Fareed Zakaria, editor for Newsweek’s international edition, host for CNN, and member of Yale University’s governing body, tells the Boston Globe that he was consulted about Yale University Press’s publication of a book looking at the Muhammad cartoon crisis in Denmark, and that he recommended censorship of the book:
Fareed Zakaria, editor of the international edition of Newsweek and a member of the Yale Corporation, said he advised Yale to drop the images.
“You’re balancing issues of the First Amendment and academic freedom, but then you have this real question of what would be the consequences on human life,’’ he said.
This is not only disappointing, but also ironic given his recent Newsweek cover essay: “Learning to Live with Radical Islam,” subtitled, “We don’t have to accept the stoning of criminals. But it’s time to stop treating all Islamists as potential terrorists.” In his essay, as Martin Kramer points out, Zakaria writes, “We should mount a spirited defense of our views and values.”
It is a sad day when members of the Yale Corporation, the governing body of the university, unabashedly support censorship. The problem is, of course, that it is precisely the most controversial issues which universities must address to remain relevant and to fulfill their research missions.
The other journalist-member of the Yale Corporation is Margaret Warner, who has not yet spoken on the issue.