Not So Simple Media Lessons: Tact and Wisdom

From China to Denmark, Media Lessons

Please consider this commentary on the C.S. Monitor regarding the need for tact and wisdom while exercising freedom of expression.

Pointing to the examples of Google in China and the incendiary "Muhammad Cartoons" from Denmark--which "have more in common than 2.7 million search hits the phrase produced"--it is evident that such freedom demands the absolute maturity to use it wisely and responsibly. While the grave consequences were surely not anticipated, they were wholly avoidable. What response did the cartoonist expect from his caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad? Controversy, perhaps, but violence and the burning of Danish flags and their embassy, certainly not. Was printing such a provocative cartoon the most productive way of making a commentary, creating discussion, encouraging a change in mindsets about the Muslim community as a whole which has felt the onslaught from both within and without? While the repercussions from this latest media faux-pas have escalated beyond control, at best it will *hopefully* serve to make both the media industry and individual journalists more accountable in their reporting and publishing.

Given such irresponsible behavior, it is no wonder media journalists in Turkey are under incredible surveillance and being brought before the state judicial system. Unfortunately in this case, it is for their responsible reporting.