When does freedom of the press...

[M_Six]

...violate common sense, civility, and good taste?

http://www.dailyillini.com/nov02/nov...ies/edit.shtml

This is in response to the anticipated criticism of an ad showing an Israeli athlete with the caption "Israeli schoolchildren's hero" and another showing a Palestinian terrorist with the caption "Palestinian schoolchildren's hero".

I could post a link to the supporting organization's site that shows the ad, but it would violate the rules of this forum. I only wish the editors of the Daily Illini had as much sense as the moderators of this forum.

[Epidemic]

If it is true then it is sad.

It is probably more inflammatory then beneficial.

So I would lean towards thinking it should not be used.

Conversely they are fighting a propaganda war with the arab world and they post equally disturbing and even untrue at times propaganda.

I do not know where the line should fall.

[UKrebel]

Mmm. But lots of subtle propoganda is just as bad as a big whooper like that.

For example, every time you watch the News.. particularly Fox News.. they are always talking about "the War inIraq" and what is going to happen after and how etc.. Every minitue or so.. they are softening people up and making them believe War is inevitable.

The propoganda can be SO evident in nearly all News, particularly in the States and in Uk.. so its important for those who are concerned with what is REALLY happening to actually check different news sites etc. and get the facts right:

For example, the lie propogating news channels that: Weapons inspectors were driven out of Iraq...... failing to mention that they fell out with Iraq because some of the Inspectors were spys sending info to America and Israel. and the countless other causes.

[Epidemic]

Were they spies or was Iraq just using that as a delaying tactic?

Looking at it from a far. It seemed like a series of attempts to test the US resolve for forcing the removal of WOMD. Each attempt was like that of a child trying to find out just how far they could go. Their test worked and proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that the US was not ready to take action.

[Theophylact]

When does freedom of the press...
...violate common sense, civility, and good taste?

Often, or it's not worth anything at all. Freedom to be in good taste, common-sensical and civil? Everybody has that everywhere, even in China, North Korea and Saudi Arabia. Only freedom to dissent, annoy and outrage counts as freedom.

[M_Six]

Often, or it's not worth anything at all.

Understandable, but as you said in my other thread:

Having the right to do something doesn't mean it's right to do it.

The same applies here. This ad, which really did run, is misleading and offensive. There may be a grain of truth in the idea of a terrorist being a hero to some small minority of Palestinian children, but it can be equally true that there's a small minority of Israeli children who would view the soldier that shot that 8 year old boy last month as a hero, too.

I may well have missed the point of this ad, but I have yet to see any redeeming value to it. It serves only to cause tension and offers no solutions. Furthermore, it sets a VERY dangerous precendent.

[Theophylact]

No, you didn't miss something. As I suggested in the other thread, we put a higher value on free speech than on most other things people do that offend.

I agree that the ad is probably offensive (I haven't seen it, so can't say for sure), and possibly dangerous (although, given the high tolerance Americans have for offensive speech, I'm not sure about that either). That's a risk we agreed to take when we adopted the Bill of Rights.

[Epidemic]

There may be a grain of truth in the idea of a terrorist being a hero to some small minority of Palestinian children,

I would like to see the stats that bear that out.

I can never get a handle on how big the "minority" is.

Of course were you to read the arab and western press I would feel that this is not a minority. I would love to have some hard facts.