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Light and truth and a free press
Yale University Press and the Danish cartoons
November/December 2009
by Michael W. Steinberg ’74

In early September, attorney Michael W. Steinberg ’74 and pediatric oncologist Seth Corey '78 formed the Yale Committee for a Free Press, to protest the omission of the cartoons and illustrations. Some 40 alumni have since signed on to Steinberg’s statement.

Yale should not be the arbiter of what is “safe” to publish . Such censorship violates Yale’s own explicit policy: “Above all, every member of the university has an obligation to permit free expression in the university. … Every official of the university … has a special obligation to foster free expression and to ensure that it is not obstructed.”

In a world where light and truth are under siege, Yale alumni have a vital stake in preserving a free press. The Yale Corporation must reverse this error, direct the Yale Press to print Klausen’s book with the censored material restored, and distribute it widely—as a tangible reminder that freedom of the press cannot be taken for granted.  the end

  
 

 

 

 

Related

A cartoonist under police protection (10/2/09)

An account of Jytte Klausen’s talk at Yale (10/5/09)

 

Read in full the debate excerpted here (11/17/09)

 

Introduction by The Editors

Look for the real causes by Jytte Klausen

“Responsible, principled, practical, and right” by John Donatich

How to run a press by Donald Lamm '53

Precedents in the media by John Negroponte '60

“A major form of blasphemy” by Marcia Inhorn

Why did the Press consult counterterrorism experts? by Zareena Grewal

“De facto veto power” by Gideon Rose '85
 
 
 
 
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