“‘We don’t distribute content that is known to be offensive, with rare exceptions. This is not one of those exceptions. We made the decision in December and have looked at the issue again this week and reaffirmed that decision not to distribute,’ Executive Editor Kathleen Carroll said in response to queries about the cartoons.”
“NBC has been airing a brief picture that shows only part of the cartoon. ‘We felt that in order to convey the essence of the story, it was not necessary to show the entire cartoon,’ said spokesperson Allison Gollust.”
“At CBS News, the decision was made not to run the cartoons. ‘We could explain it, so we didn’t need to show it,’ says Linda Mason, CBS News senior vice president, standards and special projects, who compares the decision to one not to show dead soldiers. ‘Any rendering of Muhammad is an insult to Muslims, and desecration is even worse,’ she says, adding that the decision was made out of a desire not to unnecessarily offend, not because of the demonstrations or ‘out of fear of retribution.’”
“ABC News ran an image of a cartoon on various broadcasts last week but stopped in follow-ups. ‘We understand the sensitivity of this issue, particularly among our Muslim viewers,’ ABC News spokeswoman Cathy Levine said. ‘We feel we can report this story now without needing to continually show the offending image.’”
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