Politics Mike Fancher Vs. the Dave Ross Show
I was on the Dave Ross show on Thursday afternoon talking about our decision to reprint four of the Muhammad cartoons.
First I explained our reasons for running the images.
1) We’re a newspaper. It’s a huge news story, and the cartoons are the central part of the story. (It’d be condescending to protect our readers from that central piece of the story)
For example, every paper in the world republishes the president of Iran’s arguments that the Holocaust is a “myth.” That’s offensive to Jews, but everyone publishes his comments—and they should!—because it’s the heart of that story. (Yes, those stories also include other world leaders’ condemnations of his offensive POV, but the stories never actually haul out the massive objective evidence to set him straight.)
2) Our story came out in favor of freedom of speech, and so it seemed obvious that we should exercise our right to freedom of speech, even if it makes some people uncomfortable.
3) In the context of the current debate, the cartoons have taken on a larger meaning than simply being offensive drawings. They are now symbols of free speech.
Then I asked Ross why the Seattle Times wasn’t on the show defending its position NOT to run the cartoons. That seemed to me, like the more relevant question.
Well, about ten minutes later, Seattle Times executive editor Mike Fancher phoned in to defend his paper’s position. Ross gave him about 5 minutes, and then he turned the microphone back to me. (Gotta say: Ross didn’t seem to be buying Fancher’s postion.)
I’d like to find an audio clip of the show so Slog readers could check out the exchange, but I can’t find one on KIRO’s web site.
KIRO tech staff, are you out there? How do I link to the broadcast?
You were a guest on the show--ask the producer for an air check. He should be more than happy to get you one.