Doug Marlette: American media should have published the cartoons

Doug Marlette, Pulizter Prize editorial cartoonist, took the American media to task for not republishing the Danish Mohammad cartoons, say thing that they were being too politcally correct.

When Doug Marlette drew a political cartoon in 2002 asking ?What would Mohammad Drive?? he received more than 40,000 angry e-mails.

At the time, Marlette stood behind his cartoon. Now, he?s disappointed in U.S. media that have avoided running similarly controversial cartoons.

?You put it in context, and you cover it,? said the visiting OU professor, adding that publishing images doesn?t require their endorsement.

Marlette, who began teaching at OU in January, won a Pulitzer Prize in 1988 for editorial cartooning. He said he is appalled the American media are not showing the images. He said the media are trying to be too politically correct, and he disagrees with people who say it was irresponsible for a Denmark publication to run the images.

?It is treating [Islam] like a grown-up religion,? Marlette said.

He pointed out that Comedy Central?s ?The Daily Show with Jon Stewart? criticizes other religions and political officials. He said the show honors the Muslim religion by treating it like the other major ones.

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