College paper editor relieved of duties for printing Mohammad cartoon
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Daily Illini editor Acton Gorton was relieved of his duties after printing one of the Danish Mohammad cartoons in his column. There is a good reporting of the events leading to and the aftermath of the printing on a Chicago Tribune blog.
He said in discussions with students he had come to believe that there was great confusion about what the cartoons actually depicted. He said “people wanted to see the images so they could decide for themselves if they thought they were cartoons worth killing people over.”
Gorton said he realized it would be a controversial decision, and so decided to use the cartoons to illustrate his personal column on the matter, rather than involve the paper’s editorial board.
“If there was going to be a negative reaction, I wanted it directed at me and not the entire newspaper,” he said. “I wanted to be responsible.”
Reminds me of the old saying:
“Freedom of the press is limited to those who own one.”
— Henry Mencken
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