Press Council considers printing of Mohammed cartoons permissible

In the opinion of the Swiss Press Council, it is ethically permissible in the media to illustrate reports on the cartoon controversy with examples in view of the worldwide controversy. It is journalistically unsatisfactory to describe such a dispute without showing examples. This was announced by the self-regulatory body of media professionals on Friday. For this reason, the publication of one or more of the controversial caricatures in Blick, Le Temps, 24 Heures and NZZ am Sonntag, among others, is not objectionable, and the committee justified its statement with the "unusually large number of inquiries" it had received regarding the media-ethical assessment of the Danish caricatures about Mohammed. At the same time, the Press Council announced that it would take up the fundamental problem and comment on it. It will examine the question of whether and which professional ethical barriers to freedom of expression and artistic freedom exist. In particular, it wants to clarify the extent to which the sensitivities of religious communities and minorities of all kinds must be taken into consideration in the case of caricatures.