Tightening the muzzle in Champaign
The censorship in Champaign in complete.
I just received an e-mail from Acton Gorton, the former editor-in-chief at the Daily Illini, who was supsended last month because he made the decision to publish the Prophet Muhammad cartoons.
Gorton related in the message that he has received word within the past two hours that he has been permanently fired from his position at the college newspaper.
Here's his comments to me in the e-mail:
Jim,
Please excuse the generic email, several reporters asked me to keep them updated on my status at the Daily Illini as the internal investigation concluded and the board of directors at the Daily Illini made their decision. I know you all get a lot of email and are bombarded all day long, so I'll keep this short.
At 7:09pm tonight, I was sent an email by the publisher, Mary Cory:
Acton,The board of the Illini Media Company has decided to terminate you from the position of editor in chief of The Daily Illini, effective immediately.
Sincerely,
Mary Cory
My reaction this is rather simple ... I'm sad. I had confidence once I gave my perspective to the board of directors they would understand why I published the cartoons. I'll be in touch if anyone wants to talk,
- Acton
As I stated earlier ... the censorship in Champaign in now complete.
What took place at The Daily Illini and now what has happened to Gorton is a sad commentary on the direction that free speech is heading. Call it what you want, but those calling the shots at the Daily Illini sold out and then dropped to their knees all in the name of political correctness.
7 comments:
Does the state own that paper? If it does, then this is an outrageous act of censorship. If it's privately owned, then the private owners of the paper have every right to fire him.
Do clarify.
Read Peoria Pundit.
They're cracking down on bloggers too.
The Paper is Independent of U of I but I don't think the connection is a complete disconnect. Someone will have to comment.
Regardless, the owners may have the perfect right to fire these guys, and these guys may be wrong, but if I were owner, I'd evaluate my decision in this context, and ask myself which-side-am-I-on,
The clash we are witnessing around the world is not a clash of religions, or a clash of civilizations. It is a clash between two opposites, between two eras. It is a clash between a mentality that belongs to the Middle Ages and another mentality that belongs to the 21st century. It is a clash between civilization and backwardness, between the civilized and the primitive, between barbarity and rationality. It is a clash between freedom and oppression, between democracy and dictatorship. It is a clash between human rights, on the one hand, and the violation of these rights, on other hand. It is a clash between those who treat women like beasts, and those who treat them like human beings. What we see today is not a clash of civilizations. Civilizations do not clash, but compete.
--Wafa Saltan in interview with Al Jazeera
Yahoo has their pictures as the first slide of the Muslim Prostests against the cartoons.
It's alongside an article about the Danish Courts deciding not to prosecute the Danish paper.
You need a tough skin to live in a Liberal Democracy (Liberal in the broad sense of the word).
It's something the rest of the world should learn.
I found this offensive or the cartoon of the limbless Vet, but I defend the press's right to be crude.
These Allah cartoons not all that crude either, and were out there a long time before anyone took notice. I think majority of Muslims pretty think skinned themselves.
Shameful. Acton Gorton is lucky though. He was publicly shamed by the head of the University, Dr. Herman. Then he was fired.
The original Danish editorial cartoonists are in hiding for their lives from Islamic killers sent with Cleric blessings and popular Islamic support. The government cannot provide them and their families enough protection.
His cartoon publication pointed out freedom is precious, and courage is needed when death is the result of challange to the Islamic radical movements.
Worse still---this is the same UIUC, College of Communications and Daily Illini that refused to do anything despite numerous complaints from members of the Jewish community.
During at least 2 years the DI published a columnist who wrote and plagerized the middle east propaganda of anti-semetic, annihilate Israel, hate the US propaganda. She was forced to admit only one instance of plagerism. Never mind her anti-semitism.
The U of I College of Communications hired her for NPR radio, and she interned at NPR in Chicago. Maybe she's still around.
How ironic if Acton had defended her. The University politicised by the liberal left is the last place to find tolerance and diversity. They eat their own.
The owners of the paper really have every right to not care about whether they're perceived as censoring or not. If you want to start a newspaper that stands up to the protestors, then you have every right to. The only responsibility a newspaper has is to satisfy the demands of their shareholders or owners. If that is to maximize profit, then that is the job they have.
I went to school there for my first year of college; I am a graduate student at another U of IL now. I had heard a little about what happened with the DI, but it wasn't until last night that I actually read into this affair... There are encyclopedia articles for both of the men involved.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_Prochaska
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acton_Gorton
It's Spring Break here right now (though for some of us, there's no such thing... especially with Election Day now less than a week away!), but I'd like to get the student groups here involved in this issue, to support Messrs. Prochaska and Gordon. Thank you for making us aware of the latest news in this matter. I have now added ILLINOIZ to my blogroll (after having added websites for Chuck and Action). Keep up the good work here.
U of I alum Hugh Hefner is rolling over in his grave. His daughter should cut the university off without a dime.
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