim groups have condemned the violence and urged restraint.
The Inquirer included a note with its publication of the image which read, in part, "The Inquirer intends no
disrespect to the religious beliefs of any of its readers. But when a use of religious imagery that many find
offensive becomes a major news story, we believe it is important for readers to be able to judge the content
of the image for themselves."
The note compared the image with the earlier publication of a 1987 photograph by Andres Serrano of a crucifix
in urine, a work which angered many Christians.
Bennett said in an article on the Inquirer's Web site that the newspaper published the Mohammad cartoon to
help convey the issue.
"We're running this in order to give people a perspective of what the controversy's about, not to titillate, and
we have done that with a whole wide range of images throughout our history," Bennett said.
Most U.S. news outlets, including The New York Times, The Washington Post and USA Today, have declined to
run any of the images so far, instead describing them in words as they cover the outraged reaction by
Muslims to the cartoons.
Many broadcast programs and news networks including ABC have shown either full or partially obscured
images of the cartoons.
"You run it because there's a news reason to run it," the paper quoted Bennett as saying. "The controversy
does not appear to have died down. It's still a news issue."