Chicago Tribune: Paper apologizes after cartoon flap

The editorial staff of the independent daily newspaper at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign said Monday that its members were embarrassed by how the decision was made to run controversial Danish cartoons of the prophet Muhammad last week. "We want to make it clear that while we do not necessarily disagree with the decision to print these cartoons, we disagree with how they were run," read the unsigned editorial in Tuesday's Daily Illini.

The decision to run six of the 12 Danish cartoons in the paper's Feb. 9 edition was made by only two editors--a decision not supported by the full editorial staff, according to the editorial.

"This newspaper prides itself on being a member of the professional journalistic community. We value freedom of the press, speech and expression. But we acknowledge that in certain instances, such as the publishing of these offensive cartoons, there are issues that must be considered," it continued.

On Tuesday, a discussion titled "Making Sense of the Cartoon Controversy" is scheduled at the campus.

It has been organized by the Muslim Students Association and the Council on American Islamic Relations-UIUC.

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See Related Link: CAIR-UIUC's Response to the Daily Illini Printing the Prophet Cartoons