Author Salman Rushdie Writes of His Life in Hiding

In 1998, writer Salman Rushdie published a novel called The Satanic Verses. It was a serious novel, not intended to provoke, but the book was soon identified as offensive to Islam and Rushdie found himself the subject of a fatwa. Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini called for Rushdie to be killed for his offenses to Islam.

This is news now because of the recent violence against Americans for a crude and offensive film anti-Islam produced in the U.S. and posted to YouTube. It's also news because Rushdie has published a memoir of his days in hiding. The book, Joseph Anton, tells of his 10 years living under police protection. (The New York Times has an interview with Rushdie about the book. Here's the link.) 

All of this gets raises important questions about free speech and religion. In the U.S., for example, people are rarely offended by a novel (a novel!) and they rarely resort to riots or violence. In the Middle East, however, religious sensitivities are different and free speech traditions are weak.

In sum, what are we to think of this clash of ideas? In the U.S. we tend to value free speech and tolerate religious criticism. But when does speech cross the line? And how should those offended by speech respond short of violence?

Think about these questions. I'd like to discuss this in some detail in class.

Enlightenment England and the Move Toward a Free Press

In Chapter 3 of The Idea of a Free Press, Copeland traces some of the historical developments that led to a free press in England. Based on your reading of the chapter, identify and explain the significance of one important historical event or incident that moved the English press closer to a system of free expression. Because this chapter is concerned with the growth of news, select an event or incident that involves news.

Write your post in the comments section below. For this post, write about 100 words (about seven or eight sentences). To do this well, cite specific details from Copeland and explain why your development is important in the growth of a free press in England. Originality is important too. It is bad form to repeat or rewrite what another student has already posted.

Also: Be prepared to discuss and defend your historical development in class. See you Monday.

Free Reading, Or Not: Book Censorship in China

Free expression is an old but on-going idea, a concept that shifts with the times. That's one lesson of a story I noticed a couple of days ago about writing, reading and publishing in China.

As the story notes, publishing fiction can be a tricky business in China, a nation that has not embraced the Western idea of free expression. Due to official censorship, self-censorship and other factors, Western readers get a narrow slice of Chinese literature and much of that comes from Chinese writers based outside of China.

Technology is also a factor, the story notes, as more and more Chinese fiction is "published" online.

There's more about writing and censorship in China here.

God, Religion and Liberty of Conscience

The first two chapters of David Copeland's book, The Idea of a Free Press, have a lot to say about religion and its role in the development of free expression. Copeland writes especially about the religion and an idea he calls "liberty of conscience" in Enlightenment England. But what was the connection between religion and liberty of conscience? How did a belief in God translate into notions of free expression?

Your assignment for this blog post is answer those questions. Do this by writing about 100 words (about 7 or 8 sentences) in which you identify in the reading at least one significant "real world" link between religion and the development of liberty. Beyond identifying that link, explain the significance of that connection on the development of free expression. That is, explain why this link was important.

Read these chapters carefully so that you will have a thoughtful and original short essay. We will be discussing these posts on Monday. See you then. 

Free Expression on the Web: Questions, Answers and Discussion

Watergate reporter Bob Woodward signing my copy of "All the President's Men" on campus last semester.

This is the first posting for the 2012 edition of the TU communication class History and Philosophy of Free Expression. As your instructor, I will be posting prompts and discussion questions about class readings on this site.

Following the schedule in the syllabus, you are to write succinct answers to these questions. The idea behind these blog posts is to push you to read and think carefully about the topics of the readings.

Your comments are due no later midnight on the day before the class. Be prepared to discuss your answers in class.

See you soon in Oliphant 141!

Elements of Journalism: Additional Ideas and Comments on Kovach & Rosenstiel

As the fall semester winds down, I want to give you a chance to make some final comments on the nature and purpose of journalism and free expression. In other words, I want you to spend some quality time with the last few chapters of the Kovach and Rosenstiel book so that you can make some thoughtful comments on the ideas you find there. More precisely, take a look at chapters 7-11 in The Elements of Journalism and select an important idea or two from the text to discuss on this blog.

Questions: What key idea or ideas do Kovach and Rosenstiel advance in the last half of their book? Why is this idea significant? What does this idea contribute to the history and philosophy of free expression or the advancement of American journalism? How does this idea make the individual, the society or our democracy better?

As always, the quality of your comment is more important than the length of your post. Also, specific ideas based on short quotations from the text are better than vague ideas based on generalities. 

Journalism and the Problem of Objectivity

In The Elements of Journalism, Kovach and Rosenstiel write about objectivity and its role in contemporary journalism. More specifically, the authors note that objectivity has lost its meaning in journalism and needs to be replaced by other ways of thinking about reporting.

Questions: Based on your reading of Elements of Journalism, write a commentary that addresses the following questions. What is the problem with objectivity? Why and how did objectivity lose its meaning in journalism? What do the authors propose as a replacement for objectivity? Will this replacement work? If so, how well?

As always, write a paragraph or two that addresses these questions in a thoughtful and specific way. Remember to sign your posting.