Week 5: Student Response to Discussion 1

WednesdayApr 25 at 10:34pm

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Offensive Images

As journalists, freedom of speech is the most fundamental of our rights, and using that freedom is something that we do on a daily basis. Freedom of speech has been interpreted many ways, and what it protects has been defined many times over. Does it protect only words, or are images and videos protected as well? In the case of Europe’s Islamic community getting upset of a cartoonist’s depiction of Muhammad, that question was asked worldwide. Some governments said that the journalists had the freedom to use the images to enhance the story. Others however, disagreed and put a countrywide ban on all depictions of Muhammad, some going as far as threatening to jail or behead anyone who used such images. This subject drew the attention of more than just journalists worldwide, as the popular cartoon “South Park” dedicated an episode to the issue, going as far as using what some would feel were offensive depictions of Muhammad just to get a larger point across. The point being one of worldwide concern, should journalists and other professions have their freedoms protected even when they use their platform to challenge the status quo? Although rioting broke out due to the issue, it was a small percentage of the Islamic community, possibly showing that some societies don’t find the same things as offensive as others, proving that political correctness has gone too far, and that governmental suppression of ideas and images will always be an issue.

Andy