Bennett presents the reasoning behind the decision to publish the cartoons as follows: "In 30 years as a journalist, I have come to believe strongly that it is better to make information available than to suppress it. Withholding information for fear of the wrath of one group nearly always means denying one group access to knowledge it needs."

Bennett asserts that simply describing the cartoons would not have been enough. To illustrate this point she uses the example of a famous picture taken during the Vietnam War: "Would the words 'a naked young girl burning with napalm' have made us understand the horrors of the Vietnam War as completely as Nick Ut's iconic photo?"

For Bennett it was necessary to print the cartoons to "give meaning to the news story." She stresses that the cartoons were in no way editorial, they were not printed in "solidarity with European papers," and they were not printed to make "an abstract stand for 'freedom of the press.'"

Bennett professes that she and her colleagues at the Inquirer were "shocked" to find that they were one of the only US papers to publish the cartoons.

Peaceful protests against the publication of the cartoons took place outside the Inquirer's offices, Bennett and some of her colleagues talked to the crowd about their opposition to the paper's decision.

Since publication the Inquirer has been flooded with emails, letters and phone calls. According to Bennett, the reaction of readers has mainly been positive, although she does admit that most Muslims were against the publication of the cartoons.

Ms. Bennett and the Inquirer's publisher Joe Natoli have since met with a group of Muslim leaders to discuss the publication of the cartoons, and to explain that the paper's "intent was to help our readers understand a complex issue, not to mock anyone's religious sensibilities." The meeting resulted in a promise on behalf of the Inquirer to improve coverage of the Muslim community. A mutual decision to understand each-other better was made and the meeting was thus a bridge building exercise.

Source: Philadelphia Inquirer