Politicos Dylan Byers has the story: NYT executive editor Dean Baquet won’t publish Charlie Hebedo cartoons because they might hurt the feelings of Muslims. NYT public editor Margaret Sullivan passes along a quote from Dean: “We have a standard that is long held and that serves us well: that there is a line between gratuitous insult and satire. Most of these are gratuitous insult.”
Well, I for one often find gratuitous insults entertaining, and some of us out of towners feel that gratuitous insults are a way of life, pretty much, in the Big Apple. If you don’t want to be insulted, move to Poughkeepsie.
Anyway, as Dylan points out, in what may or may not be a gratuitous gesture, the NYT has a long history of publishing “art” that makes fun of Christianity, clearly taking pleasure in provoking the wrath of Catholic big-wigs and evangelical talking heads. The NYT just can’t help confirming the fact the liberal establishment has decided that Muslims are “victims” and must have their feelings protected.
Afterwords
Dylan gives this link to a Gawker collection of offensive images that the NYT has run, generally not with the intent to offend but to show someone else’s bad taste or bad faith. Meanwhile, Gawker is running a post with the title “60 Minutes’ Steve Kroft Guzzled Champagne from Mistress’s Ass”. Gratuitous, yes. But funny!
