Preparation is everything

The Daily Illini, the University of Illinois' student newspaper, recently went out on a limb and printed all 12 of the controversial caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad. \nThe Illini's editor in chief, Acton Gorton, wrote an article next to cartoons stating that, even though he thought the cartoons were gross and hurtful to Muslims, on account of free speech and the importance of the topic it was his duty to run the cartoons.\nIn choosing to run the comics, Illinois didn't shatter a precedent of restraint. Student newspapers at Wisconsin and Harvard have also decided to run the cartoons. \nBut the ongoing theme of these comics is that the story never ends quite where you would expect.\nGorton and the Illini's opinion editor, Chuck Prochaska, never discussed the decision with their colleagues. After the cartoons were printed, Prochaska and Gorton were suspended by the paper for two weeks.\nUltimately, the decision was Gorton's alone. While we disagree with the fact that he left his colleagues out of the loop, we support his right to do what he did. It's a shame, however, that his newspaper's personnel issues are being dragged through a swampy threat to the free press, and their suspension strikes us as uncomfortably reactionary. \nBut Gorton and other editors could learn a thing or two from another Illinois paper that handled the cartoon controversy wiser and classier.\nUnlike the editors at The Daily Illini, who ran the cartoons in a glib and cocksure manner, the editors at the Northern Star at Northern Illinois University instead ran the cartoons in a more responsible fashion. Editorials from both Muslim leaders and the editor of the newspaper accompanied the cartoons on a separate page. On the front page, a statement warned readers that the cartoons would appear within the following pages. Letters came in criticizing and supporting the decision, but the controversy has been significantly milder, in part because of the responsible actions of the Northern Star.\n"We weighed the potential backlash, the potential fallout and decided being afraid of backlash should not keep us from running a story, because where do you draw the line?" Northern Star Editor in Chief Derek Wright told the Chicago Tribune. "We felt it was something that was our responsibility."\nAlthough the Indiana Daily Student has decided not to publish the cartoons within our pages, we stand by those who do so tastefully. Our support for the free press knows no bounds, but our tolerance for people who recklessly abuse its awesome privileges is more limited. \nWe encourage those who are interested to attend an open forum held on campus tonight led by IU and visiting Arizona State professors as well as Muslim leaders. We expect there to be intelligent, rational discussion, appropriate for an academic venue -- the kind of discussion the editors at the Northern Star know all about.