2005-2014

16 February 2006

Holocaust cartoon 'tests speech freedom'

A Queensland newspaper has entered a Holocaust cartoon in an Iranian newspaper competition to test the notion of free speech, it says. The Rockhampton-based Weekend Choice has emailed a copy of its cartoon to Iran's biggest-selling newspaper, Hamshahri. It depicts a Western man holding a Muslim man by the throat as he is about to deliver the punchline on an old joke about how many Jews you can fit...

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16 February 2006

Israeli starts "anti-Semitic cartoon contest"

JERUSALEM, Feb 16 (Reuters) - An Israeli cartoonist has launched an "anti-Semitic cartoon contest" to poke fun at fellow Jews in response to furore among Muslims over the publication of caricatures of the Prophet Mohammad. Cartoonist Amitai Sandy said he was inspired by violent Muslim protests and the launching of a Holocaust cartoon competition by an Iranian daily that said it wanted to test the...

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16 February 2006

Mexico governor says won't quit over journalist case

MEXICO CITY, Feb 15 (Reuters) - A Mexican governor refused to resign on Wednesday in a scandal over taped conversations in which he and a business magnate appear to discuss jailing and intimidating a journalist for writing a damaging book. Gov. Mario Marin of Puebla state told a news conference the audio tapes implicating him in a plot against Cancun journalist Lydia Cacho were false. "There is...

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16 February 2006

Embattled Nordic Muslims reject talk of radicalism

MALMO, Sweden (Reuters) - Muslims in Scandinavia have suffered arson attacks on mosques, discrimination in the job market and been demonised in the media, but say they still want to make a future for themselves here and reject extremism. "They make me out to be a Taliban, but they don't say any positive things like the fact that my kids go to Swedish schools and my wife doesn't cover her face,"...

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16 February 2006

UW-Madison chancellor defends paper's cartoon publication

MADISON (AP)–The University of Wisconsin-Madison chancellor says a campus paper was justified in reprinting a cartoon depicting a Muslim religious figure, but he called upon the paper to address the indignation of Muslim students on campus concerning the matter. The cartoon, which depicts Prophet Muhammad wearing a turban shaped like a bomb with a lit fuse, was among several images of the prophet...

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16 February 2006

Herald fails to adequately justify publication of controversial cartoon

In the interest of improving The Badger Herald as a source of quality journalism, the position of ombudsman was established last semester to act as a kind of public editor – an editor whose role is both critic of the publication and advocate for the reader. In September 2005, the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten published 12 caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad, including one that shows him wearing...

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16 February 2006

Russian Union of Journalists denounces pressure on Volgograd paper

Moscow, February 16, Interfax - The Russian Union of Journalists regards as inappropriate recent remarks and steps by certain government officials and institutions regarding the publication of a cartoon in the Volgograd-based newspaper Gorodskiye vesti. "These statements and steps violate two fundamental constitutional principles: freedom of the press and the secular nature of our state," the...

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16 February 2006

Cardinal View: A responsibility to our readers

Newspapers are in the business of reporting on and analyzing the news. They are not supposed to make the news. The First Amendment to our Constitution guarantees the right to free speech and expression. In this spirit, newspapers operate to inform readers and further the public discourse with thought provoking opinions and editorial analyses on current events and issues. The responsibilities...

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16 February 2006

Volgograd newspaper closed after religious cartoon scandal

VOLGOGRAD, February 16 (Itar-Tass) - Volgograd authorities have closed the Gorodskiye Vesti /City News/ daily over the publication of a religious cartoon. The relevant instruction was signed by acting mayor Andrei Doronin on Wednesday evening. On February 9, the newspaper published a cartoon, as an illustration to the article titled "Racists Have No Place in Government." It depicts Jesus, Moses...

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16 February 2006

Mexico governor says won’t quit over journalist case

MEXICO CITY, Feb 15 (Reuters) - A Mexican governor refused to resign on Wednesday in a scandal over taped conversations in which he and a business magnate appear to discuss jailing and intimidating a journalist for writing a damaging book. Gov. Mario Marin of Puebla state told a news conference the audio tapes implicating him in a plot against Cancun journalist Lydia Cacho were false. “There is...

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