Why One Wyoming Paper Published Muhammad Cartoon

By E&P Staff Published: February 08, 2006 1:15 PM ET
NEW YORK As days pass, more and more newspapers are choosing to publish at least one of the Muhammad cartoons that are sparking violence abroad, after first appearing in Danish newspapers many months ago.Still, the number remains small.

The Wyoming Tribune-Eagle in Cheyenne, which has a tiny Muslim population, published two of the cartoons on Tuesday, including one with a bomb coming out of the head of the prophet, which appeared on the front page. The other drawing followed on A10. Here are excerpts from the published explanation from D. Reed Eckhardt, managing editor. *True, these comics can be found with a simple Google search.

But it still has worried me that even the nation’s biggest newspapers, usually so bold and aggressive in defending Americans’ First Amendment right to know, have declined to publish the cartoons.And The Associated Press, which is carried by virtually all U.S. daily newspapers of size, has refused to distribute them, essentially censoring its member newspapers – and their readers.