Borders Inc. raised book-business eyebrows Friday when the company confirmed it wouldn't stock a tiny magazine's current edition featuring the satirical cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad that have enraged parts of the Muslim world.
But readers in Portland eager to sift through the April-May issue of Free Inquiry shouldn't have much trouble finding other outlets for the magazine -- unless they sell out.
Several competing companies said they would stock the current issue and questioned the free-speech implications of Borders' decision. Borders defended its decision, citing safety concerns.
Powell's Books plans to carry the magazine in its West Burnside Street store as usual. Rich's Cigar Store downtown and some outlets of the national chain Barnes & Noble also plan to stock it.
"I never like giving any offense, but the truth is that many of the books I stock have material that will offend somebody with something," said Powell's owner Michael Powell, who said he disagrees with Borders' decision.
Powell wasn't familiar with Free Inquiry before he heard about the rumblings over Borders' decision, but, he said, as a strong free-speech advocate he rarely decides against stocking publications to avoid controversy.
"We regret that, but I'm not going to stop because of that," he said. "In fact, I think it's often that type of book or printed material that is most catalytic in sparking discussion."
Originally published in a Danish newspaper in September, the 12 cartoons range from a depiction of Muhammad's face made from an Islamic star and crescent to an illustration in which his turban is shaped like a bomb with a lit fuse. Islamic tradition bans depiction of Muhammad to prevent strictly prohibited idol worship. After the cartoons ran, deadly protests erupted across Europe and Africa, and earlier this week nearly 30 Muslim organizations in Denmark filed a defamation lawsuit against the newspaper.
The April-May issue of Free Inquiry, published six times yearly by the Council for Secular Humanism, features three articles analyzing the cartoons and the response to them. The magazine, with a circulation of about 30,000, also ran four of the 12 images -- the most its editor said the publication could afford to buy the rights to publish.
Editor Tom Flynn said he published the cartoons partly because most U.S. publications had not.
"The story has gotten so huge and the repercussions of it were so tragic in Europe and Africa that I suspect many American readers formed a false impression of what the comics must be and dignified them more than they deserve," said Flynn, whose called Borders' decision "squeamish."
As the editor of a secularist publication, Flynn said he felt compelled to exercise free-speech rights and signal to readers that no topic should be exempt.
"There's a need and obligation for some journalists to push back," he said. "We needed to reaffirm our rights to discuss religion, even engage in a satire of religion. That's the way rights get reaffirmed in this society."
Editors of The Oregonian chose not to publish the cartoons, reasoning that the images could be described well enough that publishing them would unnecessarily offend some readers.
Beth Bingham, spokeswoman for Borders Group Inc., said the company supports Free Inquiry's rights to free speech and customers' rights to choose what they read and buy.
"We've just chosen not to carry this particular issue in our stores," Bingham said. The company did so to ensure customer and employee safety, she said.
The Borders chain, which includes Waldenbooks, normally stocks the magazine only in some of its stores, and Bingham could not say whether any are located in Oregon. She said the company had canceled its order before the current issue was delivered.
Nationwide, Barnes & Noble stores, which typically sell three to five of the $4.95 magazines each month, had sold out most copies of Free Inquiry by Friday, spokeswoman Mary Ellen Keating said. The bookseller typically doesn't reorder sold-out magazines or newspapers.
About a fifth of the companies stores carry the magazine, including some in Oregon, Keating said.
Powell's hadn't yet received its new batch of Free Inquiry, and the magazine's slot was empty of February/March editions in the "Current Events" rack Friday morning. Powell's also typically sells only a handful of the 10 it orders each month.
Expecting a rush on the new issue, however, the store's magazine buyer ordered 35.
Laura Gunderson: 503-221-8378; lauragunderson@news.oregonian.com
