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Following the International Press Institute (IPI) world congress in Belgrade, where a session focused on the limits of tolerance and the issue of publishing blasphemous content, such as the Mohammed cartoons in Denmark, IPI will make a programme-length video about the issue of blasphemy.

This is a good initiative in the wake of the publication of satirical cartoons of Mohammed by 17 Danish newspapers, three years after the initial row.

"Deciding where to draw the line, or whether there should be a line, would be a major step forward, if it's done in a sensitive and sensible way," wrote the Guardian's Roy Greenslade.

The debate between proponents of unrestricted press freedom and those who advise cautious self-censorship will undoubtedly drag on, but IPI's initiative may help to throw light on these issues.

UPDATE: A Danish appeals court rejected today a suit filed by seven Muslim organizations against the editors of the Jyllands-Posten, which first published the Mohammed cartoons in 2005. The court found that the most controversial of the cartoons, depicting the prophet wearing a turban shaped like a bomb, was "of a satirical nature" and "does not refer to Muslims in general or to the (plaintiff) organisations or their members," reported the AFP. The court also stated "that terrorist acts have been committed in the name of Islam, and it is not illegal for these acts to be made the object of satirical representation."

Source: Roy Greenslade

It's been about two years since Cultural Editor of Jyllands-Posten Flemming Rose commissioned and published satirical cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad. The cartoons sparked a global debate on Islam and free speech, as well as violence in some countries. In a recent interview with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) Correspondent Jeremy Bransten, Rose believes that there have been positive changes at least inside of Denmark. with 17 papers reprinting the cartoon of Muhammed with a bomb in his turban.

A new opinion poll taken two weeks ago showed that 2/3 of the Danish population now think it was right to publish the cartoons back in 2005. The problem, according to Rose, is that Denmark, including its Muslim population, is ahead in the debate compared to several other countries
 
"It is between those who support the values embedded in the constitutions of the liberal democracies and those who don't," said Rose, as opposed to the Muslim community and "us."

Rose believes that the change in Denmark is "a combination of several factors" and "definitely the strong stand by the government [to protect freedom of speech] is very important."

One of the leading Muslims who had tried to take Rose and his newspaper to court in the beginning of the debate came forward to Rose, saying, "OK, we now know from the court decision that we live in a country where it is allowed to ridicule and defame our religion. We don't like it but we have to accept it."
 
"What is really controversial in this case," Rose remarked, "is that Europe cannot unite around one of its fundamental values, which is free speech and open debate. You should be allowed to say what you want without risking being killed or receiving death threats."

However, Islamic countries and Muslims inside Europe are reportedly pushing to pass laws to protect religious sensibilities. Rose states that "attempts to protect people's religious sensibilities is being misused around the world every day" and fears seeing Europe going down this road.
 
"I don't think that you should offend people just for the sake of offending them or make a provocation just for the sake of making a provocation," said Rose. "But I think we'll have to be very clear that in a democratic society, you do have many rights -- the right to vote, the right to free movement, the right to assembly, freedom of religion, free speech etc.... But the only right you do not have is the right not to be offended."

Source: RFE/RL
 

Over half of Danes do not support the decision in February of several Danish newspapers to reprint a controversial cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad, shows a poll published in Jyllands-Posten.

 

The poll, conducted by Ramboell Management, indicates that 58% of Danes disapprove of the republication. The newspapers decided to rerun the cartoon after police uncovered a suspected murder plot against the cartoonist, Kurt Westergaard, reports the Daily Star.

 

The new figures represent a distinct change in Danish opinion from 2005, the year of the cartoons' original publication. Despite the intense fall-out from the original cartoons, approximately two in three Danes were in support of publishing them in the name of freedom of expression.

 

These findings come on the heels of recent EU concerns about increasingly stricter anti-religious defamation laws around the world, some instances of which, particularly in Muslim countries, are a result of the original publication of the cartoons.

Source: Daily Star

Freesheets are the most-read dailies in Denmark, with 24timer leading all newspapers in the second half of 2007 with 535,000 daily readers. Free paper MetroXpress comes close with 507,000.

The most-read paid-for paper, Jyllands Posten, comes in third place with 505,000 readers. And free dailies Nyhedsavisen and Urban are fourth and fifth.

More interestingly, it seems free papers are starting to compete for readership, whereas the circulations for paid-for newspapers remained relatively stable in 2007, according to Newspaper Innovation (although Jyllands Posten lost 7% of readers year-on-year.)

However, compared to 2003, paid papers have lost 20% or more of their readers. In December 2006, Danish analyst Christina Ove Holm had predicted that the freesheets would cannibalize each other, but they are still faring healthily.

Source: Newspaper Innovation through European Journalism Centre

A day after police thwarted a murder plot against, Kurt Westergaard, the Danish cartoonist responsible for a controversial cartoon depicting the Prophet Mohammed wearing a bomb-shaped turban, 17 Danish newspapers printed the aforementioned drawing.

Three of the country’s largest newspapers were among those to reprint the cartoon today.  Editors staunchly defended their freedom of expression and refused to censor the content—noting that they would not be intimidated by fanatics, reports editorandpublisher.com.

The cartoon, considered offensive by numerous Muslims, was one of a series of 12 caricatures published in Sept. 2005 by daily Jyllands-Posten. Violent protests ensued in several Muslim countries in Jan. and Feb. 2006.

Danish police claimed to have arrested three people yesterday—a Dane of Moroccan origin and two Tunisian nationals in relation to the murder plot.

When asked why they chose to reprint the cartoon, the newspapers explained that they were demonstrating their right to publish uncensored material.

"Freedom of expression gives you the right to think, to speak and to draw what you like ... no matter how many terrorist plots there are," conservative broadsheet Berlingske Tidende wrote in an editorial.

Westergaard has lived in hiding for the past three months while the Danish press has maintained that it has “unanimously condemned the alleged murder plot against the cartoonist.”

The Danish Muslim community has attempted to dissociate themselves from the murder plot but have expressed disapproval of the cartoon’s publication today.

Imam Walid Abdoul Pedersen, a Protestant who converted to Islam, said: "It's not a good idea to reproduce it and the newspapers could have defended the cartoonist differently, without resorting to provocation."

Pedersen explained that while a dialogue on freedom of expression would be beneficial, perhaps the newspapers’ confrontational manner of provoking discussion, in printing the cartoon, was not the most productive.
 
The Danish foreign ministry has been forced to remain sensitive to the issue since the 2006 controversy sparked Danish flag burnings and international protests.

Source: AFP Mail – Editor & Publisher
 

Flemming Rose, culture editor of Denmark’s Jyllands-Posten daily who first published the 2005’s controversial cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed, has won a journalism award from Denmark’s Free Press Society.

Excelsior is celebrating its 90th anniversary. The paper is commissioning a series of reportages that cover global issues from a personal point of view, in partnership with major newspapers from around the world.

In a surprise intervention, French minister of the Interior and presidential candidate Nicolas Sarkozy, along with other politicians, defended the press’ freedom of speech, in light of suit against Charlie Hebdo launched by Islamic organizations, a year after it published cartoons of Mahomet.

A year after the Jyllands-Posten and Danish newspapers, followed by western media, chose to publish controversial cartoons of prophet Muhammad, culture editor Flemming Rose reiterated the importance of the debate sparked by the cartoons.

On October 26 Danish Jyllands-Posten ‘s editor in chief Carsten Juste and culture editor Flemming Rose were acquitted of the accusation of racism for allowing the publication of the Mohammed cartoons in September 2005. The lawsuit was filed by seven Muslim organizations based in Denmark, after the country’s attorney general decided not to press criminal charges against the daily under racism and blasphemy laws. 

In their streets and on public transport, in their cars - and now directly to their homes.  In the space of a few short weeks, Danes are being offered free daily newspapers, many of high quality, wherever they turn. An astonishing free news war has broken out in this Scandinavian market, which may well hold lessons for newspapers everywhere.

In Denmark, "Islamists and Naivists," by Karen Jespersen and Ralf Pittelkow, has since risen to the top of the best-seller list and is causing a sensation - in part because the authors are establishment figures previously known for their progressive attitudes toward Islam and integration " according to the International Herald Tribune.
 
"The book is also gaining notice because Denmark, a country celebrated for its fairy tales, is on the front line of the culture wars between Islam and the West following publication in a Danish newspaper - the Jyllands Posten - late last year of cartoons lampooning the Prophet Muhammad."

The hottest debate at this year's World Editor Forum was about -- you guessed it -- the lessons learned from the Danish cartoon crisis...

Tuesday’s World Editors Forum meeting ended with an intense debate about the infamous Danish cartoon controversy, and the lessons that might be learned from it. 

Lessons from the Mohammed cartoon clash will be the focus of the fifth session of the 13th World Editors Forum, which begins June 4 in Moscow. On 30 September 2005, the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten published twelve cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed. Sixteen years after the fatwa against Salman Rushdie and his "Satanic Verses," the clash between freedom of expression and religious values exploded once more. Panelists will discuss if there are limits for press freedom and how media responsibility can work in a globalized world. Don’t miss this special panel focused on 2006’s most fascinating editorial debate.

A Jordanian court has jailed two newspaper editors for printing the Mohammed cartoons, which incited worldwide uproar after they were first run by Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten last fall.

French daily Le Monde reports in today’s edition that European anti-terrorism services have recently reinforced their measures against attacks. For months now, Al-Quaida has been allegedly organizing a “mission” aimed to punish the designers of the Mohammed cartoons published by Danish newspaper Jyllands Posten. According to Hamir Mir, chief editor of Pakistani daily Ausaf, a group of twelve terrorists (nine Afghans and three Pakistanis) is already heading for Denmark.

The Estonian newspaper KesKus has reprinted the infamous Mohammed cartoons, originally published in September 2005 by Danish paper Jyllands Posten, that sparked outrage amongst Muslims worldwide. Editor in chief Juku-Kalle Raid explained the decision to print the cartoons as follows: "We published the cartoons so that people can see what they are criticising. My decision was immediate but we took our time because we did not want to add to the already high tensi