One of the sad consequences in the aftermath of the Paris terrorist attack on satirical magazine CHARLIE-HEBDO has been the widespread decision by US and UK media to hide and/or pixelize and/or obscure the very cartoons that provoked the attack in the first place.
Buzzfeed has an excellent article summarizing this issue. Please read it first.
Even Fox, well-known for its sensitivity to such issues [/sarcasm], is shying away from the issue, as discovered by the Washington Post.
In addition to BuzzFeed, Huffington Post, the Times of London and the San Francisco Chronicle have published the magazine illustrations. Kudoes to them! But sadly, but they are in the minority.
Stephen Pollard, the editor of the Jewish Chronicle of London, candidly tweeted: "Get real, folks. A Jewish newspaper like mine that published such cartoons would be at the front of the queue for Islamists to murder."
As an American expat living in France, I feel I can no longer brag about our First Amendment if a single terror attack conducted by two lunatics (not unlike those who were behind the Boston Marathon bombing) can bring virtually all our media establishment to its knees.
I will add also that what is the point of living under the Patriot Act and all it entails for well over 10 years if we can be so easily cowed into submission?
I would prefer than the media publish the illustrations and criticize them for their racism, xenophobia or lack of taste and sensitivity, whatever, if that is what they genuinely believe, than sheepishly not show them at all and "describe them in words".
This self-censorship iis clearly more motivated by fear more than anything else and is proclaiming loudly: the terrorists have won; we surrender.
Update #1: Thank you for folks who pointed out that my use of "1st Amendment" was grossly incorrect; I was using it in more general sense of "freedom of speech".
Update #2: Do read the Buzzfeed article before commenting;'it's obvious some of you who did had not read it.
Update #3: This is what I mean by unjustifiable cowardice.